It is June and we would have been preparing for the launch of Diana’s second major solo exhibition Contemporary Fairy-Tale Magic. Initially scheduled for August as part of Edinburgh International Fringe Festival, it was supposed to take place at Scottish Storytelling Centre. Instead, due to the pandemic closure of the arts, we can only but continue discussing with the team at the Scottish Storytelling Centre how best to reschedule the exhibition. With all the uncertainty, we have at least been able to stay in touch and exchange our news and blogs.
While the team at the Scottish Storytelling Centre has been catching up with over 20 posts detailing my virtual curatorial visits at Diana’s studio since 26 April, we have been enjoying their blog news. We loved poking into the lives under lockdown of team Scottish Storytelling Centre with A View Behind the Scenes and even borrowed Cordelia Toennies’ watercolour here.
Then we tried some of the satirical stories as part of their Scotland the When series. Do try The Laird’s Big Breaxit by the writer and Scottish Storytelling Centre’s own Chief Executive Donald Smith. This dark comedy of errors features Scotland’s Culture Minister in an Edinburgh Festival Fringe mishap. Adding misery to mishap is the fact that this year’s Fringe events, including Diana’s show at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, are not going ahead as planned. What is more, the main character in the story, a certain Gussie McCraig, evokes our worst Brexit nightmares still lurking there beneath the Coronavirus miasma. Enjoy. Yours, Iliyana Nedkova