Artists

Davide Bugarin, Angel Cohn Castle

Press release

Bugarin + Castle represent Scotland at the 61st Venice Biennale, curated by Mount Stuart Trust and commissioned by Scotland + Venice. The artistic duo explores interconnected geographies spanning from Scottish castles to Filipino cemeteries, presenting a contemporary queer and trans reimagining of public shaming rituals. Their exhibition unfolds as a carnival-like procession of subversion and defiance. Working across multiple mediums — architecture, moving image, sculpture, and performance — the artists examine shared resonances as well as differences, shaped by personal and cultural histories, particularly emphasizing diasporic connections to the Philippines. The exhibition reimagines centuries-old European shaming customs including rough music, charivari, and scampanate, where spectacle, sound, and costume historically disciplined social transgressors. The artists transform these historical practices into contemporary language by combining fourteenth-century court transcripts, satirical eighteenth-century engravings, karaoke ballads, medieval armour and Filipino vehicle art. Their work constructs a layered world where historic voices and contemporary culture loop together in scenes that balance defiance, play, and intimacy. Shame here is not banished, but stretched to new emotional registers. Key works: At Certayne Tymes — a sculptural work merging mechanical, anatomical, and vocal components; Submit to Sound — a moving image work layering voice feminization exercises with songs created alongside Manila-based band Kalye Teresa; Nocturnal Amusements — a sculptural intervention posing the question: 'Are You Discreet?' as a knowing provocation to viewers. Davide Bugarin has exhibited at the Malta Biennale (2024) and the Italian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale (2025). He completed a research fellowship at The Warburg Institute and has received awards from RIBA, the Worshipful Company of Architects, and Burberry. Angel Cohn Castle serves as Lecturer in Fine Art at Newcastle University. Her work has been commissioned by BBC Scotland, LUX Scotland, and Talbot Rice Gallery, with exhibitions at Kunstmuseum Bonn and BALTIC. She founded Pollyanna, a Scottish queer arts organization now in its tenth year. Work has appeared at Tate Modern, ICA London, Fruitmarket, WHYNoT Space (Philippines), Microscope Gallery (USA), and Krittinen Gallery (Finland). Following Venice, the project will return to Mount Stuart in Summer 2027, followed by additional Scottish venues. Bugarin + Castle: "A decade after meeting in Edinburgh's queer cabaret scene, that spirit 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 lived experience."