‘I have really enjoyed delving into Aberdeen’s past through the archival material brought together for the All About People Exhibition, I wanted to share my thoughts on certain archival images that particularly inspired or intrigued me.
This archival excerpt is about the funds for The Joint Hospital Scheme and speaks about the future formation of the Foresterhill medical Campus. The Joint Medical Scheme was a plan to bring together the medical educational body and the separate health services into one site and was initially conceived by Professor Mathew Hay. This scheme was achieved and brought together Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, Aberdeen Maternity Hospital and Aberdeen University Medical School. This was revolutionary and allowed medical resources to be shared and developed all in one place and led to the improvement of health care for the people of Aberdeen. This also meant new research could be examined and developed. This excerpt made me really appreciate the medical institutions we have within the city. Through this pandemic I have been really awestruck by the hard work and care employed by all the medical staff.
Overall, this exhibition has made me re-engage with Aberdeen’s people, places and it’s achievements and has reignited my imagination and interest.’
Image courtesy of Aberdeen City Library Bon Accord and Northern Pictorial Archive
Alexandra McGregor is a visual artist and performer based in Aberdeen. Her work explores feminine rites and traditions seeking out and questioning the present and post female. The narratives within her practice are embedded in historical material with her performances acting as recording mechanisms that seek to unearth ideas around the contemporary female.
Alexandra graduated in 2017 from Gray’s School of Art and from 2017-18 was Graduate in Residence for the Contemporary Art department. She has exhibited at the RSA New Contemporaries (2018) at the Scottish National Gallery Edinburgh, and ‘Positive Geographies’ as part of the Look Again festival (2018). More recently she has exhibited and performed in group exhibitions organised by Nomad. Alexandra recently worked as a volunteer Gallery Assistant in The Suttie Arts Space.