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Grow Children's Theatre at Birnam Arts
Fri 27 Jun
Grow! | Auditorium
12:00 - 19:00
Doors Open 11:30

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Chance Operations

Chance Operations Poetry Workshop with Martine Foltier Pugh

9 November 2024

A Birnam Book Festival Fringe Event, Chance Operations with Martine Foltier Pugh will appeal to aspiring and practising writers and artists alike. In the course of the workshop, you will learn how to pick words randomly from newspapers and books and how to present your findings. You will take home your own blackout poems that are visually striking works of art in themselves and some fresh ideas to develop further.

Words inspire Martine, in a playful way. ‘Chance Operations’ is called after Dada and the Surrealists who were fascinated by Freud’s study of dreams and the subconscious.  They experimented with simple techniques to generate text randomly and independently of the author’s control and rational thinking.  ‘Letting go’ feels liberating when everything else we do is about making hard choices. The process becomes meditative and brings about strangely evocative and uncanny juxtapositions, little poetic nuggets even, surprising and otherworldly.

    glide wonderful doubt  -  arching choice in shallow summer  -  soft despair never so true 

Of French and Italian heritage, writer and artist Martine Foltier Pugh grew up near Paris and has lived in Scotland since her early twenties.  She writes about art and artists, notably Scottish colourist Marj Bond. Her visual practice is text based. She is a member and regular exhibitor with the collective Heartwood Artists, has run a series of concrete poetry workshops during an artist residency in Abbeyhill primary school in Edinburgh and earlier this year gave a Chance Operations workshop in Birnam Arts.

 

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Other Events This Month

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Tue 24 Jun 2025

Art Club for Adults - June

Arts Workshop   |   Studios   |   13:30 - 15:30
Art Club for Adults with Michael Fullerton - June at Birnam Arts
1 Jul - 13 Aug

Kids Summer Art Workshops

Arts Workshop     |   Various
Kids Summer Art Workshops at Birnam Arts
Tue 22 Jul 2025

Art Club for Adults - July

Arts Workshop   |   Studios   |   13:30 - 15:30
Art Club for Adults with Michael Fullerton - July at Birnam Arts
Map showing Birnam Arts and conference centre in Scotland

Opening Times

Box Office
Open periodically throughout the week | Book online 24/7


Cafe
Daily | 10 - 4



Birnam Arts
Station Road
Birnam Dunkeld
PH8 0DS
admin@birnamarts.com
Tel: 01350 727 674

Entrance

Welcome to Birnam Arts, a boutique multi-purpose arts, conferencing and entertainment venue.

Highlights

Pop in to the Foyer Cafe for breakfast, grab a delicious coffee with a selection of our homemade baking or enjoy a light lunch whilst browsing on the free WiFi. Wander upstairs to view the latest of our monthly art exhibitions before visiting the world of Beatrix Potter, or the Gift Shop to purchase a special gift for your loved ones or yourself!

Star Star Star Star Star

We have great memories of our Wedding day at Birnam Arts. Brilliant venue.

Gemma Strachan   |   Crowdfunder #savebirnamarts 2020

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