The DCA hosts Ruth Ewan’s first major solo show in the UK, exploring notions of silence and protest by combining the artist’s ongoing interest in radical histories with new work responding to Dundee’s social heritage.

Ewan is interested in viewing history as alive, relevant and capable of configuring the future. Conceptually led but socially realised, her work takes specific historical images and sounds and renders them ‘active’ through use.

Brank & Heckle combines two conflicting ideas: ‘Brank’ refers to the Scottish word for the Scold’s Bridle, used to silence and torture women, while ‘Heckle’ refers to an act of spontaneous vocal engagement, said to have originated in Dundee’s jute mills.

Brank and Heckle runs from: 12 August 2011 – 9 October 2011