Annual Report 2014-15

Annual Report 2014/15

1. Organisation and Management

2. Residency Projects and Programme

• Hielan’ Ways ⁄ Some Colour Trends with Alec Finlay ⁄ Lorg Coise: Footprints with Gill Russell ⁄ The Symphony Way with Paul Anderson ⁄ Over the Hills tae by Ron Brander ⁄ Hielan Ways Symposium • Cooking the Landscape with the Rhynie Woman • Lubare and the Boat with Sanaa Gateja and Xenson • Perambulator with Claire Qualmann • Wandering Waste with Gayle Chong Kwan • Oaks and Amity with Caroline Wendling • Imprint/Abandon with Aidan O’ Rourke

3. Other Projects and Events

• Institute • Cultural Health Worker • Slow Marathon 2014 • Town Collection • Other Events

4. Capital Development and Purchases

5. Publications & CDs

6. Networking and Training

7. Funding and Thanks

Appendix: Press and Media Event Statistics

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 3 Annual Report 2014/15 1. Organisation and Management

2014/15 has been another very productive year for Deveron Arts. Over the course of the year we have developed 7 projects; published 7 books and a symphony, organised a two day symposium and another Slow Marathon, as well as many other events, talks and workshops.

We continued to develop our website, creating a new sub-site for the Walking Institute. We also updated the overall layout and started to make it more mobile friendly. Work began on a redevelopment of our online shop. All thanks to our web designer Dorian Fraser-Moore. Over the course of 2015, we will be making further improvements in both the design and content – including the new online shop - as well as a completing our new News page, which will incorporate various social media channels.

Throughout 2014-15, we continued to work in partnership with our funders, developing further relationships with other arts organisations both nationally and internationally, such as Ugandan Arts Trust, 32º East, Henry Moore Foundation, Wysing Arts Centre and SSW. We were successful in our application for Regular Funding (formerly Projects forming Programme) from Creative Scotland, securing funding for the period 2015-18.

Curating and Programming

2014/15 was the final year in Deveron Arts’ Hospitality programme, which shifted from the previous focus on the three strands of: travel, hosting and language. Although hospitality remained as an overarching theme, our programme developed beyond these initial strands and instead became influenced by the current cultural and political situation in Scotland. The momentum of the Scottish referendum galvanized both our thinking and interests as a team. Ideas highlighted through the on-going debates about the referendum, such as issues of land use, migration and the role of the military had an effect on our future programming in our rural community of Huntly.

With the integration of the Walking Institute nested within Deveron Arts, we began to think how this development could influence our programming and how we could develop the idea of a peripatetic school further. While developing a programme that was very much about working within Huntly, we thought how the Walking Institute could allow us to role out the town is the venue methodology to other places and how the methodology of walking might be used to examine the place of Huntly within the wider world.

Management, Staff, Volunteers

In 2014/15 Deveron Arts was run by a full time Director (Claudia Zeiske) and a full time Project Manager (Kate Sargent). In addition to this, Catrin Jeans continued in her role as Cultural Health Worker (previously titled Cultural Health Visitor). Throughout the year Deveron Arts took on board 8 interns and one work placement student. Our Project Manager, Kate Sargent, in the autumn of 2014, announced her pregnancy

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 4 Annual Report 2014/15 (congratulations!!) and that she would be taking maternity leave as of April 2015. It was decided that Joss Allen would take over as maternity cover in her absence.

During the year 2014/15 the following people were involved with Deveron Arts:

Claudia Zeiske – Director Kate Sargent – Project Manager Catrin Jeans – Cultural Health Worker (from July 2013)

Alexander ‘Twig’ Champion, Intern (Oct 2013 - April 2014) Camilla Crosta, Intern / SC Intern (Nov 2013 - May 2014) Katie Carlisle, Intern (May 2014) Aminder Virdee, Intern (May - July 2014) Joss Allen, SC Intern (May - Dec 2014) Riccardo Mariani, Intern (August – October 2014) Lindsay McMillan, Intern (Nov - Feb 2015) Rachael Disbury, Intern (Jan - Mar 2015) Katriona Anderson, Work Placement (Oct - Mar 2015) Deveron Arts also had various other school placements during the year.

Board of Management Mary Bourne, Chairperson Calum Mitchell Stephen Brown Louise Scullion Sophie Hope Christine Sell (2014) Iain Irving Mike Whittall, Treasurer Kevin McIntosh Jason Williamson Janice Macpherson, Secretary

Deveron Arts would like to thank John Swan, who stood down from the board, and warmly welcome Christine Sell, who joined in 2014.

