Many think of the past in smells, sounds, joys and fears. Recently, I sat down with Robert Montgomery on a stage during the Nuart Aberdeen festival, to try and put words to memories, to think about how language can be an asset for describing our past. Montgomery is a poet, installation artist, conceptual artist, public artist, thinking about language as a way to intervene into our lives and bring a spiritual and personal experience to our public arenas. He is a like a street poet in the 21 century sense. Robert’s work was a highlight of the year’s festival, an 11-meter long sculpture placed in the empty pool of the Bon Accord Baths in the center of Aberdeen. This isn’t the first time Robert’s work, in this context, a collaborative poem, has been placed in long-forgotten spaces. His words become an echo of the past, and bring places and spaces back to life. The work is also about immigration, about community, about sharing life's experiences with others and making others feel welcome. In an era of anti-immigrant politics and the rise of right wing ideology, the new work felt like a counter-argument, a powerful and peaceful resistance: a light poem in the deep end, where fear is replaced by courage and love. In this conversation between Robert and myself, The Unibrow’s Evan Pricco, we connect the dots of Robert’s work and why, as a poet, he found somewhat of a mutual respect and admiration working in public space. The energy of a street art practice connected with Robert. It also connected with Nuart’s founder, Martyn Reed, who has long curated his festival to place unsanctioned art into the context of poetic interventionism. For the 2026 festival, curated under the idea of “Poetry in the Streets,” it was a natural connection to bring Robert back to Scotland. Recorded live at Nuart Aberdeen, at the Lemon Tree, Aberdeen, Scotland, April 2026. Like our recent conversations on the radio channel, we apologize in advance that some of the audio may have a discrepancy in volume due to the live nature of the show. We also have questions from the audience in attendance at the end of the interview, and we thank everyone who participated. And we thank Nuart Aberdeen for their continued support of The Unibrow.
