In celebration of Cove Park’s 25th Anniversary, our sixth Spotlight on 25 is by curator, cultural practitioner, and director of programmes at RAW Material Company Fatima Bintou Rassoul Sy.

‘My colleague, Dulcie Abraham-Altass, and I travelled to Scotland together as part of an institutional exchange residency between Raw Material Company and Cove Park. This was made possible with the support of the Connect & Collaborate fund from the British Council Scotland and Creative Scotland.

Team members and artists from our network travelled across different regions. Juliane Foronda, a Filipina-Canadian artist, organiser and writer, came to Dakar for a six-week residency, during which we encountered her practice. This focuses primarily on objects, interventions and text and is rooted in notions of radical care, feminist hospitality and traditions of gathering. Ibrahima Thiam, a self-taught Senegalese artist and photographer, travelled to Cove Park for a six-week residency, during which he shared his research into memory, archives, African orality, and the myths and legends of the Lebu communities.

This was the first time that RAW Material Company had collaborated with an institution based in Scotland. As curators of programmes at RAW, Dulcie and I were very interested in Cove Park’s structure and residency programme, particularly the alumni programme they had developed, and the ways in which they sustained and nurtured relationships with the Cove Park family they had built up over 19 years. We were excited to learn from the team and their experience, and to encounter a new approach to hosting artists in residence and creating conditions for them to reflect, work and pause. However, what we imagined was very different from reality.

The topography of the island and the architecture of Cove Park provided a valuable lesson in how infrastructure should respect and take into consideration the land. The care and respect for the land that supports the residents and their families is evident in every aspect of life in this space. Every gesture is a conscious effort to protect the environment, the soil, the river, nature and its inhabitants, whether visible or invisible, spiritual or energetic. Cove Park has given us awareness and balance. It enables you to rebalance your inner self before engaging in any kind of work.

I have rich and generous memories of that time. It really allowed us to learn from the team and the supportive network of Cove Park-affiliated institutions, including Creative Scotland and Alexia Holt and her team. They were able to establish strong bonds with colleagues, artists and patrons. We learned how collaboration can happen and how to nurture the working dynamic between different ecosystems.

The audience and the inhabitants of the village entered and left frequently, and became familiar faces. The people grew with the space and its land, and it became normal to stop by for a workshop with an artist or a discussion because they were already familiar with them. Cove Park was theirs before it became ours, so there is a certain logic to the way the families and artists cross paths and share. The hospitality is very similar to what we experienced in Dakar which is rare. However, I also think that the walks and swims create synergies and alliances between the residents. They foster a sense of camaraderie that helps you build and navigate your time there with the necessary support and care.

I would recommend anyone working in this generous but demanding field of Art & Culture to stop by Cove Park at some point. At any stage of your practice and at any point in your career, even just to pause, and no matter where you come from. Cove Park is one of the few places in the world that can meet you at any stage of your journey.

Dear Cove Park team, on behalf of the RAW Material Company Amazons, I would like to wish you many more anniversaries to celebrate and countless blessings on your journey ahead.’