Fire on the Mountain, Light on the Hill, 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).

Texts adapted from Collective Edinburgh.

Programme

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.