The Walking Institute steering group meets twice a year, the members are:

Michael Höpfner Jason Williamson Prof. Tim Ingold Prof. Deidre Heddon Ron Brander

Shadow Curators Sarah Worden (The Lubare and the Boat) Lotte Juul Petersen (Oaks & Amity) Barbara Steveni (Lure of the Lost)

Other People engaged Daisy Williamson – Cooking and Catering Dorian Fraser-Moore – Website Lesley Booth – Media work

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 5 Annual Report 2014/15 Hilda Fowler – Cleaning and generally running the ship Neil Angus – Garden and Landscape labouring

Volunteers Katie Rose Johnston, Keith and Pam Cockburn, Patrick Scott, Steve Brown and many more

Premises

Deveron Arts continues to operate from our premises in the Studio of the Brander Building. Renovations of the Walking Institute office continued. Additional storage space has been created, allowing for publications previously stored in the basement to be moved upstairs. We continue to maintain the Brander Building garden, and have plans for a redesign in 2015.

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 3 Annual Report 2014/15 2. Residency Projects and Programmes

Hielan’ Ways The rediscovery of trading routes connecting the Aberdeenshire heartland with Cairngorm Highlands

[T]he plight of a people who have forgotten their myths, and imagine that somehow, now is all there is... Kate Tempest, Brand New Ancients

Hielan’ Ways is an interpretation of a local name for the routes that connected the market town of Huntly over the Clashmach to remoter districts in the hill country to the west. A network of ancient lifelines, it was a vital link for those who lived along its way, enabling the flow of people, goods and livestock along the tracks between the "Capital of Strathbogie" and communities in the Upper Deveron, the glens of Strathdon, the tributaries of the Spey and beyond. Its distances were covered at walking pace; an area now largely empty of any human dwelling or activity, its heritage and significance is in danger of being condemned to history. We asked a selection of artists, how can we re-engage with this place, and what possibilities and potentials lie undiscovered in this remote landscape?

Begun in 2013, the Hielan’ Ways project saw artist Simone Kenyon collaborate with celebrated fiddle player Paul Anderson, poet Alec Finlay, Aberdeenshire artist Gill Russell and historian Ron Brander. The project continued into 2014, culminating in the two-day Hielan’ Ways Symposium: Perceptions of Exploration, held in Tomintoul. Three publications and a symphony were all completed in 2014.

⁄ Alec Finlay – Some Colour Trends An investigation into the place-names that are embedded in the Scottish landscape

Can’t we imagine people who have colour concepts which are other than ours…? Ludwig Wittgenstein, Remarks on Colour

Place-names are embedded into the Scottish landscape, many printed on maps, many more held in people's memories. Despite the intermittently dour hues of the climate, many of these names derive from colours and describe a colourful world. This lexicon bears the influence of Norse, Gaelic, Pictish, and Scots, as well as English, sometimes reflecting conflict or incomprehension between these cultures. Some names are poetic, others ironic, but they invariably refer to reality, and can be traced back to elements of the landscape. And so, we wonder - are The Cairngorms really The Blue Hills; is Am Monadh Ruadh, The Red Hills or Binnmach duibh, The Dark Hills?

Edinburgh based artist and poet Alec Finlay, unable to walk the land due to illness, developed an innovative approach to mapping the area, reflective rather than constructive, focusing on the Gaelic place-names by which we still come to know this landscape. In particular, Alec focused on those names that are rooted in a description of colour, and the ways a particular culture (Gaelic) perceived the landscape through a translation of these names.

Through his investigation into place-names in the Hielan’ Ways area, Alec wrote a series of poems composed of real and imaginative walks in the landscape. For this, he relied upon the legs, ears and eyes of others to walk out into the landscape for him and gather the material needed. Alec worked closely with Gill Russell and Ron Brander in a process of exchange; as they provided documentation of their experience of the physical landscape

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 3 Annual Report 2014/15 Alec provided an account of the landscape as perceived through a translation of the Gaelic language.

Publication These poems and new translations of Gaelic place-names were published in, Some Colour Trends — trend is Alec’s translation of drove road — which Alec describes as, “a genealogy of place-names relating to colour” in the Hielan’ Ways area.

⁄ Gill Russell – Lorg-Coise: Footprint Mapping an ancient landscape for a contemporary audience

'lorg-coise': Gaelic for footprint, literally means 'a finding of foot.’ John Stuart-Murray, Reading the Gaelic Landscape

The Hielan' Ways’ landscape and ecology is dominated by two vast shooting estates, Cabrach and Glenbuchat. Although largely unexplored as a destination for outdoor pursuits, it contains areas of hidden beauty, stark wilderness and historical significance, which were once traversed by a web of ancient and tracks, now many of them gone. Can the practice of walking, the finding of foot, open up these routes once again, reconnecting the future with a lost, ancient landscape?

