Festival programme: Tongue-in-cheek humour or a bad taste joke?

Published on Friday 27 March 2009 09:01

THE glossy brochures are already winging their way across the globe to an international audience of culture fans.

With 450,000 printed, lovers of classical music and theatre will soon be flicking through its pages, deciding whether to attend the Edinburgh International Festival, and what to see if they do go.

Will these refined arts lovers be quite so keen to book their tickets , plane seats, hotel rooms and restaurant reservations if they take a second glance at the cover of the Edinburgh International Festival programme?

For if they look closely, they'll realise that those delicate, candy-pink drawings, depicting Edinburgh landmarks such as Greyfriars Bobby and St Giles Cathedral aren't quite as charming as they first appear.

The Royal Mile statue of philosopher David Hume is topped with a traffic cone, while around his feet are beggars shivering in blankets. Two figures are vomiting and urinating into poor Bobby's fountain.

In fact, every image scattered across the cover – which is designed by Glasgow firm Timorous Beasties – seems designed to portray Edinburgh in the bleakest light, with junk food, traffic chaos, drunks and the homeless populating its scenes.

Isn't it an odd choice though, given that the Festival is perhaps the city's most important platform for promoting itself around the world?

Certainly not, says the city council, which this year is contributing 2.47 million of taxpayers' money from a total of around 5m in public funding to the International Festival – more than enough to cover the cost of commissioning the design.

In a statement, Councillor Deidre Brock, Culture Leader, defended the design and said: "Timorous Beasties are well known for depicting cities with a wry and often risqu humour in their 'Toiles' series. I'm personally delighted that we now have our own Edinburgh Toile, and I'm sure people seeing it on the Edinburgh International Festival's promotional materials will take it in the spirit in which it's intended.

"All art is a matter of individual taste, and this is no exception."

It's the kind of humour which plenty of others say few will find very funny though.

Tory city councillor Jason Rust, the group's economic development spokesman, says: "Hard-pressed taxpayers will not be happy that at this time of economic woes, money is being wasted in this fashion. Public funds would be far better spent promoting the city.

"Provoking debate and having a bit of humour is all well and good but these images are clearly way off beam."

Tory MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, David McLetchie, and Independent MSP for Lothians, Margo MacDonald, have also condemned the designs produced by Timorous Beasties which spent three months creating them from a commission by the EIF to come up with a cover featuring an "amusing" twist on the theme of the 18th Century Enlightenment. The controversial designs also appear on Festival bags, adverts, and taxis.

Do the city's tourist shops think the images should be slapped on mugs and T-shirts to be snapped up by tourists? Not according to Cathi Cowan, 55, a partner in Costume Ha Ha in the Grassmarket and Aha Ha Ha Jokes and Novelties on West Bow: "I don't think it's a good idea at all. It could put tourists off coming to Edinburgh."

An EIF spokeswoman said: "It is an unflinching view of a modern city. Edinburgh International Festival is an art festival and we would hope people would see it from that context. There is more to a book than its cover, and there is a lot more to the Festival than the cover of the brochure."

WHAT THEY SAY

Ron Hewitt

Chief executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce

"It's a classic case of shooting ourselves in the foot. Whilst we accept that it is a tongue-in-cheek approach, this is an inappropriate place to be doing that because the International Festival is our leading shop window on the world."

Colin Paton

Chairman of the Edinburgh Principal Hotels Association

"I just don't see what value they add to the Edinburgh International Festival programme and it is a possibility that they could put visitors to the Festival off."

VisitScotland

"We recognise that the work of the Festival is designed to be stimulating and challenging but in order to promote Edinburgh as a holiday destination, VisitScotland marketing would concentrate more on more traditional imagery and highlights of Edinburgh."

Paul Simmons

Co-owner of Glasgow design firm Timorous Beasties

"There's nothing in there that I haven't seen, experienced or witnessed – or even done myself. If people think that it is promoting Edinburgh in a negative light, I guess these are people that want the whole world to be painted as a frilly place where nothing bad or untoward ever happens.

"All I have done is portray what I think most people would understand and actually relate to in terms of it having quite a lot of realism."