Artists were inspired by our fragile earth before it became a thing

James Morrison's Arctic Mural, from The Fleming Collection. Copyright: The Artist's Estate.

I did something I haven’t done for many years last week. I visited the campus of Stirling University. Growing up in that county the Macrobert Arts Centre was about the nearest place for concerts, plays and pantos. This time I went to the Pathfoot building, a large airy exhibition space with some rather impressive artworks along the corridor. Where on earth did those Fergussons come from? I wondered.

Anyway, I came along to the launch of Fragile Earth – a collection of works by Scottish artists put together by the Fleming Collection. What unites all these artists, other than the country in which they were born, is that they were all using climate change as their influence a decade or so before it even became a “thing”.

That, in case you didn’t know was when James Hansen gave a talk to the US Congress in 1988 – there you go, don’t say that you never learn anything reading this column.

Having grown up in the area it was also a chance to catch up with some friends who still live locally because I am a bit lazy about getting over to see them. Mind you, they don’t bother coming over to Edinburgh to see me – I mean it would be a good chance to do some shopping.

Stirling really isn’t a mecca for fashion. Like so many places the high street is in a bit of a sorry state, with very little in the way of shops that you might find something to wear with pride. Mind you, the castle is quite impressive and it is certainly worth a tour if you happen to be passing with an hour or two to fill, and I am sure that there must be some decent restaurants and cafes.

Perhaps I should linger a bit longer the next time I make the trip. As it was I did have some time on my hands before the exhibition, but that was spent on my friend Amanda’s sofa drinking tea and gossiping about anyone whose name we could remember.

I have known her since I was about six years old, so that is a lot of people to cover. Anyway, the exhibition is going to be there for the next year so once you have visited the castle and had lunch, you really should pop along towards Bridge of Allan and have a look.

Artists were inspired by our fragile earth before it became a thing - Fiona Duff