In the heart of the Scottish Highlands, quite some way from the typical hotspots of the arts and culture scene, but not too far from Balmoral, there is a very special hotel: “The Fife Arms”, named after the Duke of Fife, has been drawing royalists as well as art lovers and whisky aficionados to the small town of Braemar for several years now. Despite being rather manageable in size, the tranquil village approximately 2.5 hours' drive north of Edinburgh is the main town of the Cairngorms National Park and an important base for anyone wanting to explore the surrounding highlands. In addition, thanks to its aforementioned proximity to the Windsors' country estate, it is one of the most important venues for the Highland Games. This annually held event sees athletes compete in disciplines as obscure as log throwing or tug o’ war. It is a spectacle complete with all the frills -- such as bagpipe regiments -- and every year on the first Saturday of September it attracts as many as 20,000 visitors including members of the Royal family -- numbers that would only have been surpassed during Queen Elizabeth II’s cortège in 2022.
As small as Braemar may be, it enjoys a lively social and cultural life that many larger towns can only dream of. One of the churches in town – there are actually several of them – has been converted into a cultural centre for musicians from all over Scotland and beyond. Thus, upon closer inspection, the “Fife Arms”, with its eclectic flair and uber-stylish interior is actually not as out of place as one might have initially thought.
Chapter I – Arts and Culture
The hotel is part of the “Artfarm” project, which was initiated by Swiss gallerists Hauser & Wirth with the aim to develop and establish sustainable creative developments that combine traditions and stories with new perspectives for the future. Gallery owners Manuela and Iwan Wirth, who spend a good part of the year in the area, acquired the property in 2014 and turned it into a 5-star hotel. Rather than merely reflecting the Highlands in all its historical and cultural glory, the hotel makes them accessible to its guests by involving the local population – around 20 percent of the villagers work for the “Fife Arms”. In keeping with the Wirths' background, there is a fine collection of international art with a clear focus on regional talent.
Four years of renovation have turned a somewhat run-down hotel for bus tourists into a synthesis of art, a mecca for art lovers: 16,000 works by renowned and lesser-known international artists are displayed throughout the hotel or make up part of the furnishings. Among others, Picasso's "Woman Sitting in an Armchair" shares the walls with Pieter Breughel's "Circle" and Lucian Freud's "Red Haired Man". Quietly and nonchalantly, these million-dollar masterpieces harmoniously blend into the décor, which is marked by Victorian and Jacobite influences as well as the culture of the Scots or, more specifically, that of the Highlanders. A drawing made by Queen Victoria herself adorns the lobby, while elsewhere walls and ceilings have either been turned into murals by contemporary artists or are covered in the hotel's very own tartan and tweed. read more (German only)
