CRI听力:Artists Debate Over Commonwealth and Referendum at Edinburgh Festival

The annual Edinburgh Festival is now uderway with a month-long calendar featuring works by some 100 emerging international artists.

Artists at the exhibition are shedding light on a number of historic events that will help determine Scotland's future, including the upcoming independence referendum and Scotland's place in the Commonwealth.

CRI's UK correspondent DuanXuelian has more.

'Where Do I End and You Begin' is a group exhibition put up by five curators from commonwealth countries including New Zealand, Canada and India. Held across the four floors of Edinburgh's City Art Center, the works of over 20 young artists contemplate on what it means to join 'common' with 'wealth'.

Indian curator VidyaShivadas put her emphasis on the functions of the Commonwealth in the world today.

"It's an interesting lens through which to look at the Commonwealth in a contemporary global context. We have a certain distance from the idea of the Commonwealth and we are also debating whether it is still relevant today, whether it's outdated or can it transform into something else, such as new ways of thinking or a common future. "

The exhibition is also part of the Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme as the city plays host of the 20th Commonwealth Games. Sorcha Carey, Director of Edinburgh Art Festival, says the significant events that are happening in Scotland will inevitably leave their marks on this year's festival.

"It's really extraordinary that in a year when Scotland is having major sporting events and national referendum that we can make sure that art has a very important voice in that, in helping people to have those conversations."

The upcoming national referendum dominates the social and political discussions in Scotland. Sorcha Carey believes it's the artists' role to evoke people's ideas rather than interfere with their decisions.

"We don't feel it's our role to influence their individual opinion about how they vote. But I think what our projects will do is allow people to talk about it and create a space where people can think about democracy and citizenship, where people can think about their own national identity and how they see our own individual identity in relation to our place in the wider world."

Kathleen Ritter is a curator. Like many others, she holds conservative ideas about the referendum, which she feels "grueling".

"Canada is a country that has had referendums as well. They were on Quebec independence and those have always been incredibly charged moments in Canadian history. So I certainly sympathies with them. The real debate starts happening in Scotland right now. "
Another historical topic for artists at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival is the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. According to the festival programme, a massive video installation by Indian artist Nalini Malani will be projected onto the external walls of the National Gallery of Scotland. And on the 4th of August, international artists will join hands in the 'Lights Out' campaign to mark the beginning of the First World War.

For CRI, I'm Duan Xuelian, reporting from Edinburgh.