Past events
‘there and then and never again’: new film commissions celebrating the life and work of Margaret Tait
Saturday 16 November 2019
New short films from international talents and Scotland-based artists and filmmakers that celebrate the life, legacy, attitude or approach of Scotland’s filmmaking pioneer, Margaret Tait (1918–1999). The programme includes a post-screening discussion with some of the artist and filmmakers.
Close-Up Film Centre: Refuge
Saturday 16 November 2019
Close-Up Film Centre, London
Close-Up Film Centre present a programme of films curated by Peter Todd to explore the theme of “refuge”, including work by Margaret Tait.
Margaret Tait: Blue Black Permanent + discussion (Margaret Tait 100 closing event)
Monday 11 November 2019
Filmhouse, Edinburgh
A special screening on Margaret Tait’s 101st birthday to mark the closing of the year-long celebration of her centenary. Tait’s only feature and one of the last films she made, Blue Black Permanent (1992) tells the story of Barbara (Celia Imrie), a woman coming to terms with the death of her mother (Gerda Stevenson).
Quiet Defiance: Gerda Stevenson on Margaret Tait (Margaret Tait 100 closing event)
Monday 11 November 2019
To mark the end of Margaret Tait’s centenary celebrations, writer, actor, director Gerda Stevenson will give a talk on Tait’s multifaceted and uniquely distinctive creativity.
The Rose Street Film Festival (Margaret Tait 100 closing event)
Monday 11 November 2019
The Melting Pot, 5 Rose Street, Edinburgh
We are excited to return to Margaret Tait’s native Rose Street for a unique programme of films to mark her 101st birthday and the close of the Margaret Tait 100 centenary celebrations.
The Rose Street Reading Group (Margaret Tait 100 closing event)
Monday 11 November 2019
The Melting Pot, 5 Rose Street, Edinburgh
Join Dr Elsa Richardson and Margaret Tait 100 staff for an informal reading group focusing on the poetry and prose of Margaret Tait.
‘there and then and never again’: new film commissions celebrating the life and work of Margaret Tait
Saturday 9 November 2019
Inverness Film Festival 2019, Eden Court, Inverness
New short films from international talents and Scotland-based artists and filmmakers that celebrate the life, legacy, attitude or approach of Scotland’s filmmaking pioneer, Margaret Tait (1918–1999). The programme includes a post-screening discussion with some of the artist and filmmakers.
Margaret Tait: The Movement That Light Is
Wednesday 9 October
- Friday 11 October 2019
A retrospective of Tait’s films at the Austrian Film Museum
Introduction to using 16mm Bolex cameras: a two-day workshop with Margaret Salmon
Saturday 28 September
- Sunday 29 September 2019
Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney
Margaret Salmon leads a two-day introductory workshop around the Bolex 16mm movie camera.
of the water itself: films by Margaret Salmon and Margaret Tait
Saturday 28 September 2019
Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney
A screening of two films by Margaret Tait and Margaret Salmon, both exploring coastal ecosystems.
Photography and Memory Workshop with Annette Kuhn
Wednesday 25 September 2019
Clubroom, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow
Professor Annette Kuhn leads a workshop on the significance of personal photography.
Ute Aurand, Rushing Green with Horses + films by Margaret Tait
Tuesday 24 September 2019
Goethe-Institut, Glasgow
Berlin-based filmmaker Ute Aurand presents a programme of work on the occasion of Scottish film pioneer Margaret Tait’s centenary year.
‘The everyday type of thing’: symposium on the work of women photographers
Tuesday 24 September 2019
Goethe-Institut, Glasgow
Professor Annette Kuhn (Queen Mary University of London), Laura Guy (Newcastle University), Jenny Brownrigg (Glasgow School of Art) and Sarah Neely (University of Glasgow) reflect on the work of women photographers.
Margaret Tait: Blue Black Permanent at Sea Change Festival
Sunday 22 September 2019
Sea Change Festival, Tiree
Sea Change Festival screen a brand-new restoration of Blue Black Permanent (1992)
‘there and then and never again’: Margaret Tait 100 Commissions Launch
Sunday 18 August
- Monday 19 August 2019
Cinema, CCA Glasgow
Be the first to see brand new short films from international talents and Scotland-based artists and filmmakers that celebrate the life, legacy, attitude or approach of Scotland’s filmmaking pioneer: Margaret Tait (1918–1999).
Margaret Tait: Film Makar
Saturday 3 August 2019
This programme will provide an introduction to Margaret Tait’s life, work and legacy. Dr Sarah Neely will present a selection of Tait’s films alongside readings of Tait’s poetry and writing, including rare recordings of Tait reading her own poetry.
