Open Call: Natural Collection Exhibition with Scottish Ornithologists Club

Venue: Scottish Ornithologist Club | Presented by Visual Arts Scotland

Visual Arts Scotland are delighted to return to the Scottish Ornithologist Club, Aberlady from April to June 2026 for our ‘Natural Collection’ exhibition.

Artists are invited to visit the SOC archives, to explore the collections held here. These include ornithological records and observations, sketchbooks, photographs and maps. 

Artist & Maker research day at the SOC Archive: 4th November and February 10th 11.30am - 3pm booking via Kate Millbank at Scottish ornithologist club: exhibitions@the-soc.org.uk

Deadline for submissions: 28th February 5pm | Submissions via PDF to admin@visualartsscotland.org 

We welcome and encourage submissions in all media that span the range of visual arts and craft, and are open to a broad spectrum of approaches and perspectives, whether this be through direct observation, conceptual inquiry, process or exploration of materials. 

There will be an opportunity to visit the archives at the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club (SOC) in Aberlady for further research.

Humans have long collected, categorised and depicted the natural world, from the15th century cabinets of curiosities filled with natural wonders, to botanical drawings of flora and fauna. The primary aim of many historic nature collections was to foster a deeper understanding of the natural world through the categorisation of specimens and their data. In the age of discovery they served as valuable research resources; to catalogue, identify and classify new species, study them for research, and preserve them. We are all familiar with the images of butterflies, moths and assorted insects caught and pinned to boards. We may not think of doing this now, but often specimens such as these were key in telling the history of the human desire to understand the natural world. These acts of collection reflect both a reverence for nature and a desire to interpret it.

The scientific community still uses collections to answer questions about the past, present and future of our world, but what might interpretations of contemporary nature collections look like today when so many species are endangered, and climate change is threatening all aspects of our planet, we have a different ethos about the morality of capturing live specimens. Indeed, advances in technology, photography and environmental awareness make it easy to record and observe nature without having to physically ‘collect’ what should not be taken. Is there still a need to categorise, to identify, to gather, or is this process to allow a deeper connection to the natural world. Why are people compelled to collect; for the pleasure in gaining ‘sets’, to expand their knowledge, to exert a sense of order, to explore a personal connection, to tell the story of a place and time, or to preserve what may be lost or nostalgia?

Artists and makers often look to the natural world for inspiration, for processes, materials, textures and forms, its rhythms and patterns, its vulnerability and its endurance and this exhibition seeks to explore what contemporary nature collections might be, what might they mean, what story might they tell?  

This exhibition revisits that impulse through a contemporary lens and aims to celebrate and showcase diverse creative responses, exploring the question of what it means to observe, collect, engage and respond to nature in the present day.

Application Information: 

• Please include proposed works with images and full work information including dimensions, title, materials price etc

• Please include Artist information such as website, bio and social media

• You can propose works not yet completed

• You must be a VAS member by the submission deadline to apply. New members welcome

• Applications must be in one PDF file submitted via email with the subject title: Natural Collections Open Call Submission - *insert your name*

• Artists and makers are responsible for their own work, including insurance.

• Artwork drop off and collection is directly onsite at the gallery only.

Exhibition Dates: Wednesday 29th April 2026 - 7th June 2026

Note all mediums are welcome, including but not limited to textiles, drawing, painting, sculpture, print, installation, digital, and collaborative work. 

Works to be dropped off: Monday 27th April 2028

Address: SOC, Waterston House, Aberlady EH32 0PY (Parking Available free of charge, onsite)

Opening reception: Evening reception on Thursday 30th April (6-8pm)

Works to be collection: Monday 8th June 2028