Edinburgh is currently hosting a brief and slightly off-the-wall arts festival. Hidden Door is taking place in a series of vaults along Market Street, just along from the back entrance into Waverley Station. These are unused cavernous areas, hidden behind arched doorways, which have been transformed for nine days into exhibition and performance spaces.
There's some fairly whacky stuff! An explosion of everyday bits of plastic - just hanging around,
a small selection of items which formed an exhibit covering the back wall of one vault,
and some cybernetic sunflowers, which responded to torches being shone in their faces, and they turned their heads to follow the light! Quite cute actually! That's probably not a description their creators would enjoy but there was something rather endearing about them, sitting there in pitch black until someone came along to give them some attention!
One of my tutors at Leith School of Art is part of the team which put the festival together and he is exhibiting some of his work in this vault.
with a selection of smaller pieces on the side walls.
There are some great wall paintings too.
And I rather liked some of the walls just as they are!
One of the vaults is particularly damp.
One artist specifically requested it so that he could use some of the dripping water percolating through the back wall to create an exhibit!
The last two or three vaults at the top of the street were really quite shallow and claustrophobic!
All the daytime events are free and then in the evening there are ticketed events with live music and all sorts of fun and games, no doubt!
The street is on a hill. As the road rises up, going westwards in the direction of the Castle, the ceiling height in the vaults diminishes. The larger vaults were housing large pieces of work like this one,
There is even a cinema showing an entertaining, quirky cartoon which children were thoroughly enjoying!
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