Margaret Tait: Seen from Afar
Thursday 27 June 2019
Pier Arts Centre, Stromness
An informal selection and presentation of Tait’s films in the context of her encounter with English experimental film in the 1970s and 1980s
Launch: Les Saisons Magazine No. 2
Thursday 20 June 2019
Marian Goodman Bookstore, Paris
Launch of Les Saisons, une part discrète du film no. 2, which includes new French translations of selected Tait writings.
‘The Persistence of Spirit’: Blue Black Permanent (Screening & Reunion of Cast and Crew)
Saturday 15 June 2019
Red Lecture Theatre, Summerhall
A special screening to mark the BFI’s release of Margaret Tait’s Blue Black Permanent, newly remastered in 2K and available on DVD and Blu-Ray for the very first time, followed by a reunion of the film’s cast and crew.
Margaret Tait: A Whole World at the Foot of the Stone
Thursday 13 June 2019
Morley College London
Join Morley Gallery, London, for a free screening of three films by Tait, including a discussion with filmmaker and curator Peter Todd.
From Time to Time at Sea
Tuesday 11 June
- Thursday 13 June 2019
11 June: The Sail Laft, Skeld
12 June: Quendale Water Mill
13 June: The Booth, Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary
Shetland Arts host a tour of short film from Shetland and Orkney, featuring artists Ruth Maclennan and Margaret Tait, programmed alongside a selection of locally made footage from the Shetland Film Archive presented by Maya Darrell Hewins.
“there and then and never again”: Margaret Tait in Venice
Saturday 11 May 2019
La Scuola Grande di San Marco, Campo San Zanipolo
Following on from Interim Edition: The Margaret Tait Poetry Archive, the Demarco Archive and Margaret Tait 100 present a selection of Margaret Tait’s films in Venice.
Origins and Elements: Films by Luke Fowler and Margaret Tait
Saturday 11 May 2019
Pier Arts Centre, Stromness
This film programme will feature a selection of Tait’s films alongside the work of Glasgow-based artist, filmmaker and musician Luke Fowler.
These two exchange limbs
Thursday 9 May 2019
An evening of reading, performance and film by contemporary artists, gesturing towards a ‘feeling’ approach to the study of plants.
Film Walk: Orquil Burn
Monday 6 May 2019
Heart of Hawick, Hawick
Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival’s Film Walk brings together festival guests and ticket-holders for a walk in nearby Wilton, culminating in a screening of Tait’s Orquil Burn (1955)
Quiet Defiance: Gerda Stevenson on Margaret Tait
Sunday 5 May 2019
Heart of Hawick, Hawick
Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival welcome writer/actor/director Gerda Stevenson to give a talk in conjunction with Margaret Tait’s centenary.
Film Poems
Saturday 6 April 2019
Close-Up Film Centre, London
20th anniversary screening of the Film Poems touring programme, featuring work by Margaret Tait, Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid, Stan Brakhage, Guy Sherwin, and Peter Todd.
Where I Am Is Here: Margaret Tait at 100
Thursday 4 April 2019
Demarco in Dunoon
Tuesday 26 February 2019
Dunoon Burgh Hall
Film, music and book launch event led by Richard Demarco and inspired by the films, poetry and paintings of Margaret Tait.
Margaret Tait Award Announcement and Screening: Alberta Whittle, between a whisper and a cry at GFF19
Monday 25 February 2019
Glasgow Film Theatre
World premiere of the 2018/19 Margaret Tait Award commission by artist Alberta Whittle.
Margaret Tait & Joanna Margaret Paul: People and Places at GFF19
Sunday 24 February 2019
CCA Glasgow, for Glasgow Film Festival 2019
Presented on the occasion of Margaret Tait’s centenary, this special programme features a selection of short films by the pioneering Orcadian filmmaker and poet (1918–99) alongside works by New Zealand artist, Joanna Margaret Paul (1945–2003).
Poetry Reading at the Margaret Tait Poetry Archive
Saturday 5 January 2019
Demarco Archive Exhibitions, Summerhall
Join us for an informal meeting to read and discuss a selection of Margaret Tait’s poetry.
Meanwhile, meanwhile…ah meanwhile: Poetic vision, time and place in the films of Margaret Tait
Monday 3 December 2018
Red Lecture Theatre, Summerhall
An evening of films and discussion exploring the relationship between Tait’s written poetry and her work as a filmmaker, programmed to coincide with the current exhibition, Interim Edition: The Margaret Tait Poetry Archive.
