Jean is a warm, charming, humble, easygoing person with a steel and determination in her soul that makes clear her moral compass is firm and secure. You couldn’t feel more at ease with someone, and you know that if you cross a line, she’ll tell you.

Today, she’s keen to celebrate an important moment for the Festival. After many years of being run by five Board members and two Associates the Festival put out a call to attract some new blood, and Jean is brimming with enthusiasm about the influx of five new Board members, quite a few of whom are not entirely locally based, but committed to the regular meetings and Festival attendance.

It tells you something about the spirit of the event, and its appeal in 2023.  I ask Jean what she might say to someone who has never been to PAF about the experience they might have if they come.

“I would say, depending on where they come from, that they’re going to walk into a very attractive village because it has stayed much the same for a very long time, it has a feel about it that you are somewhere different.  And within that setting, there’s a whole range of artwork that you would never see together normally, that you would never see in very many places at all. You can walk round and go into venues and meet people, meet the artists, and spend the whole day doing that if you want to. At the end of it you might feel you’ve been in a slightly different world, that you’ve been visually engaged in a way that in normal day-to-day you’re not, and you might come away feeling perhaps that there’s something in yourself that you are maybe missing, that you maybe need to do, like start painting, start writing, start taking photographs, start being visually connected with the world that, because of social media, phones etc. we are all gradually being disconnected from.”

PAF 2017, Paul Furneaux public workshop

The Festival is built on the community, and the idea of making a direct link between artists and visitors, without intermediaries.

“It’s open access and inclusive. Apart from the invited artists who are our guests and the artist chosen for the Bursary Award, we’re not making choices. We want to bring different kinds of art to this area for the public to come and look at for free.  The public don’t pay to come; they don’t have to buy anything.  They can come and just look; they can meet the artists, they can talk about art with the artist. There’s such a diversity of work that you couldn’t possibly see it all in the one day. Being non-selective there will obviously be some artists that make you say: ‘Oh I don’t really think that’s for me, but somebody else will like it’. “

“Artists now pay to take part and we have to charge because we’re non-funded.  So they pay to come.  If they have a successful year, they’ll want to come back.  And I think every artist learns a little bit more about their practice; how people see their work; how they see their work with other artists around.  The artists like talking to each other and we provide an Artists’ Evening so that they can meet, exchange views, find out what’s going on in the world of art.  I think it’s the open-ness to being able to show your work – any working artist can do it. If they are disappointed, it’s either because they haven’t sold what they hoped to sell; haven’t had feedback that they hoped to hear; and that may make an artist think ‘perhaps I’m not quite ready yet to exhibit.’ It’s a learning process for the artists that do exhibit; and the ones who feel they have been successful, that the visitors have enjoyed their work, they will come back another year.  And if you look at some of the artists who have come for many years, there is a development of their work and they’ve built up a reputation. People say, ‘oh yes, I remember seeing so-and-so’s work’.  They want to go back and have another look another year or ten year’s later to see what they’re doing.  It helps artists get a better idea of what they’re trying to do, because they are exposing their work, and they’re there and they’re hearing back from people. It’s not like sending work to a gallery and if the gallery likes it, that’s great, but they’re not really getting the feedback that most artists want.  They want to know if people like their work.  And if they don’t like their work – fine, but it makes them think, ‘well could I change, is there something that I need to be doing, is this not what I want to do?’

PAF 2011, Kate Downie demonstrates to workshop participants

“Some artists aren’t bothered about exposing their work, they don’t care what people say about it, they just want to do what they’re doing but those aren’t the artists who come here to exhibit. Those who come to Pittenweem want to interact with the public.  So the ethos is a little bit of that, giving them space to do it and obviously artists have got to make a living, so there is the economic side of it for them which is worthwhile.  But then there is also the feedback, the interaction with the public and the other artists.

That’s a special quality: the open access is important, but also the fact that very high quality artists are ready and keen to participate. Without them, the tone would change. Without the best places in the village, the tone would change.  So there’s a fragile fabric to the event that is part of the magic of it.  Am I right?

“It is true; it’s like something that is balanced on a fine thread and the Invited Artists are a very important part of it. That section of the brochure says: ‘this is what we want you to see; this is super; come and have a look’.  And these Invited Artists are delighted to come.  We rarely get somebody saying ‘no’. They want to come. Apart from showing their work in a fantastic area of the country, a big factor is that they actually can curate their own exhibition.  Some of those well known artists who are big names, have said: ‘That was really satisfying being able to hang my own work, where I wanted, how I wanted and then stand back and have the public come in and chat to me about it’.

