Project

Margaret Tait Commission

The Margaret Tait Commission is a LUX Scotland project delivered in partnership with Glasgow Film, with support from Creative Scotland. Inspired by the pioneering Orcadian filmmaker and writer Margaret Tait (1918 – 99), the opportunity was established by Glasgow Film in 2009 to support experimental and innovative artists working with the moving image, providing a high profile platform for them to exhibit newly commissioned work and engage with a wider audience. Previously known as the Margaret Tait Award, the name was changed in 2023 to more accurately reflect the opportunity.

Due to funding limitations there will be no Margaret Tait Commission 2024, but we look forward to presenting Isabel Barfod’s forthcoming commission at Glasgow Film Festival 2024, and touring Andrew Black and Sulaïman Majali’s commissions over the coming year.

We would like to thank all the artists and partners who have taken part and been involved in the opportunity since its inception in 2009, and we look forward to bringing the commission back soon.

More about the commission

Each year, the Commission is presented to an artist based in Scotland who has established a significant body of work over the past 5 – 10 years; is recognised by peers for their contribution to the artists’ moving image sector; and can demonstrate the significant impact that the award will have on the development of their practice. This year the recipient of the award will receive the increased budget of £20,000 to produce an ambitious new work including an artist fee of £6,440. The film will premiere at Glasgow Film Festival the following year and will subsequently tour with LUX Scotland, including a solo exhibition at LUX’s exhibition space in London.

Eligible artists are nominated through an open call process, which allows anyone (the general public, as well as arts professionals and artists) both within and outwith Scotland to put forward an artist. Nominations are assessed by a panel of artists and professionals from across the fields of the visual arts and film. Shortlisted artists are then asked to present proposals for the commission. Shortlisted artists are paid a fee for their time and those not selected for the award are offered a session with one panel member to talk about their work in more detail.

Recipients

2023: Isabel Barfod

Shortlist: Renèe Helèna Browne, Rhona Mühlebach, and George Finlay Ramsay

2022: Sulaïman Majali

Shortlist: Sekai Machache, Rae-Yen Song, and Natasha Thembiso Ruwona

2021: Andrew Black

Shortlisted: Christian Noelle Charles, Winnie Herbstein, Mathew Wayne Parkin, and Tako Taal

2020: Emilia Beatriz

Shortlisted: Sulaïman Majali, Kimberley O’Neill, and Hardeep Pandhal

2019: Jamie Crewe, Ashley

Shortlisted: Winnie Herbstein, Margaret Salmon and Stuart Middleton.

2018: Alberta Whittle, between a whisper and a cry

Shortlisted: Aideen Doran, Rob Kennedy and Corin Sworn.

2017: Sarah Forrest, April

Shortlisted: Jamie Crewe, Margaret Salmon and Kimberley O’Neill.

2016: Kate Davis, Charity

Shortlisted: Aideen Doran, Hardeep Pandhal, Catherine Street and Stina Wirfelt.

2015: Duncan Marquiss, Evolutionary Jerks and Gradualist Creeps

Shortlisted: Kathryn Elkin, Rob Kennedy, and Hardeep Pandhal.

2014: Charlotte Prodger, The Stoneymollan Trail

Shortlisted: Allison Gibbs, Beagles and Ramsay, Kari Robertson, Kathryn Elkin and Katy Dove.

2013: Rachel Maclean, A Whole New World

Shortlisted: Michelle Hannah, Rob Kennedy, Sophie Macpherson, Gillian Steel, Sarah Tripp, and Stina Wirfelt.

2012: Stephen Sutcliffe, Outwork

Shortlisted: Calum Stirling, Katri Walker, Rachel MacLean, Stina Wirfelt and Stuart Gurden.

2011: Anne-Marie Copestake, And Under That

2010: Torsten Lauschmann, At The Heart of Everything is a Row of Holes

Shortlisted: Aileen Campbell, Sarah Tripp, Henry Coombes, Alexander and Susan Maris.