Janet Watson wrote:Could an art project in Portobello be the next step towards transforming it into the forth Riviera?
It may be some time since the brass bands played "tiddley-om-pom-pom" beside Edinburgh's seaside, but there's one thing for sure, the residents of Portobello, and of the city generally, still like to "stroll along the prom, prom prom". The prom is a Porty institution.
A mile long, stretching from Joppa's distinctive pumping station in the east, to just past Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home in the west, the stretch of Tarmac with its eclectic assortment of cafes, amusement arcades and pubs is well used daily by walkers, runners, cyclists and families enjoying beach days at weekends and during school holidays.
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Public arts trust Big Things on the Beach, chaired by Damian Killeen, has been asking just that question. In an effort to engage with a city-wide plan based on design guru Sir Terry Farrell's vision of developing Edinburgh's 11km of coastline, the community project – set up in 2003, as Killeen says, to "enliven Portobello by inviting professional artists to create public works for public spaces in the area" – has asked more than 3,000 prom users to Imagine Porty Prom!
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"It's all about making the absolute most of what we've got in Portobello," nods Killeen, and Kinsley agrees. "We have a real opportunity to improve things by keeping awareness of the project high. We have to keep it under the council's nose, build on it, keep working away, keep discussion going and people involved so when the economic situation changes, we're here and there is a degree of prioritisation saying 'let's do this'.
Says Killeen: "It's a concept to be developed, for the public, artists and others. The prom is a liminal space, an inbetween type of space: the space between what you know and what you don't, where anything can happen."
So there's a plan, and a will to see it through. Now Portobello must wait for the money, but hopefully, BTOtB's Big Idea will come to fruition, with its attendant artworks and cohesion. Watch that liminal space, and imagine Porty prom, prom, prom…
http://www.bigthingsonthebeach.org.uk