PAF 2018, Simon Learoyd, PAF Board Member, oversees Glen Onwin’s exhibition set up

That applies to everybody, not just Invited Artists.  That’s one of the huge attractions. People can come and put it up in the way that they want it to be presented, and in the volumes that they want.  They can put up five paintings or they can have 25 paintings.

“Yes, exactly.  They can have what they want; they can show of themselves what they want to say to people.”

Isn’t that an important part of the ethos?  What that means is that when the public engage with an artist they know that the artist is in control.  It’s very different from walking into a gallery, where the gallery management are in control.

“Yes, that’s true.  The galleries say: ‘yes, we’ll have that picture, that picture’. They select what they’ll put up.”

And galleries have got commerce to consider, so they have to put up the pictures that they think they can sell to their clientele.  Whereas the artist might be putting up a selection, some of them perhaps they are proud of, but they will never sell.

“Yes, that’s it.  It’s almost like saying ‘I want you to see this of me: this is me.  Have a look round.’ And you’re laying yourself open, it’s almost as if you are selling part of yourself. People looking at the work you have done is very personal; something that’s got meaning for you.  It doesn’t have meaning for them in the same way.  But for them to turn round and say: ‘Gosh I really like that. What is it, what made you do it?’  That is the challenge for the artist, to drag up from inside – ‘what am I doing, why have I done this?’ - because you may not have had to explain it to somebody before.  And that’s part of being a creative person, it’s that feeling that you want somebody to understand where your creativity comes from. “

You kind of hit that special kernel on the head.

“D’you think?”

It’s not just about the open access, it’s providing the artist with the opportunity to fully express themselves in the way that they want to be expressed to the public and then have the public interact with them in a way that is rare in 2023. There’s not a lot of critical feedback in the contemporary art world. You don’t even get newspaper reports…. you can have a gallery opening and there’s nothing reported.

Another Pittenweem quality is that an artist is not only going to be in control of their own work, but 25,000 people are going to see it.  There is no gallery that can say they will get 25,000 people to come.

PAF 2011, Helen Denerley: Iguana

“That is the other thing that is wonderful about it.  You can have a fantastic exhibition in Edinburgh or anywhere, but in Pittenweem, you could have the same exhibition and you’ll maybe get ten times the number of people coming in and that is an exciting proposition.”

Commerce is such a challenge to this very fragile situation, in that if artists are going to Pittenweem because that’s the best selling place, you end up with a different kind of relationship between the artists and the public.  And of course, there are people who are selling commercially within the Festival and doing very well I suspect?

“Yes some are. E-mails come in from artists that want to register and join, they send in their images, and their blurb and all the rest.  So I have a relationship with them before they get to the Festival.  I know in advance what’s coming and I think although we don’t select, there have been a couple of occasions when I’ve actually said to somebody ‘I think perhaps you might be disappointed in Pittenweem with the type of artwork that you’ve got’. I try to be diplomatic and say ‘perhaps you might want to wait a few more years’ – or something like that.  It has worked on a couple of occasions.”

So a degree of advice is offered to artists. Do you draw any lines? Political activism or voyeurism, for example?

“Perhaps the reputation of the Festival at this point is such that artists get the message.  They go online and look at what has happened in years before;  they see what kind of art is here and they have an idea of what to expect.  If an artist is going to bring something totally unsuitable, then they really have no idea what Pittenweem is about, and it’s at that point that you can guess that it’s ok to say to them that ‘maybe this isn’t the best place for you to exhibit.’  Sometimes, you just have to let a thing go and the public will advise themselves.”

Joyce Laing

“Joyce Laing, the renowned art therapist, and Pittenweem resident, started the Festival in 1982, with very humble beginnings, with nothing like the 25,000 or so visitors that we have now, all from a small exhibition of vintage photographs in the Post Office and a directory to local artists’ studios. The number of artists exhibiting continued to grow as did the Festival’s reputation and in 2002 we became a registered charity. At that time I too was exhibiting.”

“So what she began as an innovative idea has been continued and that’s where, as Chair, with great support of Board members, we have a responsibility to nurture something that started so well. You’ve got to keep it going, you’ve got to keep this kernel of the idea and the feelings and the ethos, you’ve actually got to steer that, to make sure that it’s going to continue, yet to be innovative too.  And there’s no reason why it can’t continue, even though the world is changing around us hugely, people still, because of what Joyce started, will still want to come.”

You give the public an extraordinary experience for free.

