Hello

Look Again hosts a range of events and exhibitions throughout the year all designed to connect, highlight and strengthen the creative sector and community in North East Scotland. Some of the projects we run include the Look Again Project Space in St Andrew Street, part of a wider project to animate empty spaces in the city centre, our LACER funded programme - At This Place, the Create Networks programme and pop-up events like Art Pints. 

Look Again Festival was a yearly event taking place across Aberdeen, inviting artists and designers to respond to place and people, animating public space and seeing the city through inspiring fresh eyes. The festival brought the creative community together, creating opportunities for students, emerging creatives and established professionals to present new work, develop their career and engage with the public. 

 Look Again is a creative unit based at Gray’s School of Art, Robert Gordon University. With project support from Creative Scotland and Aberdeen City Council.

Meet The Team

Previous Project Impacts

Cultivate: Creative Industries research and support

Since 2016, Look Again has developed ‘Cultivate’, a research strand that is part of Creative Futures at Gray’s School of Art. Leading on the development of the creative industries in Aberdeen and the North East of Scotland, this work explores a range of models and methodologies to support skills development and entrepreneurship for individual creatives and collectives.  

Adopting an action research approach, and building on the Collective Futures research project, this work includes mentoring and experiential learning programmes to support a place-based approach to cultivating the creative sector, and impacting on talent retention within the region. 

The work began  2016 with Look and Learn, a mentored micro-residency programme for a group of emerging creatives, developed and delivered in partnership with Aberdeen City Council Creative Learning team, and funded through Creative Scotland’ ‘Time to Shine’ youth arts development initiative. 

The project focused on models and methodologies to develop participatory practices among recent graduates and senior phase school students, and explored the cultivation of creative collectives. View the Look & Learn project report here. 

In 2017 Look Again secured funding for ‘Flag Up’, a mentored programme of socially-engaged place-based co-design for a group of recent graduate designers, with inputs from Glasgow based design practice Pidgin Perfect, London based Build UP foundation and Leith Festival. It resulted in Flag UP as part of Look Again festival 2018. Project information here.   

In 2018 Look Again secured Creative Scotland funding for Cultivate, a progamme of creative industries development that included an extensive creative business survey, further consultation,  a programme of business mentoring and a series of networking events launched in partnership with Creative Dundee. View the project report here. 

Building on this,  Look Again continued with Cultivate 2, an ongoing (until end 2020) project including a creative business incubator programme and mentoring and networking events,  also funded by Creative Scotland. 

In partnership with the Robert Gordon University Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group, Look Again designed and delivered a Creative Accelerator during summer 2019.

During 2020 this work has developed into the new Creative Entrepreneurship short course, supported by SFC Upskilling funds, which in response to Covid-19 was delivered virtually, enabling reach beyond the north east to the rest of Scotland.

Links and articles:

https://www.societyaberdeen.co.uk/news/aberdeen-creative-businesses-rgu-startup/
https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/news/local/business-project-for-students/
https://scottishbusinessnews.net/rgu-launches-accelerator-to-support-next-generation-of-creatives/
https://www.scotsman.com/regions/aberdeen-and-north-east/dozen-creative-businesses-named-rgu-start-programme-1416801