Creative Nature ARTS, NATURE and SEEING PLACES DIFFERENTLY
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creative nature ARTS, NATURE AND SEEING PLACES DIFFERENTLY Creative Nature Scotland is renowned for its breathtaking scenery and unique natural heritage. We have the UK’s highest mountains, deepest lochs, acres of forest and miles upon miles of unspoilt moorland. We have iconic wildlife, historic landscapes, and can boast an incredible 6,000 miles of shoreline – from rugged cliffs to pearl- white beaches – with almost 800 islands scattered around the coast. Our land is one of outstanding beauty. In 2013, Scotland wants to celebrate this. The Year of Natural Scotland is a year-long showcase of these natural assets, and offers a chance for all who live in and visit this country to look again, explore and marvel at what we have. As part of the Year of Natural Scotland, a series of artistic projects has been funded by Creative Scotland with support by Scottish Natural Heritage, bringing together organisations from the arts and environmental worlds. From living sculptures in our forests to performance picnics and scavenger hunts, sound maps and songs inspired by traditions of our fishing grounds, these projects are inspired by our natural environment, but working with artists, and communities who inhabit these spaces. Get out into Scotland’s great outdoors with this pocket-sized guide and discover some unique art that’s happening off the beaten track. 1 Aberdeen, My Place in the Natural World Aden, Balmedie, Haddo and Haughton Country Parks Spring and Autumn 2013 Aberdeen, My Place in the Natural World offers a great opportunity for young people to create a range of digital media influenced by the beauty of Aden, Balmedie, Haddo and Haughton Country parks. Working with artists, school pupils are making poems, artwork and photography, based on stories from local rangers and residents. They are also developing promotional films, sound maps, podcasts and an ebook to be shared through displays and exhibitions at libraries, community centres and the Digilab film festival. www.readingbus.co.uk www.musicwithoutbars.co.uk A partnership between Aberdeen City Council Reading Bus and Music Without Bars. 2 Atomic Doric Woodend Barn, Deeside May – November 2013 (Festival 29 November – 1 December) Atomic Doric takes a look a Scotland’s landscape and its connections to the wider world with a range of art projects taking place across Aberdeenshire from May to November. Workshops and performances by the Scott Skinner Antennae offer a great way to explore techniques with two of Scotland’s leading contemporary fiddle players (Paul Anderson and Aidan O’Rourke). Come along to the sessions to uncover connections between music, land and people, and be part of Paul and Aidan’s project to compose new music pieces. Don’t miss the chance to collaborate with artist Chris Dooks who is inviting everyone to come and talk about Aberdeenshire’s surroundings, record sounds, take photos and be part of a new feature film project. And there will be community and ranger-led walks and workshops, led by experimental vocalist Wounded Knee, Noise Choir with Lindsay Duncanson, textile artist Alison Bell and dancer/ choreographer Hayley Durward. www.woodendbarn.co.uk/atomic-doric A partnership between Scottish Natural Heritage, National Trust for Scotland, Mar Lodge Estate, Cairngorm National Park and Glen Tanar Estate. 3 Da Fishing Hands Fair Isle Scheduled to take place during 2014 Local information about the Fair Isle fishing grounds used to be passed down orally from generation to generation, without being recorded. Now, a new map, made by Emma Perring with the help of local fishermen Stewart Thomson, George Stout and Brian Wilson captures these grounds – and with the help of the Fair Isle Marine Environment, composers Inge Thomson and Lise Sinclair are creating new music and song inspired by this environment and its changing use. Using this new map and illustrations as their starting point, the artists have interviewed local residents and natural history experts to create Da Fishing Hands, a musical piece that will be performed and recorded at different venues including Shetland’s multi-arts venue Mareel. www.fimeti.org.uk 4 Dark Wood Locations throughout Scotland 21 September – 2 November 2013 This autumn, take a night-time walk in the woods and find the fantastic Giants in the Forest hanging in locations across Scotland, growing and changing with the season. These evocative natural sculptures are lit up at night with soundscapes and storytelling accompanying your journey through the woods. You can get involved in outdoor arts workshops and upload photos of your visit to the Giants website. Combining art, technology and the natural environment, Dark Wood is a great way to experience Scotland’s amazing wilderness. www.giantsintheforest.com 5 Environmental Arts Festival Scotland Dumfries and Galloway Talks and events throughout the year Festival 30 August – 2 September 2013 Head to Dumfries and Galloway for Scotland’s very first Environmental Arts Festival, a celebration of a diverse natural landscape, combined with a magnificent range of world-class environmental art. Existing works from Henry Moore, Andy Goldsworthy, Charles Jencks, and Dalziel + Scullion, will be supplemented by specially-commissioned new pieces. Also featured as part of the festival are internationally renowned projects, such as Jupiter Artland, the garden of discovery, and Little Sparta, Ian Hamilton Finlay’s landscape masterpiece. The festival provides a unique opportunity to look at the themes of Energy and the Land through projects ranging from commissions and talks to seminars and workshops led by experts in art and the environment. www.environmentalartfestivalscotland.com A partnership between Wide Open, Spring Fling and The Stove. 