Camden Art Centre are pleased to present an evening of film, video, poetry and music that splices together ideas around family, inheritance, and ancestral myth. The event is organised by George Finlay Ramsay and features contributions by Coby Sey, Rebecca Salvadori & Sandro Mussida, Alexander Hetherington, and Mark Thomson.
The event’s title is appropriated from the diary of Ramsay’s ancestor, Katherine Atholl, the first female MP in Scotland, who wrote ‘For me, life is not the wick, nor the candle, but the burning’. Ramsay’s ethnographic history is explored further in his new film Family Fugue (2022) – a contrapuntal work in three movements with performances from multiple family members. The narrative spans 800 years and features a white snake, a red Duchess, and a golden boy.
Alongside this work, Rebecca Salvadori will showcase the video work Portraits of friends (2022), developed in tandem and inspired by Sandro Mussida’s new album, Rueben. Coby Sey will present a new sound work that combines keyboard compositions with field recordings taken from his recent trip to Ghana for his grandfather’s funeral. Mark Thomson will perform a selection of recent poems, including an adaptation of the Ramsay family myth, The White Snake, whilst Alex Hetherington will present HOUSE (2019-2020), a silent 16mm film captured at the partially derelict site of Bannockburn House, which engages with themes around entropy and failure.
Family Fugue will be presented as an exhibition at Generator Projects in Dundee, 8th October – 6th November.