Places of Work
Friday 30 November 2018
BFI Southbank, London
Places of Work features a selection of Tait’s dynamic and meditative film portraits of the infinite possibilities of our living spaces and includes an introduction from season curator Peter Todd.
Scottish Animation: Abstraction & Experimentation
Tuesday 20 November 2018
CCA Glasgow, hosted by Glasgow Short Film Festival
Curated for Anim18 – a UK-wide celebration of British animation – by Ross Hogg, and marking the centenary of Orcadian filmmaker and poet Margaret Tait, this programme showcases Scottish animations that play with the form and structure of filmmaking.
Blue Black Permanent
Sunday 18 November 2018
CINECITY Film Festival, Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne
Towner Art Gallery screen a brand-new restoration of Blue Black Permanent (1992)
Margaret Tait: Film Poet
Wednesday 14 November 2018
The Gable End Theatre, for Film Focus Festival, Orkney
Introduced by Dr Sarah Neely, Film Poet showcases the full breadth of work produced by Tait.
Land Makar
Tuesday 13 November 2018
BFI Southbank, London
Land Makar features three of Tait’s film poems exploring Highland and Island landscapes and their inhabitants. The programme will include an introduction from season curator Peter Todd.
The cinema I care about is at the level of poetry
Sunday 11 November
- Saturday 17 November 2018
Arsenal, Berlin
Presented by Ute Aurand at Arsenal, Berlin, The cinema I care about is at the level of poetry honours Margaret Tait’s centenary with a programme of 11 short films on her birthday, 11 November, and a screening of her only feature film and the first by a Scottish woman, Blue Black Permanent (1992) on 17 November.
Where I Am Is Here: Films from Margaret Tait and Friends
Sunday 11 November
- Sunday 11 November 2018
Sallis Benney Theatre, Brighton, part of CINECITY Film Festival 2018
Open Colour celebrate Tait’s centenary with a special programme featuring new restorations of her film poems, alongside rare 16mm screenings from artists working in the tradition of intimate, first person cinema.
Blue Black Permanent
Sunday 11 November 2018
The Gable End Theatre, for Film Focus Festival, Orkney
Introduced by lead actor Gerda Stevenson, Blue Black Permanent (1992) was Tait’s only feature and one of the last films she made.
Margaret Tait & Fernando Birri, Double Bill: The Cuba Connections
Sunday 11 November 2018
CCA Glasgow, part of Havana Glasgow Film Festival 2018
On the centenary of Margaret Tait’s birth, Double Bill: The Cuba Connections focuses on the filmmaker and poet’s time studying film in Rome in the early 1950s, and her early collaborations with fellow student Fernando Birri
Blue Black Permanent
Sunday 11 November 2018
BFI Southbank, London
In Blue Black Permanent (1992), Tait passionately confronts memory and family in a truly unique style. The premiere of a new restoration, this screening includes an introduction by writer So Mayer.
For Margaret
Sunday 11 November 2018
Pier Arts Centre, Stromness
An evening celebration on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Margaret Tait’s birth.
Gerda Stevenson, Quiet Defiance (GMB Memorial Lecture)
Saturday 10 November
- Saturday 10 November 2018
Pier Arts Centre, Stromness
Gerda Stevenson gives the annual George Mackay Brown Memorial Lecture, Quiet Defiance, reflecting on her work with Margaret Tait on Blue Black Permanent (1992) and on Tait’s influence on artists working today.
Gerda Stevenson Poetry Reading & GMB Writing Competition Prizewinners
Friday 9 November
- Friday 9 November 2018
Warehouse Buildings, Stromness
Actor, director and writer Gerda Stevenson – who won a BAFTA for her role as Gerda in Blue Black Permanent (1992) – gives a poetry reading, including work from her recently published second collection, Quines, poems celebrating Scottish women and their achievement.
Where I Am Is Here: Margaret Tait 100
Friday 9 November 2018
Pier Building, Dunoon Film Festival 2018
Introduced by Marissa Keating and Laura Dolan from Glasgow Women’s Library, Where I Am is Here: Margaret Tait 100 includes a selection of the filmmaker and poet’s most significant works, plus the screening of a short documentary on Tait by Keating.
For Margaret
Friday 9 November 2018
Portgower Hall, Helmsdale, hosted by Timespan
Join us for an afternoon celebration of the pioneering Orcadian poet and filmmaker Margaret Tait, featuring a selection of poems read by Peter Todd and Sarah Neely, plus a programme of Tait’s films chosen by Todd, including: Aerial (1974), The Drift Back (1957), John MacFadyen (1970) and Splashing (1966).
