Fire on the Mountain, Light on the Hill is a solo exhibition by leading visual and performance artist Mercedes Azpilicueta, originally from Buenos Aires and now based in Amsterdam. The exhibition is part of the Edinburgh Art Festival 2025 programme.
Azpilicueta’s work explores themes of care and resistance, often shining a light on lesser-known stories from history. She platforms the role of women who have made a difference in the past, and who continue to inspire in the present.
At the heart of the exhibition is a major installation titled Potatoes, Riots and Other Imaginaries (2021). This large-scale, mixed-media work brings together historic and contemporary moments, drawing on Azpilicueta’s research into the 1917 Potato riots in the Jordaan neighbourhood of Amsterdam. These protests were led by working-class women who took action during the food shortages of the First World War.
The exhibition also connects to Azpilicueta’s involvement in Ni Una Menos (translated as 'not one less'), a feminist social movement in Argentina campaigning against gender-based violence. She has actively contributed to this grassroots movement since 2015.
Presented in our City Dome Gallery, the installation will be presented in an expanded form – featuring the central monumental human-scale Jaquard tapestry. Sculptural elements reference items of clothing, tools, or utensils associated with labour. A sound piece layers whispered gossip and fragments of songs from social demonstrations. Together, these elements form a rich collage of images and textures, referencing food economies, collective action and women-led global rights movements.
Azpilicueta’s recent exhibitions include a solo exhibition at Centro de Creación Contemporánea de Andalucía-C3A, Córdoba (2024), alongside presentations at the Barbican, London (2024) and Gasworks, London (2021).
The exhibition’s title – Fire on the Mountain, Light on the Hill – is inspired by Donald Smith’s words for the Lyceum Youth Theatre’s performance of ‘Light Assembly – 2000’ on Robert Burns Day, 2000 (Source: Calton Hill, Journeys and Evocations, Luath Press, 2013, page 109).
Exhibition Materials
Our exhibition guide can be found here: written
And here in audio: About the exhibition | About the artist | Artist acknowledgements
An interview with Mercedes Azpilicueta and Sorcha Carey, Collective's Director, can be found here: written | audio coming soon
Live Performance on 22 August
Artist Mercedes Azpilicueta has collaborated with award-winning, Edinburgh based artist and choreographer Janice Parker and other local performers to create this one-off event for the closing weekend of Edinburgh Art Festival.
The performance brings the exhibition to life through movement, using costumes and props that are on display in the exhibition. You can also explore drawings related to the performance in our Library, for a behind-the-scenes look at how the costumes and props were designed.