“They can come from anywhere.  All they have to do is give us £3 to park their car, that’s all we ask and £3 for a brochure and you’ve got a whole day ahead of you to look at whatever you want to look at and you’ll see artwork that you may think you don’t like, but you will see things, hopefully, that you think ‘Wow! I never knew that existed.  Isn’t that fantastic!’ and talk to strangers in ways that you never thought you could.  When do most people go into a gallery and start talking to an assistant and asking them questions?”

It takes a degree of confidence.

“Yes, whereas here, it’s what you want to do.  You can see who the artist is, they’re not this god, they’re a person who is delighted to talk to you. You’d have to be pretty thick skinned not to talk to them.”

Have there been changes in the time you’ve been involved?.  Do you think the spirit of the thing has changed?  The kernel that you’re talking about, has that changed?

“I don’t think so.  A lot of places would think we’re old fashioned.  And to a certain extent we are, because - and thankfully - this thing that we have, it works, and people want it and they want to come. I keep an eye on what other Festivals are doing but know that often it’s with a huge amount of funding.”

“ART@47 is our office-cum-gallery space and that has been the biggest development in my time as chair. The festival bought the building from Fife Council in 2010 and with grants it was totally refurbished and opened in 2012. After that, I swore never to fill in another form for funding. Being on the High Street, it’s central to festival activity but at other times, it’s a lovely gallery space and we’ve curated many exhibitions or hired it to artists.”

Art@47 Exhibition Space

“So we don’t have funding, except that, post Covid, one of our regular exhibitors wanted to ensure our financial survival with a yearly donation. As it was generously given, it was graciously accepted and we agreed to use it to pay for the Bursary Awards. We have to look very carefully at what we are doing with the money that comes in, of which half is from artists’ registration fees. So we have to provide for the artists. We give them support, and then we provide services for visitors; parking, toilets, food marquee etc.  That costs a lot of money. But it’s well spent. Public expectations for attending an event are high. Many travel the length of Britain to come and we must cater for them to ensure they have a good time and want to return. About 10% of our visitors arrive from abroad.”

If there was a professional administration, would it feel different?

“It would.  But we can’t afford that anyway. I have stuck out not to have outside funding because I think it undermines any kind of freedom you have, to do what you want, and you can feel owned by a body that is giving you money. Then they want a post event report. I’d rather do something where enthusiastic volunteers said ‘We want to do this, because we enjoy it’.  We’ve had many discussions about how we carry on into the future.  Getting an administrator has often been mentioned, and I’ve always said, ‘that’s not the answer’.  As soon as you have a paid administrator, you lose something because you’ve got one person who’s getting paid and you create inequality. So I’ve always said: ‘No, we don’t need an administrator.’  As long as you’ve got enough people who are keen to do something and they are doing it well the reward is being involved with lots of creative people, lots of interesting people and you’re enabling the public to be part of that for seven days of a year.”

The governance and the management seem to be almost as important as what you do.

Jean Duncan at the PAF Preview 2018 (with Derek Robertson, Menzies Campbell)

“Yes, it is. It underpins the ethos.  Because you wouldn’t have that same ethos if you had somebody who was in here, sharing the tasks that we all do but paid.  It would create a hierarchy.  You wouldn’t have that sense of loyalty.  That’s the other thing.  The people who come to Pittenweem have a certain loyalty to it.  They feel that they have such a great time, they are very appreciative and they know that it is run by volunteers. They know there’s a group of people behind it.  We get so many really nice thank you letters and e-mails because there’s not much else run by volunteers the size of what we’re doing and for the length of time that we’ve done it.  So we’re obviously getting something right, you know, it works.  With the right management it will go on and that recent influx of more Directors, that ensures we’ve got succession.”

Has PAF changed the village?  Are there more artists and artistically inclined people in the village?

“Yes, at the last count there were about 20 – 25 artists who are living in the village and working full time or off and on.  But the scenery of the East Neuk has always attracted painters.”

Over a period of 40 years, the artist community has grown quite considerably. Has that artistic element affected the wider community? Is there a greater interest and tolerance than there was?

“Yes there is. New people moving into Pittenweem are often attracted by the festival’s reputation. They like the atmosphere of the village. Residents generously put up with the upheaval, the inconvenience of extra people and traffic although some still object to the festival. But of course there’s the  economic benefit to the village, businesses and holiday accommodation.”

“People know who we are, they see us preparing the venues for the Invited Artists, cleaning, painting railings, doors etc, and are generally supportive.”

You mean the Board do much of the work themselves?

“Yes, I mean if we need to, we clean toilets, we have to be practical!  But you see, that’s part of it as well.  You take ownership of what you are doing. We pay  stewards to help with the heavy work involving traffic management and car parking. We employ a toilet cleaning company. But a lot that needs done is voluntary.”