Gill Russell lives in Glenkindie, the heartland of the Hielan’ Ways area, and has spent much of her time walking its glens, moors and hills. Through this project, Gill was able to

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 4 Annual Report 2014/15 combine her walking practice with that of her art. Gill brought the Hielan' Ways projects together by mapping the area, through the practice of what she has come to call, 'lorg- coise' (Gaelic), which John Stuart-Murray translates as the finding of foot — that is, by walking widely, and often slowly, throughout the area, identifying sites and landforms of significance.

Gill created a series of walks (or invitations to walk), some of which follow existing paths in the area, others are new and imagined routes of her own, following the features of the land, some visible, others hidden. Her approach focused on the intersections of the human and the landscape; the watercourses, paths, and fords, and related these to other 'significant' places to produce thematic walks that explore the archaeological, mythological, historical, sonic, poetic, ancient and contemporary aspects of the Hielan' Ways area. Gill also developed walks in collaboration with Alec Finlay, Ron Brander, Paul Anderson, and Simone Kenyon, connecting their thoughts with the landscape.

As part of the project, Gill organised a special evening event called the Hielan’ History Boys dinner, where she invited local heritage enthusiasts who have a specific interest or knowledge of the Hielan’ Ways area. Hosted by Gill — with the wonderful Rhynie Woman collective providing locally sourced and foraged food — the evening took the form of a structured three-course dinner, with the conversation being guided by a set of predetermined topics and a few visual and anecdotal prompts during the event. Participants discussed the evolution of land use in the area (from shielings to shooting butts), local myths and mythology, long lost traditions and unusual rituals, the makeup of the landscape and its effect on those who inhabit it, walking and transport, unexplainable occurrences, deed bodies, and the communities who used to live there. Alec Finlay and poet David Wheatley came along too, providing some interesting insights into local Gaelic names with some of their poems about the area.

Publication Gill’s project concluded with the publication of Lorg-Coise: Footprints — a companion book to Alec Finlay’s Some Colour Trends — which consists of maps and texts of fourteen thematic walks in the Hielan’ Ways area.

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 5 Annual Report 2014/15 ⁄ Paul Anderson – The Symphony Way A symphony by fiddler Paul Anderson inspired by the Hielan' Ways circuit

Be the melody in the symphony of your life Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Paul Anderson is a world-renowned fiddler, known for his ability to perform in a style true to his instrument and its traditions. He comes from an Aberdeenshire farming family and was keen to experience and explore this historic use of the landscape in which he walks. Paul began the project in 2013, walking the Hielan’ Ways routes near his home in Tarland, wishing to convey his experience of this landscape through the writing of his symphony.

Paul’s Hielan’ Ways symphony was completed in 2014. It premiered at Hielan’ Ways symposium in Tomintoul, where Paul and a string section performed. An orchestra performance was scheduled for later in 2015 at the Aboyne and Deeside Festival. It is hoped that the symphony will be picked up by professional orchestras, and may potentially be performed at Celtic Connections.

Publication Copies of the written notation (by Paul Campbell) for the symphony have been published and are for sale online through the Deveron Arts shop.

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 6 Annual Report 2014/15

⁄ Ron Brander – Ower the hills tae Huntly Hielan’ Ways in former days

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken

Ron Brander has strong roots in the North East of Scotland. A self confessed ‘eccentric historian’, and a keen rambler, he has an invested interest in this area.

Ron played a crucial role in the development of the Hielan’ Ways project; his great interest in the local area and desire to explore it in multiple ways, through experiencing it now and through its heritage, that propelled the project along — and it was his who proposed the name Hielan’ Ways to describe the area. His research and knowledge of the area provided the backbone for the project, informing all the other residencies. He acted as the ‘go to’ man for any questions regarding the human history and heritage of the terrain they were working in. It was through his deep, and constant investigation into the heritage of the place that the overall project was able to develop into such a multifaceted exploration of place.

As part of the project, Ron collected all of his extensive research into a publication on the history of the Hielan’ Ways area. Ower the Hills tae Huntly, captures not just the history of a place but is a rumination on our relationship to a landscape, its history and its future. Ron cares greatly for this landscape, its history and people.

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 7 Annual Report 2014/15

/ Hielan’ Ways Symposium: Perceptions of Exploration An investigation into the many perceptions of exploration

A symposium shaped by the ground beneath our feet; and which escaped from the boundaries of the lecture theatre. Symposium participant

A two day walking and talking symposium held in the remote area of Glenlivet and the town of Tomintoul, 2014.

