Fire on the Mountain, Light on the Hill
2025
Large-scale, mixed-media work: Jacquard tapestry, sound, textile sculptures and ceramics
COLLECTIVE, Edinburgh
20 Jun, 2025 – 7 Sept, 2025
At the heart of Fire on the Mountain, Light on the Hill is a major installation titled Potatoes, Riots and Other Imaginaries (2021). This large-scale, mixed-media work brings together historic and contemporary moments, drawing on Azpilicueta’s research into the 1917 Potato riots in the Jordaan neighbourhood of Amsterdam. These protests were led by working-class women who took action during the food shortages of the First World War.
The exhibition also connects to Azpilicueta’s involvement in Ni Una Menos (translated as ‘not one less’), a feminist social movement in Argentina campaigning against gender-based violence.
Presented at City Dome Gallery, the installation appears in an expanded form – featuring the central monumental human-scale Jacquard tapestry. Sculptural elements reference items of clothing, tools, or utensils associated with labour. A sound piece layers whispered gossip and fragments of songs from social demonstrations. Together, these elements form a rich collage of images and textures, referencing food economies, collective action and women-led global rights movements.
The exhibition’s title – Fire on the Mountain, Light on the Hill – is inspired by Donald Smith’s words for the Lyceum Youth Theatre’s performance of ‘Light Assembly – 2000’ on Robert Burns Day, 2000 (Source: Calton Hill, Journeys and Evocations, Luath Press, 2013, page 109).
Live Performance
A live performance on 22 August, created in collaboration with Scottish choreographer Janice Parker and dancers Carmen Berbel Lapaz and Federica Cologna, formed a key part of the exhibition. Costumes, tools, and ceramics were taken from the gallery display and brought to life in a series of actions linked to the themes of the exhibition and referencing stories of protest and political expression connected to Calton Hill.
Texts adapted from Collective Edinburgh.
Interview with Mercedes Azpilicueta and Sorcha Carey, Collective’s Director.
Credits for Fire on the Mountain, Light on the Hill, 2025:
Textile sculptures and ceramics in collaboration with Anna Leoni Klas
Choreography in collaboration with Janice Parker
Performed with Carmen Berbel-Lapaz and Federica Cologna
Installation by Rob Kennedy and Angelo Castiglioni
Ceramics studio: vuur collective, Amsterdam
Special thanks to Ohad Ben Shimon and Itamar.
The exhibition is supported by the Embassy of the Netherlands and the Mondriaan Fund.
