Visual Arts Scotland Members - Holding Conversations Part Two - Open Call

Holding Conversations is an ongoing project that takes the form of an evolving touring exhibition. The project explores the intersection of visual art and contemporary craft, the two pillars of Visual Art Scotland's disciplines.

Exhibition Dates: 17–21 September 2025 | Venue: Custom Lane Gallery, Leith, Edinburgh

Visual Arts Scotland invites members to submit new work for Holding Conversations: Part Two, the next iteration of our ongoing exhibition project exploring the vessel as both object and metaphor.

Building on the success of Part One, held at V&A Dundee | Tea Green Makers Market in July, this exhibition continues to investigate the act of holding physically, emotionally, and symbolically through contemporary craft and visual art. We welcome proposals for vessels or vessel-inspired works that explore intimacy, care, exchange, and embodied dialogue.

All works should be conceived with Holding Conversations’ ethos in mind: tactile, materially curious, and accessible to audiences through touch, use, or imaginative engagement.

Key Information:

Application Form HERE (information of the artwork is not required, all submissions will be accepted that meet the brief and so we only ask artists to register for the exhibition. Deadline: 16th August 2025.

Delivery Date: Monday 15 September 2025 - Works to be dropped off at Custom Lane, Leith between 10am-3pm Postal delivery may be arranged in advance with the VAS team.

Exhibition Dates: Wednesday 17 – Sunday 21 September 2025 9am-4pm daily.

Venue: Custom Lane Gallery, Edinburgh

Sales: Works may be available for sale if you choose 

In support of this, all works made available for purchase at a capped price of £150, reinforcing the exhibition’s commitment to affordable collecting and meaningful, inclusive encounters with art. This exhibition seeks to democratise the act of holding, allowing it to extend beyond the gallery and into the lives and homes of those who engage with the work. (VAS usual commission rates apply in line with your membership status)

Post-Exhibition: Unsold works will be held by VAS for inclusion in Holding Conversations: Part Three (details to follow). Artists have the right to withdraw artworks from future exhibitions by request.