The symposium marked the end of the Hielan' Ways project. The project sought to re- engage with a remote landscape — once inhabited, once lived in — using the network of ancient drovers’ routes, which once extended across it, as a point of access for a further investigation into the human, cultural and environmental heritage of the area. Through the symposium we extended our investigation to encompass the wider notion of exploration: how can an investigation into the many perceptions and interpretations of exploration help us to gain a better understanding of our own relationship with the environment we find ourselves in? Over the two days we celebrated the many facets of the Hielan' Ways project, and extended the investigation beyond that of our small geographic area towards lesser known regions from near and far; bringing together mountaineers, artists, anthropologists, cartographers and other disciplines to discuss the many perceptions of exploration. On day one we walked; on day two we talked. The symposium was chaired by Prof. Tim Ingold, with keynote talks from mountaineer Doug Scott and artist Richard Long, alongside paraplegic adventurer and athlete Karen Darke, Gavin Pretor-Pinney from the Cloud Appreciation Society, Steve Brown, Forester and Vanessa Collingridge, TV presenter and researcher in the history of cartography and exploration.

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 8 Annual Report 2014/15 Rhynie Woman – Cooking the Landscape Hospitality, food and welcoming spaces connecting people and all things heritage

The shared meal elevates eating from a mechanical process of fueling the body to a ritual of family and community, from the mere animal biology to an act of culture Michael Pollan

Rhynie Woman is an artist collective formed by Debbie Beeson and Daisy Williamson who live in Rhynie, a small town not far from Huntly. Debbie and Daisy became our resident cooks, foragers, caterers and food consultants for 2014; their creative approach to cooking, and to hospitality, provided us with sustenance for both the mind and the body throughout the year. Through an investigation into local food heritage, the Rhynie Woman explores how food can be used to re-engage with a landscape and its history.

The collective uses food and food-based events as a way of framing an investigation into local heritage. Its name is taken from the Rhynie Man, a carved Pictish stone depicting a figure with an axe discovered 35 years ago on the outskirts of the village. The Rhynie Woman looks at local history through the lens of hospitality, creating food based events as a means of bringing folk together and creating an environment which fosters dialogue, the exchange of ideas and skill sharing.

While working with Deveron Arts, the Rhynie Woman focused its investigation on the wild and cultivated food to be found in our area. Debbie and Daisy began to construct a seasonal notebook of recipes and ideas as a response to the locality: mapping what grows and can be grown; how to preserve and extend the lifespan of the produce; looking at portable methods of preparation and presentation traditionally used in the area. Through experimentation with foraged ingredients and local produce they combined traditional recipes and techniques with new flavour combinations representative of the Huntly area.

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 9 Annual Report 2014/15

Throughout the year the Rhynie Woman created a series of food ‘pop ups’, which ran alongside Deveron Arts’ curated projects, helping us to further our investigation into hospitality and create a very physical link to the local landscape and seasons.

A publication will be produced in 2015.

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 10 Annual Report 2014/15 Sanaa Gateja & Xenson – The Lubare and the Boat An exploration into the life and work of missionary and Africa explorer Alexander MacKay

My heart burns for the deliverance of Africa. Alexander MacKay

In the spring of 2014 Sanaa Gateja arrived in Huntly on an artistic pilgrimage from Uganda, hoping to unearth the legacy of Alexander MacKay (due to visa issues, Xenson joined us in June). A figure obscure in his home country, Alexander MacKay’s life has undoubtedly had a lasting impact on modern day Uganda. While in Uganda buildings and roads are named after him, in Rhynie, his hometown, there are only a few obscure traces of his life left. And it is from this disparity that Sanaa and Xenson’s project developed. A legacy not without its problems, the life of MacKay is an interesting lens through which to investigate the spiritual and cultural divide between our country and that of modern day Africa. What does it mean for us to engage with such a legacy, must we re-examine our understanding of history in this region?

The name of the project was chosen to signify the two parallel investigations, the Lubare and the Boat – a reference to MacKay’s local nickname, which means wizard, and the method by which he reached Uganda, by boat.

Sanaa and Xenson were chosen because of their very different approaches to dealing with MacKay’s legacy. It was hoped that the two approaches would make for a productive study; one being the counterpoint to the other.

Through his research and investigation, Sanaa hoped to bring the two countries, Scotland and Uganda, together as a way of both exploring the stories surrounding MacKay and as a way of fusing the two cultures, to highlight similarities and differences, historical and contemporary. Sanaa – affectionately known as the inventor of the paper bead – used his

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 11 Annual Report 2014/15 skills as a maker to approach the story of MacKay through making and story telling, reflecting MacKay’s own technical abilities and ingenuity. Sanaa worked closely with local church groups, Books Abroad and The Gordon Schools, as well as local community members in Rhynie, MacKay’s home toon. A final event for Sanaa’s residency took place in Rhynie in the format of a mini Afro-Caledonian festival celebrating the life of MacKay.

