RSA New Contemporaries 2025 — a new generation of artists and architects

It was a real pleasure to convene RSA New Contemporaries 2025 at the Royal Scottish Academy, bringing together work by 63 recent graduates from Scotland’s art and architecture schools.

The process began the previous summer with visits to degree shows across Scotland, always one of the most enjoyable, inspiring and occasionally exhausting parts of the job. I was fortunate to have a terrific team of fellow Academicians working alongside me: Joyce Cairns at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, Mary Bourne at Moray College, Mhairi Killin at Glasgow School of Art, Lorna McIntosh at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design in Dundee, and Ilana Halperin at Edinburgh College of Art.

Each accompanied me on the degree-show visits, bringing their own experience, curiosity and enthusiasm to what can be a demanding selection process. There is always so much interesting work to see, and never quite enough time to see it all. The discussions were lively, thoughtful and occasionally challenging, which is exactly what you want when trying to identify some of the most exciting emerging artists and architects in Scotland.

Joyce, Mary, Mhairi and Lorna then joined me again at the RSA to help curate and install the exhibition. This is where another set of challenges begins: bringing together an extraordinary variety of paintings, sculptures, installations, films, photographs, architectural projects and other work, and finding a way for everything to coexist in the galleries.

They were a fantastic team to work with — thoughtful, generous, practical and good-humoured throughout. Hanging an exhibition of this scale involves countless decisions, occasional compromises, a fair amount of head-scratching and the occasional moment when you wonder whether everything will actually fit! Their judgement, patience and willingness to get stuck in made the whole experience not only manageable but thoroughly enjoyable. I couldn’t have wished for a better group of colleagues.

One of the great pleasures of New Contemporaries is encountering artists and architects at the beginning of their careers, often making work with a confidence, ambition and willingness to experiment that puts some of us older hands to shame. It is a wonderful reminder of the extraordinary breadth of creative talent emerging from Scotland’s art and architecture schools.

It was enormously satisfying to see the exhibition finally installed and particularly enjoyable to meet many of the exhibitors once the show opened. I also had the pleasure of leading a gallery tour with several of the artists, hearing them talk about their work, their experiences at art school and their hopes for the future.

My thanks to Joyce, Mary, Mhairi, Lorna and Ilana for their tremendous contribution to the selection process, and particularly to Joyce, Mary, Mhairi and Lorna for their additional work on the curation and installation. Thanks also to the RSA staff, whose hard work behind the scenes made the exhibition possible.

And, of course, congratulations to all 63 exhibiting artists and architects. It was a privilege to help bring their work to a wider audience, and I look forward to seeing where their practices take them next.

Explore RSA New Contemporaries 2025

Artist-led gallery tour at the RSA