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Council jetwashes away unique artwork outside Aberdeen gallery by mistake

A unique, temporary chalk artwork left after a secret midnight dance created by an internationally-acclaimed performer was jetwashed away from the front of Aberdeen Art Gallery by mistake.

North-east residents were supposed to wake up to mysterious lines in the heart of the city this morning, to launch the city’s DanceLive festival.

But before people had the chance to see the contemporary artwork, council employees removed the eye-catching chalk designs with a high-pressure hose in what the council called “an unfortunate misunderstanding.”

Invisible Dances – secret arts pieces performed under the cover of night – took place in the early hours of Thursday (October 14) in front of the gallery,  in a work that has already been performed  55 times in 14 countries, to critical acclaim.

As two creatives – Rhona McGuire and Shaun Stickland – performed the dances, they also mapped out their movements in biodegradable chalk. This left attention-grabbing temporary artwork that was meant to be washed away in the next rain.

Rhona McGuire and Shaun Stickland taking part in Invisible Dances last night.

Rain was supposed to wash art away

Rhona returned to the city centre this morning ready to explain to curious members of the public what happened overnight and how they could engage with the artwork and dance around it. Instead, she was met with workers removing the midnight art.

She said: “The artwork was supposed to stay and I came here today to help the public interact with it, try dancing it and try drawing it – however they want to be engaged with it.

“It wasn’t meant to be washed away. We had permission so I think some miscommunication happened, which is pretty gutting.

“I got here at 10am and it was already washed away – they just finished.”

Chalk outlines in front of Aberdeen Art Gallery were washed away by the council due to a misunderstanding.

‘Unfortunate misunderstanding’

A spokesperson for Aberdeen City Council said: “This appears to have been an unfortunate misunderstanding. However, we’re talking to the DanceLive organisers about the possibility of re-staging the artwork.

“We’re looking forward to the fantastic programme of free pop up dance performances at the Art Gallery between now and Sunday.”

The performances are part of the DanceLive festival.  The Aberdeen Invisible Dances marked the start of the event, which will see talented dancers performing indoors, outdoors and online from today (October 14) to Sunday October 17.

The Invisible Dances were conceived by Germany-based dancer and choreographer Elisabeth Schilling as a way to create international performance during the global Covid 19 lockdown.

invisible dances artwork
Rhona was due to recreate the Invisible Dances today.

While she said the mistake was “unfortunate”, she was happy to ask one of the performers to recreate the Invisible Dances today (weather-permitting) – during the day rather than at night like it was originally planned.

Elizabeth said: “It was unfortunate that this mistake happened, but we are thrilled that the Invisible Dances will be recreated by participating dance artist Rhona, today and will be available for the people of Aberdeen to visit and experience during the day today as well as the coming days.”

P&J captured the Invisible Dances on video

While Aberdeen residents weren’t able to admire the artwork in the city centre this morning due to the misunderstanding, they can still watch “what could have been” right now. P&J photographer Kami Thomson took pictures and video as the dance and art piece was happening. See our footage from the event below:

The Invisible Dances combine dance and visual art in a poetic and playful way. The aim of this work is to bring dance and culture directly back to city centres.

Invisible Dances have already been performed on St Ninians beach in Shetland and in Inverness. Residents of Wick should keep their eyes peeled over the coming days for future surprise dances.

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