Xenson approached the legacy of MacKay from a different angle, less about exploring the life of MacKay than the effect of his legacy. Xenson was interested in reversing the flow of MacKay’s teachings, transposing some of his legacy back into Aberdeenshire and questioning what kind of a legacy had he left, considering the fact that very little is known about the man in his home country yet the impact on Uganda has been significant. In his own words, Xenson wished to cheekily, “give back some of the missionaries gifts to his home country.” To do this, Xenson conducted a series of performances, often impromtu, around Huntly and Rhynie. Before finally making the symbolic journey back to Rhynie, mirroring that of MacKay’s but in reverse; following the course of the Bogie River, carrying an emblematic boat.

A publication is in discussion. The work has been shown since then in Minerva Gallery, Groningen and at FramerFramed, Amsterdam.

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 12 Annual Report 2014/15 Clare Qualmann – Perambulator An exploration of walking with a pram (or pushchair)

There is no more sombre enemy of good art than the pram in the hall. Cyril Connolly

Clare and her two children, Ernest and Ruby, joined us in the spring of 2014 from London. Clare is a founding member of the and walkwalkwalk, and is also a part time lecturer in the Institute of Performing Arts Development at the University of East London.

Huntly, like many of our towns, is made for vehicles and people who are independently mobile, a fact that is often far from our minds when navigating through it — that is, until something comes along and radically changes our relationship to this environment: a child. In the first few months of Clare's son's life, pushing his pram around the area that she had lived in for the last 12 years, she was struck by the number of detours that she had to take: the route alterations, the small (and not-so-small) impediments to smooth passage. Her very familiar routes through and to places were rudely disrupted, forcing a new relationship with the very physical details of the urban environment, something that many new parents encounter. And so, for a town once dubbed the 'family town', Claire wished to test how suitable Huntly really was for young children and their pram pushing parents.

Part performance project, part practical guide, Claire conducted a series of walks and performances that made visible issues around walking with a pram. Through mass walking (with prams) in and around specific places, Clare and her participants took charge to reclaim the streets, roads, pavements and spaces made for who are independently mobile, or motorists through the use of their vehicles. Clare initiated many pram lunchtime walking events around Huntly. Through local groups and networking, Clare

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 13 Annual Report 2014/15 met the parents of the town, inviting pram users to share their walks and experiences. The project culminated in a mass pram walk, Perambulator Parade: an event for pram walkers/ pushers, inviting mothers, fathers and guardians to walk with their infants and experience the ups and downs of the world, and roads, together. Working closely with Catrin Jeans, Cultural Health Worker, Clare’s project created opportunities for young parents to come together, to share their experiences of parenthood and develop a support network which previously did not exist.

Clare also organised a pram friendly version of the Slow Marathon, encouraging participants to join her as she walked to the limits of pram pushing country, outside Huntly.

A publication, mapping alternative pram friendly routes in Huntly will be published in 2015.

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 14 Annual Report 2014/15 Gayle Chong Kwan – Wandering Waste A fantastical exploration of aesthetic food ideals

Only now, on their return, can their serious exploration begin, for imagination will henceforth be their guide as they travel backwards through their memories. Jules Verne, Voyage à Reculons en Angleterre et l’Ecosse

Gayle joined us over the summer of 2014 for her project Wandering Waste as part of the Skills Biennale organised in collaboration with SSW. The Skills Biennale paired artists with local artisans and crafters in a collaborative relationship based on equal terms, rather than on a traditional artist/commissioner or maker/commissioned relationship. Gayle was paired up with Siobhan Ingram, Product Development Manager from Deans Shortbread.

Gayle took inspiration from Jules Verne, drawing upon his relationship to Scotland and his connection with otherworldly or fantastical travel, landscape, and science fiction. Verne inspired by his first visit to Scotland (1859) situated three of his novels here; other novels featured Scottish characters as romantic and heroic archetypes. Gayle explored the role of archetypes, ideals and waste in food growing, production and consumption. Adopting the role of a traveller to a distant and fantastical land of aesthetic food ideals and non-aesthetic food, Gayle sought to reimagine our relationship to food production and food waste. She did this by using the shortbread seconds to form new food products connected to place and local community. She worked with Deans Shortbread and growing communities in Huntly to collect recipes and processes. Gayle’s residency concluded with a sensory food event at Huntly’s Hairst weekend. Participants were undertook a series of tasting sessions, testing out some of the unique shortbread creations Gayle and Siobhan had made together. They explored their personal memories, tastes and ideas of shortbread and herbs in relation to the landscape and the ideas that the artist had identified in Verne. A publication for the Skills Biennale will follow.

