Emerging Perspectives and Provocative Dialogues: A Review of the Society of Scottish Artists 127th Annual Exhibition

By Ava Palermo

Image: SSA 126th Annual Exhibition, 2024. Photograph Julie Howden

The Society of Scottish Artists (SSA) 127th Annual Exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) Upper Galleries in Edinburgh is one of the cultural highlights of the 2026 Scottish art calendar. Running from 11 January–4 February 2026, the exhibition showcases an expansive range of contemporary artistic practice — from painting and printmaking to immersive installations and experimental media. In celebrating its 135th year, the SSA has once again created an ambitious platform that throws into sharp relief the plurality and vitality of Scottish and international art today.  

Founded in 1891 to promote experimentation and an adventurous spirit in the visual arts, the Society of Scottish Artists remains rooted in inclusivity and creative freedom. It was established by artists seeking an alternative to more traditional exhibition routes and has since grown into one of Scotland’s largest artist-led organisations that welcomes artists from across the globe.  

This year’s exhibition — part of the RSA200 Celebrations marking two centuries since the founding of the Royal Scottish Academy — brings together over 220 artists whose works were selected from more than 2,000 submissions. The sheer scale of the show ensures not only a diversity of voices but also a breadth of media and ideas that reflect the complexity of contemporary life. While some pieces resonate with deeply local concerns, others traverse universal themes of memory, identity, ecology, and belonging. 

127th Annual Exhibition 2026, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.

Upon entering the RSA’s elegant Upper Galleries, the exhibition’s democratic spirit is immediately evident. Rather than hierarchising medium or message, the display encourages dialogue between works of contrasting scale and approach. Among the most striking contributions is Tally Tunnell’s installation A Container Of Contradictory Reflections: Whose Reaching Limbs Recall My Own? — a mixed-media environment that explores human interaction with landscape and concepts of access and ownership. Tunnell’s use of materials ranging from steel and aluminium to delicate Japanese kuranai paper evokes a tension between fragility and structure, suggesting that human control of the natural world is both pervasive and subtle.  

Walking through the galleries, installations like this foreground an important curatorial decision: non-traditional and time-based works are given space and presence alongside painting, print, and sculpture. This emphasis on installation and immersive practice situates the exhibition firmly within contemporary tendencies toward experience-based art. 

Notably, the Annual Exhibition also includes works by invited and established artists whose practices enrich the conversation with new cultural and stylistic perspectives. For example, Canadian artist Ilana Pichon presents a colourful felt and wool wall-piece that recalls playful yet cryptic narratives. Her juxtaposition of abstract forms and whimsical figures generates a visual language that celebrates materiality and memory.  

Similarly, multi-disciplinary artist Divya Sharma weaves ancestral knowledge and collective ritual into her work, imbuing it with a sense of cultural continuity and introspection. Her tapestry-like constructions resonate with themes of migration, identity, and myth, rendering the exhibition a space for intercultural exchange and reflection.  

On a historical note, the SSA has also incorporated works from its earliest presidents — Robert Noble RSA, Robert Buchan Nisbet RSA, and James Cadenhead RSA — on loan from the RSA Collection. These contributions serve to link past and present, reminding viewers of the Society’s long legacy and its ongoing relationship with Scottish artistic institutions.  The variety of practices on display is both a strength and a challenge. On the one hand, the wide range of media and themes creates an invigorating sense of discovery. Each gallery space feels alive with potential conversations between works that might otherwise seem unlikely neighbours. On the other hand, this pluralism can occasionally dilute thematic focus, making it difficult to draw clear connective threads through every room. Yet this is perhaps precisely the point: the contemporary art landscape resists singular narratives, and the SSA’s Annual Exhibition celebrates that very complexity. 

A visitor to the show might move from socially engaged installations to intimate print series, and then to sculpture that resists easy classification. This unpredictability makes for a stimulating, if occasionally demanding, experience. Works do not merely sit in proximity: they converse, contradict, and complicate each other — reflecting the messy, vibrant state of art today. 

SSA 126th Annual Exhibition, Photos: Stewart Attwood 2024.

The Society of Scottish Artists 127th Annual Exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy is a testament to the energy and breadth of contemporary Scottish and international art. Through its embrace of diverse media, inclusive selection processes, and willingness to juxtapose historical works with cutting-edge installation, the show underscores the importance of artist-led platforms in shaping cultural discourse. While its breadth can challenge the viewer, it ultimately rewards engagement with rich visual and conceptual insights. 

Contemporary art lives in plurality — in multiple voices, narratives, and forms — and this exhibition captures that spirit with intelligence and expansive curiosity. For anyone interested in where artistic practice stands in Scotland today, this Annual Exhibition offers an essential, thought-provoking encounter. 

Bibliography 

Society of Scottish Artists, “SSA 127th Annual Exhibition: Honouring Legacy, Embracing the Future at RSA Bicentenary, Edinburgh, January 2026,” Society of Scottish Artists, 19 December 2025, https://www.s-s-a.org/ssa-127th-annual-exhibition/.  

Omur Sahin Keyif, “A Platform to Flourish: SSA 127th Annual at RSA Edinburgh,” ArtMag, 16 January 2026, https://artmag.co.uk/a-platform-to-flourish-ssa-127th-annual-at-rsa-edinburgh/.  

Society of Scottish Artists, “Society of Scottish Artists,” Wikipedia, accessed 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Scottish_Artists.