ECA alumna Angel Cohn Castle is to represent Scotland at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.
Angel, who graduated with BA (Hons) Intermedia in 2017, is working with Davide Bugarin under the name Bugarin + Castle. The duo will produce a new sculptural, performance and moving image work for the event. The multi-layered project uses the concept of the parade as a lens to explore complex emotional legacies of shame, pride and celebration. Drawing on queer histories, Scottish archives and Filipino cultural heritage, it will examine how sound and costume shape social control. The artists’ interdisciplinary art practice traverses cabaret performance and architectural methodologies, driven by queer and decolonial research.
Bugarin + Castle said: ”We first met performing in the mess and noise of queer cabaret in Edinburgh. A decade later, that spirit still drives our practice. We’re thrilled to show new work together in Venice, transforming the venue with spatial and drag-inflected interventions that confront questions of gendered performance and colonial sound control, rooted in our lived experience. We aim to trouble easy narratives on the contested ground of identity today.”
Angel, who also worked as a Teaching Fellow in Fine Art at ECA, added: “As a student at ECA, I was immersed in a collaborative environment that encouraged me to launch projects I continue to run today, to work off-site in heritage venues, and to create with a critical reflection on materials, processes, and methodologies, unrestrained by medium.
"Returning as a staff member, I found the building still alive with the same passionate energy. These experiences continue to shape the way I work as an artist.”
The work is curated by Mount Stuart Trust and commissioned by Scotland + Venice, a project designed to promote the best of contemporary art and architecture from Scotland on the world stage. Scotland + Venice Chair, Alastair Evans, said: “Scotland + Venice 2026 presents a timely opportunity to showcase the diversity, innovation and internationalism of contemporary Scottish art. This presentation reflects the depth of collaboration, critical engagement and inclusive practice that defines the Programme’s future direction.”
Bugarin + Castle’s work has been exhibited at leading UK institutions including Tate Modern, ICA: Institute of Contemporary Art, Fruitmarket and City Art Centre. Internationally, their work has been shown at Microscope Gallery (USA) and Krittinen Gallery (Finland), and will be in upcoming exhibitions at Tromsø Centre for Contemporary Art (Norway), Photographic Centre Peri (Finland), and WHYNoT Space(Philippines).
The pair’s recent interactive film Sore Throat, shot in Edinburgh and Manila, explored colonial monsters and sound in queer Filipino spaces, showing in a solo exhibition at Fruitmarket as well as at Tate Modern and international venues. Via custom software, gallery audience voices were unknowingly recorded and replayed within the film, implicating them as antagonists in its narrative. Bugarin + Castle also perform in drag as Hairy Teddy Bear and Pollyfilla, through Pollyanna, a Scottish queer arts company founded by Angel, now in its 10th year.
In addition to her work with Davide Bugarin, Angel has been commissioned by BBC Scotland, LUX Scotland and Talbot Rice Gallery, and exhibited at galleries including Kunstmuseum Bonn (Germany) and BALTIC (UK). As founder of Pollyanna, she has produced exhibitions at Royal Scottish Academy, Stirling Castle and international galleries.
The work will be shown in Venice from 9 May to 22 November 2026, and will return for an exhibition at Mount Stuart on Bute in Summer 2027, before further presentations in Scotland, to be announced.