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 15 Annual Report 2014/15 Caroline Wendling – Oaks & Amity A White Wood for peace, friendship and regeneration

Between birth and death, human beings have collective work to do on earth. Joseph Beuys

Caroline Wendling joined Deveron Arts in the autumn of 2014 to develop her project, Oaks & Amity, in response to the centenary of the outbreak of World War One. In it she explored the links between ecology and art, between friendship and cooperation, and between precariousness and peace one hundred years after the First World War. Through her investigation into the local history of both the First and Second World Wars, Caroline became particularly interested in the stories of local conscientious objectors and pacifists. Caroline worked with a multitude of local groups, including the Gordon Schools, Forestry Commission and war veterans, and produced a series of events exploring notions of peace and friendship in post war Europe. Oaks and Amity, like Deveron Arts, grew out of a deep respect for Beuys’ way of thinking and producing art as a force of social transformation; the planting of the oaks in Huntly is an acknowledgement of the importance of his ideas. Beuys had planned to create works in Scotland but never realised them; Oaks and Amity now takes up his call for a “tree planting enterprise”. Whereas his 7000 Oaks project in Kassel was a gesture at the repairing of a city’s public space, the White Wood differs: it is about regeneration, both the regeneration of the site and the regeneration of relationships between people and nations, but, more than this, it contemplates the legacy of peace in post world war Europe, looking to the future of our nations through the lifespan of an oak. It is about finding a way, creating a site where we can reflect collectively on the fragility of the peace that has been shared between European nations since the end of WW2 — and it is about creating a new ecology for the future, aware of the tenuous nature of peace.

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 16 Annual Report 2014/15

The major output of the project was the planting of a symbolic White Wood just outside of Huntly. The wood consists of 49 oak trees raised from acorns collected from Joseph Beuys’ 7000 Oaks project in Kassel, alongside 700 native trees and 1000 native plants, all displaying either white foliage, bark or flowers — the colour white symbolically representing peace. The wood was planted with the help of over a hundred volunteers from the local community and created a site for reflection on the conflicts that have shaped the European nations. It is also a site for future local action and discussion on themes of ecology and peace. This has been the first stage in what will be a much longer-term project, exploring peace and ecology. Fundraising is underway for signage and seating for the site, as well as a continuing programme of events.

A publication will be produced during the course of 2015.

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 17 Annual Report 2014/15 Aidan O’Rourke – Imprint/Abandon A suite of music inspired by abandoned human settlements in North East Aberdeenshire.

The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilisation... Ralph Waldo Emerson

Late in 2014 we were joined by renowned Scottish fiddler Aidan O’ Rourke for his project, Imprint/Abandon. Over the course of 3 months residency he would develop a new suite of music informed by the local landscape.

As the title of the project suggests, Aidan wished to focus on the human traces left in the landscape, particularly trying to ruminate on issues around landownership and access, from Neolithic times until now. The land surrounding Huntly has been home to an ever- shifting community of dwellers for almost 10,000 years, each leaving their own mark in the landscape – some more pronounced than others. Various factors have had an effect on the movement of people, whether it is through choice or forced, from Pictish times to present; small traces of these abandoned settlements can be found across the land. For example, close to Huntly lies the Cabrach, which still bears the effects the first world war had on the local community; the area is demarcated by the ruins of cottages, left empty by young men who left for the war, never to return to their families. The hillside is scarred with craters and strewn with discarded shells — its remoteness made an ideal firing range.

Aidan made it his task to visit a number of these sites close to Huntly, gathering information about each particular place. He spent many days out walking with local artists, archaeologists and historians, visiting abandoned dwellings and sites of significance to gather ideas and experiences that would inform his writing.

During his research period, Aidan held master fiddle workshops in both Huntly and at the Tin Hut at Gartly, teaching his unique style to local musicians and encouraging them to experiment with their playing. Along with archaeologist Gordon Noble, Aidan led a walk in the local area visiting early Pictish and other more recent sites of habitation, combining Gordon’s knowledge of the history of these places with sketches of music that Aidan had written.

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 18 Annual Report 2014/15 In March 2015, Aidan was joined by a trio of world-class musicians from all over the UK to develop his ideas into complete pieces of music. The resulting music is a meditation on the abandoned imprints found in the landscape around Huntly. The music will be mastered over the summer of 2015 and will be launched later in the same year.

Musicians in the band:

Aidan O’ Rourke – fiddle Anna Meredith – clarinet, computer Tom Rogerson – piano, synths John Blease – drums, percussion

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 19 Annual Report 2014/15 2. Other Projects and Events

Walking Institute

The Walking Institute continues to develop as a peripatetic school that brings walking and art practices together. Throughout 2014/15, we developed events, which ran alongside our residency programme, aimed at exploring walking as an arts practice and engaging with the land around us in new ways. The development of the Walking Institute has given us a platform from which we can programme events outside of the boundaries of Huntly, considering the place of our small community in the context of the wider world.

