Mount Stuart Trust has announced a second major contemporary art moment in the calendar for 2025 – Recovery Island by Thomas Abercromby.
Scottish artist Thomas Abercromby has been spending the past months embedded in the Isle of Bute community, working closely with a local recovery group, We Are With You, through a series of creative workshops, interviews, and sensory walks. Alongside this, Thomas has been exploring the gardens of Mount Stuart and other green spaces across the island as spaces of memory, care, and transformation.
The work resulting from his research takes the form of a new multisensory installation that will include a multi-channel sound and scent work, designed to be experienced across the house at Mount Stuart. The project, rooted in abolitionist thinking, takes place on a semi-fictional “Recovery Island,” where each track follows the personal story of an individual in recovery, whether from addiction, grief, trauma, or physical illness.
Blending real-life testimonies with poetic fiction, each sound piece is paired with a distinct scent forming a sensory narrative of healing and resilience. Within his work the garden becomes not only a setting but a central metaphor: an active site of recovery, memory, and social imagination.
“Embedding myself in the Isle of Bute community over these past months has reshaped how I see abolition’s role in both recovery and art. This project is rooted in abolitionist thought dismantling old systems of harm so we can build new worlds of care. By reimagining my late father’s garden as it could have been, as a story of addiction the garden itself becomes a site of healing and limitless potential. Each sound and scent guides you through this ‘Recovery Island,’ showing how, with collective care, loss can transform into new growth.”
said Thomas Abercromby
Morven Gregor said,
“It has been a moving experience working with Thomas, his collaborators, including scent artist Clara Weale, the Bute We Are With You group and members of the Mount Stuart gardening team. Transforming engaged practices into exhibition material is an area of particular expertise which Thomas handles with grace, sincerity and understanding.”
Thomas Abercromby , Recovery Island, 13th September – 19th October Mount Stuart
A full programme of 30th anniversary events can be found HERE
About the artist
Thomas Abercromby is an artist and independent curator based between Glasgow and Oslo.His work spans various mediums, including films, sculptures, installations, and pedagogical programming. Central to both his studio and curatorial practice is the exploration of how micro-utopias can be created, spotlighting underrepresented histories and contemporary narratives that challenge and critique prevailing power structures within Western society.
His background in community activism and fine art has been instrumental in critiquing the organisational structures of advanced capitalist societies, particularly in areas like labour, abolition, social class, and environmental issues. He is interested in delving into the nature and impact of representation in art, focusing on communities frequently marginalised in mainstream discourse. He works with a host of individuals, from children to academics to prisoners and activists, to encourage the development of new social narratives, contributing to a broader understanding and reevaluation of societal norms.
Upcoming projects and recent exhibitions include Hvitsten Salong 2024 “ The School of Mutants” at CCA, Glasgow (2024) “Madeinroath” at g|39, Cardiff “John” at CollectiveGallery, Edinburgh (2023); “The School of Abolition” in Glasgow & Birmingham at Glasgow Sculpture Studios & Grand Union Gallery (2019 – ongoing); “Rocabarraigh” at Market Gallery, Glasgow (2022); and “The Sea” at Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum & Art Gallery,Lochmaddy (2022), Seed Library” at CCA, Glasgow (2019).
Mount Stuart is an extraordinary Neo-Gothic mansion on the Island of Bute. Since 2001, this unorthodox building has provided both the inspiration and location for an acclaimed Contemporary Visual Arts Programme. The Programme enables the Trust to promote and facilitate interest in the contemporary visual arts and bring exhibitions of international standard to Bute and Argyll. Each exhibition is complemented by a programme of events, publications and educational activities. Exhibiting artists have included Martin Boyce, Ilana Halperin, Sekai Machache, Monster Chetwynd, Martin Boyce, Abbas Akhavan and Christine Borland. Mount Stuart’s Contemporary Visual Arts Programme is supported by Creative Scotland @mount_stuart_visual_arts