Stalking the Image: Margaret Tait and Her Legacy
Thursday 8 November
- Sunday 5 May 2019
Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), Glasgow
Opening Thursday 8 November, 5–8pm
Stalking the Image is a celebration of the life, work and legacy of the pioneering Orcadian filmmaker, painter and poet, Margaret Tait (1918–1999). The exhibition provides an opportunity to honour Tait’s achievements in her centenary year alongside work by nine contemporary artists and filmmakers, many of whom have been inspired by Tait.
Interim Edition: The Margaret Tait Poetry Archive
Thursday 8 November
- Sunday 6 January 2019
Demarco Archive Exhibitions, Summerhall, Edinburgh
This exhibition invites you to explore a selection of archival materials related to Tait’s written work.
Margaret Tait: Film Poet
Thursday 8 November 2018
Eden Court, Inverness, for Inverness Film Festival 2018
This selection of short films is filmed across the two places Tait lived and worked for most of her life, Edinburgh and Orkney, and capture the people and places she was familiar with.
Blue Black Permanent
Wednesday 7 November 2018
Eden Court, Inverness, for Inverness Film Festival 2018
The premiere of a new 2K scan of Blue Black Permanent, Tait’s only feature, which tells the story of a woman coming to terms with the mysterious death of her mother.
Experimenta Presents: Cross-generation Dialogue: The Margaret Tait Award
Monday 5 November 2018
BFI Soutbank, London
Experimenta Presents: Cross-generation Dialogue: The Margaret Tait Award features the three most recent Margaret Tait Award commissions and will include a Q&A with artists Kate Davis, Sarah Forrest and Duncan Marquiss.
Film Poems
Monday 5 November 2018
BFI Southbank, London
Film Poems opens the BFI’s autumn season celebrating Tait and will feature a discussion with writer Anna Coatman, writer So Mayer, academic Lucy Reynolds and season curator Peter Todd.
The days never seem the same
Saturday 3 November
- Saturday 17 November 2018
Northlight Gallery, Stromness
The days never seem the same brings together the work of Gunnie Moberg (1941-2007) and Margaret Tait (1918-99).
Looking In, Looking Out
Saturday 3 November
- Thursday 15 November 2018
Northlight Gallery, Stromness
Looking In, Looking Out is a programme of Margaret Tait’s silent films which study the interiors and exteriors connected to her life and travels in Kirkwall, Edinburgh and Rome.
Seniors’ Programme Matinee: A Portrait of Margaret Tait: Filmmaker and Poet
Monday 29 October 2018
BFI Southbank, London
Join Peter Todd, BFI season curator, for a specially selected and introduced programme of short films from Margaret Tait’s earliest work as part of our centenary celebration of Scotland’s renowned film poet, featuring work from Rome, Edinburgh and Orkney.
Margaret Tait: Film Poet
Sunday 28 October 2018
Film Poet showcases the full breadth of work produced by Tait. Drawn from over thirty short experimental films produced by Tait during her lifetime, this selection of films form part of the body of work Tait referred to as her ‘film poems’.
Between Dream Logic and Poetry: The Avant Garde Imaginings of Gunvor Nelson and Margaret Tait
Saturday 27 October 2018
John Sundholm and Sarah Neely discuss Gunvor Nelson in relation to Scottish filmpoet Margaret Tait.
Herland: Subjects and Sequences, 100 Years of Margaret Tait
Friday 21 September 2018
Herland: Subjects and Sequences, 100 Years of Margaret Tait will showcase historic and contemporary film, poetry, music and more from women creatives inspired by Tait’s work.
Scalarama Skye: A Century of Margaret Tait
Wednesday 19 September 2018
Skye Gathering Hall, Portree, hosted by ATLAS
ATLAS host A Century of Margaret Tait as part of Scalarama Skye. Five selected works show the breadth of Tait’s practice, from experiments with painting directly onto film stock in works such as Calypso (1955) to Portrait of Ga (1952) where Tait creates a personal biography of her mother and life in Orkney where she grew up.
The days never seem the same
Friday 27 July
- Sunday 28 October 2018
Stills, Edinburgh
The days never seem the same brings together the work of Gunnie Moberg (1941-2007) and Margaret Tait (1918-99). Moberg worked primarily with photography and Tait became an influential filmmaker, poet and writer. Both artists shared a strong connection to Orkney: the place, its people and its landscape.
Margaret Tait: film/poems
Saturday 23 June
- Saturday 8 September 2018
Pier Arts Centre, Stromness
Celebrating the work of pioneering Orcadian artist, filmmaker and poet Margaret Tait (1918-99), film/poems opens on Saturday 23 June.