6 Island Drift Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park From Autumn 2013 Island Drift is a new project by public art and events specialists, NVA. Working with Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, NVA will be designing installations across Loch Lomond, as the basis for creating a series of enigmatic still images. Using light installations across both land and water, Island Drift will reveal new aspects of the islands and their wider setting. This area forms a unique freshwater grouping, which contains over 3,000 years of cultural history, and the project will look to investigate this recent history, against the older natural order of evolutionary and geographical change. The work will be created in autumn 2013 and presented at a new location within the National Park in 2014. www.nva.org.uk 7 Journeys: Walking a Line Dunbar, East Lothian 22 June – 31 August 2013 This summer take a trip to the east coast fishing town of Dunbar with a new project by North Lights Arts. Journeys: Walking a Line centres on the birthplace of John Muir, one of the world’s great conservationists whose pioneering work led to the creation of the USA’s major national parks. Through walking, marking and recording, and through the sharing of ideas, exhibition, performance and participation, encounter the rich and beautiful landscape that inspired Muir. The project delves into the ideas of environmental sustainability and the potential of the landscape through artist residencies in the town, collaborations between galleries and artists, a film programme, guided walks and workshops. www.northlightdunbar.org A partnership between North Light Arts, Friends of John Muir, ELC Museums and Arts Service, ELC Landscape and Countryside, Ranger Service, Incredibly Edible Dunbar, Dunbar Cycle Group, Dunbar Harbour Trust and Dunbar Scifest. 8 Natural Bennachie Bennachie, Aberdeenshire June – November 2013 Featuring four international artists working on the mountain, its surrounding landscape and in local community spaces, Natural Bennachie mixes artist residencies, workshops, presentations, children’s projects and events, offering every visitor the chance to look at the North-East’s most prominent landmark in new and unique ways. Artists working in film, photography, installation, sculpture and paintings will lead a programme of workshops and activities, delving into Bennachie’s social history, its landscape and geology, and work alongside the community to develop new pieces which explore the iconic mountain. Events take place throughout the year, including public discussions and walks, and culminating in a celebratory event and exhibition. For artists, the community and visitors alike, this is a great way to get involved in a wonderful exploration of Aberdeenshire’s landscape. www.naturalbennachie.org A partnership between the Scottish Sculpture Workshop, Forestry Commission Scotland, Bailies of Bennachie, Aberdeenshire Council Ranger Service and the University of Aberdeen. 9 Sensory Mapping Project Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow Throughout 2013 This project from social care provider Sense Scotland offers their users an opportunity to create new sensory artworks. Visiting remote areas near Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow, participants, artists and walk leaders collaborate to make artwork based on their experiences of the landscape, mapping out the area in new ways. Service users can discover their relationship with a natural area and then express their responses via the artwork. This piece will then have a practical purpose, serving as a map and information board for future visitors to the area. www.sensescotland.org.uk http://sensescotlandarts.wordpress.com/sensorymapping A partnership between Sense Scotland and artists Jemima Chillingworth, Dawn Fraser and Imelda Neale. 10 Sexy Peat The Lewis Peatlands, Outer Hebrides, and Highland Print Studio, Inverness June 2013 onwards This year a new body of contemporary visual art will be produced in response to the rich ecology and heritage of the Lewis Peatlands in the Outer Hebrides. Sexy Peat/Tìr mo Rùin offers the chance for an artist to investigate the remarkable landscape of the bog and moorlands of the Lewis Peatlands, their abundance of colour, texture and life forms and the way these features have affected the people who have lived with the moor for generations. Through this project, the artist investigates and celebrates the land, its people and their heritage, culminating in an exhibition of new works at Highland Print Studio in November.