I would have thought that one of the challenges was maintaining the spaces for the artists.

“Well actually you would think that: you would think if there is nowhere for them to show, what are they or we going to do?  I don’t know how artists find venues!  It always amazes me. Well, we always say that we can’t help them find anywhere as it’s a historical thing. It goes way back to the early days when the artists who exhibited did so in their own houses.  So they didn’t have to find somewhere like they do now.  However, within the artists’ community, there’s a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, and social media certainly has helped.  So somebody can say that they’ve found this great venue and they can take somebody else, and offer to share it.  A lot of that goes on. But there are some lovely finds.  The minister of our local Episcopal church is a musician and married to a painter. I asked him if we could use the church as a venue, and he said, ‘yes, I want to open up the church to everyone’. As venues go, it was a superb setting for the right artist.”

And that was where Lynn McGregor was in 2022?

“Yes, she was stuck for a venue. The harbour master didn’t want to open his office, because of Covid issues. And I thought: ‘Well, if Lynn can’t come that’s awful’.  So I stepped in.”

You understand that if Lynn McGregor isn’t here, Pittenweem is not the same.

“That’s it. If she doesn’t come, we’d have hundreds of people saying ‘why is Lynn not here?’”

Possibly thousands. It’s the quality that she brings and her personality.  She’s an important factor. And that applies to many of the ‘weel-kent’ regular artists too.

What are your hopes are for 2023? Have you chosen the invited artists?

A Warrior by Olga Krasanova, Fife Dunfermline Printmakers, PAF,2022

“Yes we have. We always invite a painter. Edinburgh-based Joyce Gunn Cairns has a very sensitive, personal, style, a completely different art form from last year’s Fife Dunfermline Printmakers, a highly successful show with a whole mix of different styles. You’ve got to have something that makes people go ‘Oh wow!’, not something expected or something that they’ve already seen. I know that people in Edinburgh and elsewhere can see Joyce’s work.  But she’s never been over here.”

“And Helen Kemp, the ceramicist, has agreed to take part. She makes bright, colourful figures and painted small furniture. I first saw her ceramics when I worked in the Courtyard Gallery in Crail many years ago. Her venue is The Old Men’s Club, a wee cottage that works well for craft. And we thought, ‘Helen Kemp: now that’s sellable, it’s attractive and it would be popular.’”

“In 2008, when I took over from Joyce Laing, as the festival’s new chair, she drove me to a unique museum in historic Wemyss, once a centre of Fife’s extensive coal mining industry. The Wemyss School of Needlework is filled with beautiful embroidered panels, stitched fabrics, quilts, chair covers and cushions from as far back as the late 19th century, and with world-wide influences. It was the result of meticulous training for young women in those arts necessary for a life in service, the main employment option for poorer women at that time.”

“15 years later, I recently visited again because my partner wanted advice and materials for a planned project. The School has been modernised and added to. While he was choosing crewel wools and canvas I spent an inspiring hour admiring everything on display.”

“We came away with some lovely materials and the thought: ‘Wouldn’t it be great to invite the school to exhibit at the festival?’ So we did and they agreed.”

“Sometimes things just fall into your lap like that”

PAF 2019, Brochure Cover/Poster

Do you have close links with other arts organisations?

“Not really. If you spread yourself too wide, it crumbles at the edges.  So if you start thinking ‘we could join up with so-and-so and so-and-so’, you don’t have that core, that strong core that you need, which is why I’ve always been put off. There’s no reason to double up and join in and do bits and pieces here and there with everybody. I think if you can be your own person, be your own Festival, you have got a better chance of surviving because you haven’t got the weak links that you have when you have too many things going on.”

If you had an ideal world, what would you like to see in Pittenweem in the next 25 years?

“Hmmmm.  Gosh! I’ve never really thought about that. I tend to think about this year and next year.  I don’t have a big vision, and we don’t have an ideal world because times are changing so quickly that you really don’t know what’s coming next - how it’s going to be with climate change and sea levels rising? The Festival is on the coast. In 25 years I won’t be here, but the festival hopefully will, with new people making decisions about its form and responding to the times they are in, how that will affect the festival. I would like the festival to continue and innovate but remain a peaceful village that brings art for all to enjoy”.

Ideally, you just want the situation to stay the same and for the Festival to carry on doing what it does.  But let’s imagine someone came along with a lot of no-strings attached money.

“I’d say that’s very kind of you to offer, but no thanks.”