2014 ⁄ Creative Scotland Visit: April saw Creative Scotland CEO Janet Archer and some other 40 arts representatives from across the North East walking along the river shore from the Isla confluence; followed by an artachat hosted by Rocca Gutteridge to discuss the future of Scottish art in rural areas ⁄ Walk with Paul Anderson, Ron Brander and Jake Williams: A solstice walk along the River Deveron towards its source accompanied by local musicians Paul and Jake, and local historian Ron. Packed full of insights about the landscape we walked through, plus an impromptu gig in an abandoned farmhouse. ⁄ With and against the Flow: To launch Jake Williams and Anne Murray’s new book we led a ca 20k public walk from the source of the Deveron along its shores to Turriff. Jake joined us, providing some excellent banter, cup o’ soups, interesting insights about plants, the local area, as well as playing us a few songs from the book, as we walked together, before he disappeared off into the countryside. In collaboration with Coast Festival. ⁄ Urbanscape + Ruralsprawl: Performative walks around Edinburgh’s Summerhall, with artists Tim Knowles and Ania Bas. Followed by a panel discussion with Tim Knowles, Ania Bas, Gill Russell, Alec Finlay and Dave Beech. In collaboration with Edinburgh Arts Festival 2014 ⁄ Mass School Walk: Path making with ca. 100 youngsters from the Gordon Schools over the Clashmach, in collaboration with The Gordon Schools. ⁄ Mass School Walk: 450 Primary School children undertook a walk round Battlehill. Catrin Jeans and Sanaa Gatejaa created interventions inspired by Nan Shepherd along the route. In collaboration with Gordon Primary School. ⁄ Winter Solstice walk: A walk up the Clashmach to celebrate the winter solstice.

2015 ⁄ Snow Shoe Walk: a walk up the Buck with our new snowshoes. In collaboration with World Snow Day ⁄ Mountain Talks: John Perkins: Mountains of Mallorca; February Ronnie Bowie: Munro bagging in Scotland; Jane & David Easton: The Trail less travelled in Nepal. In collaboration with Huntly Hillwalking Club. ⁄ Artists’ Talk-Walk: Aidan O’Rourke visiting Neolithic sites around Rhynie. In collaboration with Gordon Noble, Archaeologist, University of Aberdeen.

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 20 Annual Report 2014/15 ⁄ Cultural Health Worker

Catrin Jeans continued as our Cultural Health Worker throughout 2014-15, developing a series of events in relation to the programme and other events taking place in Huntly.

⁄ Use your loaf: Coinciding with the Skills Biennale, Catrin asked people to exchange time and a skill with someone in exchange for a signature bread mix and instructions on how to bake bread. In collaboration with Huntly Farmer’s Market. ⁄ Votemobile: A chauffer service to the polling stations for people who struggle with mobility. The Votemobile — Catrin’s 18 year old Toyota Corolla — was kitted out with Saltires, Union Jacks, fish n’ chip and haggis flags to drive people to the polling station. ⁄ Pre-referendum quiz: Using the British Citizenship exam as a starting point, Catrin tested how Scottish/British the quiz teams were. Quizmaster, Kevin McIntosh, quizzed everyone on Scottish islands, highland league football teams and the Pictish stones in Huntly Square. At the interval there was a special raffle with Scottish and British memorabilia. In collaboration with The Gordon Schools. ⁄ Best in Show: Winning the Cultural Place 2013 award allowed us to set up a Cultural Fund for Huntly. The Cultural Fund Winning (CFW) groups and individuals displayed their projects at the Pipes in the Park, displayed in a ‘farm show’ aesthetic — rosettes, white lab coats, a floor of hay and plenty of welly boots! Many of the CFW’s joined the tent and put on live displays. In collaboration with Huntly Development Trust. ⁄ Walking group: Teaming up with Networks of Wellbeing to run a weekly low-level walking group. Each week the walks take the topic of a former project as their starting point; Nan Shepherd, River Deveron, Hielan’ Ways land rights, etc. Partner: NoW ⁄ Children’s Art Week: Children’s art week, bead making at the Events day, Paul Anderson music workshop in the school. In collaboration with engage. ⁄ Bead Making workshop: Sanaa Gateja, held in the secondary school art department.

