Welcome to DES Talks, lively conversations celebrating creativity from Design Exhibition Scotland.

In this episode Susanna explores the life and work of the outstanding artist Donald Locke who studied at Edinburgh College of Art in the 1960s. Born in Guyana in 1930, Locke's work in ceramic, on canvas, in sculpture and film meld together materials, ideas and politics. It's radical, powerful work. Locke died in 2010.

Susanna is joined by Brenda Locke, Locke's wife and manager of the Donald Locke Estate and curator Tiffany Boyle. Tiffany, co-founded of the curatorial agency Mother Tongue, curated Revisiting the Work of Black Artists in Scotland Through New Collecting at the Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow in 2022. The exhibition which included ceramic work by Locke, vitally raised awareness of his work. Locke's work has since been acquired by Glasgow Museums, National Museums of Scotland and the University of Edinburgh.

A brilliant retrospective exhibition of Locke's work, Resistance Forms, is currently at the Ikon, Birmingham until 22 February 2026. It was previously at Spike Island, Bristol and opens at Camden Arts Centre, London from the 3 April - 6 September 2026.

Further reading / viewing

Curator's talk - Robert Leckie on Resistance Forms
Panel discussion - Hew Locke, Giulia Smith & Robert Leckie on Resistance Forms

Guardian review of Resistance Forms

Mother Tongue on GoMA: Revisiting Black Artists in Scotland Through New Collecting

Tiffany Boyle's article in Map magazine

Donald Locke Foundation

Thank you for listening to DES Talks. Please do spread the word, share, subscribe, rave and rate. We are new to this game and keen to reach as many listeners as possible, far and wide. And do explore our previous podcasts - we explore V&A Dundee's exhibition Thread Memory: Embroidery from Palestine with V&A curator Rachel Dedman and artists Leena Nammari and Aya Haidar; we talk Harvest, Craft Scotland's recent showcase of contemporary craft with curator Stacey Hunter and potter, Samuel Sparrow and weaver, Julia Rebaudo. Or tune into Frances Priest or Cara Guthrie talking about clay and Gráinne Rice discussing the pure beauty of the clothes designed by the visionary textile artist, Bernat Klein.

Design Exhibition Scotland was founded by Susanna Beaumont in 2018 to celebrate and champion making and creating through exhibitions, conversations, commissions and now podcasts.

Production
Ryan Scott Film

Music
Malin Lewis

Welcome to DES Talks! In this episode Susanna is out and about in Edinburgh's port Leith, which lies to the north of the city. It is where the Water of Leith from its source 20 miles south in the Pentland Hills, flows into the Firth of Forth and the onwards into the North Sea. It was once a place of ship building, trade, sea transport and travel - a place of glass works and bottling, soap factories and barrel makers and warehouses.

Today many of these former spaces have been transformed into artist studios and workshops. There’s Coburg House Studios, Cyan Clay Works, SilverHub Studios, Mote exhibition space and Leith School of Art.

Our focus today is on Custom Lane, located beside the Water of Leith and behind an imposing early 19th century building, Custom House. We explore Custom Lane, its gallery space and the exhibition Feminine Literacy; we talk craft, materials and making with Hugo Macdonald, founder of Bard, an intimate haven for the hand-made and we chat to Gunnar Groves Raines, architect and founder of GRAS Studios, who has turned Custom Lane in a thriving space that celebrates art, craft and making. And we hear more on Gunnar's new venture, Brown’s of Leith. Until recently, home to the engineering company, George Brown and Sons, it is now a place to meet, eat and drink with visionary plans to transform the upper spaces in to showcase for craft and design.

We hope you enjoy DES Talks.

Bard is at 1 Customs Wharf Leith Edinburgh EH6 6AL and is open Friday - Sunday 11am - 5pm or by appointment.
Brown's of Leith is at 4 - 6 Shore Leith EH6 6QS and is open Thursday - Sunday 8am - 8pm.
Feminine Literacy was curated and presented by Doyenne Studio.

Thank you for listening to DES Talks. Please do spread the word, share, subscribe, rave and rate. We are new to this game and keen to reach as many listeners as possible, far and wide. And do explore our previous podcasts - we explore V&A Dundee's exhibition Thread Memory: Embroidery from Palestine with V&A curator Rachel Dedman and artists Leena Nammari and Aya Haidar; we talk Harvest, Craft Scotland's recent showcase of contemporary craft with curator Stacey Hunter and potter, Samuel Sparrow and weaver, Julia Rebaudo. Or tune into Frances Priest or Cara Guthrie talking about clay and Gráinne Rice discussing the pure beauty of the clothes designed by the visionary textile artist, Bernat Klein.

Design Exhibition Scotland was founded by Susanna Beaumont in 2018 to celebrate and champion making and creating through exhibitions, conversations, commissions and now podcasts.

Production
Ryan Scott Film

Music
Malin Lewis