Are you sure? What if you could buy another building that the Festival could use? You could have an artist’s residency…

“One building is sufficient. It’s like having a second home.  Why do you need a second home? Adding things on starts pulling you away… If somebody came with a load of money, there’s always strings attached, always.  They might not want anything back, but they’ve invested in something.  They’ve invested in a part of what you’ve got.”

Talk about steel and resolve. You can depend on it.

The Artists’ View

Some of Scotland’s leading artists commit to exhibiting at Pittenweem annually. Morag Muir PAI RSW and Lynn McGregor RSW are two of the prime examples. They have been participating for decades. We thought it would be interesting to have their perspective on the Festival.

I started by asking them what is it that makes Pittenweem Arts Festival so special, what are its essential ingredients?

MM: “I think that Pittenweem Arts Festival is unique. The location, the diversity and the sense of community is extraordinary. The audience is very special. I’ve been exhibiting at PAF for some 20 years and have encountered people from every continent. Whilst individuals may have varying tastes in art, they nevertheless bring tremendous enthusiasm and appreciation for the exhibiting artists, and they revel in the beauty and charm of the East Neuk location. From my perspective I feel that this is invaluable – it’s a joy to welcome people in, and to be fuelled by the incredible encouragement that they offer.”

LM: “I was born in Pittenweem so I may be biased! For me, it was the jewel in the East Neuk crown even before the arts festival, as the quintessential picture-perfect harbour village, but the festival has added an exciting and forward-looking dimension by providing a showcase for Scottish creative endeavour in all its forms.”

How has it changed over time, and has it changed Pittenweem?

MM: “The Festival has grown in scale and popularity. It has undoubtedly changed Pittenweem to some degree. It is a small village which encounters a huge influx of visitors in a very condensed period of time each summer, and this will inevitably cause a degree of disruption to normal working life in what is, after all, a very active and busy fishing port. There’s no doubt that the festival has promoted the inherent charms of the location to a much wider audience and I suspect that many people can thank the festival for their introduction to the East Neuk. I have many friends in Pittenweem, and I am a regular visitor to the village, but I’m not a resident, so I can only speculate on the impact of the festival in terms of the community. From my own perspective the festival has been very influential in my career as it has exposed me to many international buyers and gallery owners throughout the UK over the past 20 years.”

LM: “I first took part in 1998, when there were far fewer venues and a few thousand visitors, so the most obvious change since then has been in scale. There are now more than a hundred venues, the Festival attracts well over 25,000 visitors over eight days, and there is a growing community of artists in full-time residence – more than once I have heard the village called the ‘St Ives of the North’, and of course the influx of visitors and the increasing awareness, through the festival, of Pittenweem as a summer destination, have been good news for so many local businesses. The fact that Pittenweem has remained a vibrant fishing village with a busy harbour while the festival has evolved alongside, makes it even more special.”

In a survey of the current Scottish art scene, what is PAF’s place?

MM: “Pittenweem has its own place and personality. It’s a Festival event that celebrates professional and amateur artists alike, and it is very much stronger for encouraging this sensibility. I think it avoids any sense of stuffiness that you might encounter elsewhere. It’s about enthusiasts and artists coming together to enjoy and celebrate a common passion, in a uniquely beautiful place. It’s wonderful to stumble upon the innumerable nooks and crannies that suddenly morph into exhibition spaces, and to encounter enthusiastic and heartfelt conversations and commentaries on art.”

LM: “The festival always starts on the first Saturday of August, so it coincides nicely with Edinburgh International Festival, and I have been increasingly struck by how many visitors to my own venue have put both festivals on their itinerary – for lovers of art from all over the world, Pittenweem Arts Festival is now well and truly on the radar.”

What role do you think Jean Duncan and her fellow board members have played?

MM: “Jean Duncan has been a champion and a keystone for the Festival as long as I can remember. Jean and her team put an extraordinary amount of work into, what has become, an enormous and signature event in the Scottish Arts Calendar. I feel that the work of Jean and the board – all of which is voluntary – often goes unappreciated and much of it is invisible to the wider community. The event requires a huge amount of detailed organisation with a lot of different stakeholders to take into account. You have to be an extremely capable and resilient individual to cope with the challenges of coordinating such a large event, and Jean has been an inspirational figurehead throughout.”

LM: “Every year, Jean and the board pull off the amazing feat of accommodating the interests of community, artists and visitors all at the same time, to provide a unique showcase for Scottish talent – it’s a professional operation, for which I’m full of admiration!”

All photos are by Bradley Bailey, who retains the copyright.

Pittenweem Art Festival will take place from August 5-12, 2023. For further information: https://pittenweemartsfestival.co.uk/