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 21 Annual Report 2014/15 ⁄ Colour walk: Every year the Grampian Ramblers meet up in Aberdeenshire, this year was Huntly’s turn to host them. From Alec Finlay’s Golden Mountain project Catrin devised a walk, which traced the meanings or roots of the street names in Huntly. The walk explored the heritage of the town and looking for links to colour. At the end of the walk were invited to create their own colour map inspired by the information on the walk. Partner: Huntly Ramblers ⁄ Digital Detox: Over Lent the Deveron Arts team went on a digital detox; taking on a new health and fasting regime with internet-free Fridays for the duration of Lent. We were unable to answer any emails until the following Monday morning and recipients of our ‘not out of office but unable to answer’ automatic email responses were encouraged to take an alternative approach of contacting Deveron Arts, such as writing a letter to the team instead. ⁄ Baby (Slow) Marathon: Collaborating with artist Clare Qualmann, we invited buggy users for a walk to the boundary of the pram/pushchair accessible part of Deveron Arts’ Slow Marathon route. We met in the Square and walked up to the furthest point we could on the Clashmach for a picnic tea, greeting the walkers as they came down into Huntly. In total 5 mums/dads and 5 babies/children attended, meaning that between them they covered 26 miles in total — the Slow Marathon distance! Partner: Wee Toots ⁄ BYOB: Using the Health Visitors’ ‘early intervention’ approach to provide an active start by offering cultural activities for mums and their babies, toddlers and children. The cultural activities from edible paint, cinema screenings, African rap and live Scottish fiddle music, walks, sensory nature and group outings. BYOB ran as a lead into, during and continuation of Clare Qualmann’s Perambulator project. Partner: Linden Center. ⁄ River Deveron: In order to increase the longevity of the River Deveron project, Catrin used Anne Murray’s map as a tool in the primary school for learning and exploring. Photographs from Anne’s project were used to show the pupils the technique of catching salmon and a video of salmon eggs hatching. A walk was organised along the Deveron with the purpose of identifying possible locations for releasing salmon eggs. Later, fishing flies were constructed back in the classroom. Partner: Gordon Primary School. ⁄ Bird Baubles: This year we were given the opportunity to decorate Huntly’s Christmas tree. For this, Catrin devised bird friendly baubles — baubles that also functioned as bird feeders. With the help of Gordon School primary pupils 70 baubles were created for the tree. Partner: Huntly Rotary Club. ⁄ Some culture a day keeps the doctor away: A day of discussion on Cultural Health organised by Catrin after 18 months as the Cultural Health Worker. This brought together doctors, community health workers, other members of the health profession along with artists and art educators to discuss a series of questions around the idea of cultural health. The event was run in partnership with engage Scotland. Partner: engage Scotland.

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 22 Annual Report 2014/15 Slow Marathon 2014

Now in its third year, the 2014 Slow Marathon took place on 10 May. This year’s 26 mile route began in Glenkindie, taking in the area known historically as the Hielan Way and finishing back in Huntly. With over 100 walkers this year was our best attended walk by far. Walkers started the morning being blessed with special water by artist Gill Russell, who also appeared later on the route with her flute and a bottle of whisky. Walkers were also met by Ugandan artist Sanaa Gateja along the route. The artist was dressed in bright yellow cloth and bark cloth and brandished a ‘pseudo religious contraption’ to help him contact the spirit of missionary and explorer Alexander MacKay. Pit stops along the route included: a musical interlude by local musician Jake Williams; ‘the best cinnamon buns in the world,’ courtesy of the Rhynie Woman collective; an installation by the Scottish Sculpture Workshop and Nan Shepherd inspired interventions by artist Simone Kenyon — anot to mention all the other ordinary and extra-ordinary encounters, both planned and unplanned.

The day of walking was followed by a Slow Day, which took place at Bogenclough, the home of Jake Williams. Filmmaker Ben Rivers presented his film, Two Years at Sea, a black and white 16mm film portrait of Jake Williams. Rhynie Woman catered for the event.

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 23 Annual Report 2014/15

Town Collection

Deveron Arts Town Collection has seen continuous maintenance work by the Shadow Curator Interns. New work by the following artists have been accessioned to the collection:

⁄ Anne Murray – With and Against the Flow, Deveron, Bogie and Isla River Trust ⁄ Michael Höpfner – Walking off the Grid, Drumblade School, Drumblade ⁄ Sanaa Gateja – Lubare and the Boat, Fourteen, Rhynie ⁄ Simon Preston – Town is the Menu, Parklane Café (relocated) ⁄ Xenson Znja – Lubare and the Boat, Noth Parish Church, Rhynie

Other Events

⁄ Lubare and the Boat pop up café: with Rhynie Woman and Sanaa Gateja. The Rhynie Woman created a hub including paper bead making and delicious food inspired by Africa and made with local produce. In collaboration with Coast Festival, Banff. ⁄ A Walk at the Edge of the World: A touring performance visited Huntly, about walking and personal recollection. The performance started with a 15 minute silent walk along the Deveron. ⁄ The North East Open Studios (NEOS): Deveron Arts opened it’s doors for the largest Open Studio event in Scotland with paintings and drawings of Huntly and special tours of the Town Collection. ⁄ Travel writing workshop with Mike Carter: A two day intensive travel writing workshop, with Guardian writer Mike Carter, taking inspiration from lands near and far. ⁄ The Poor Had No Lawyers: Andy Wightman event at Glenbuchat Hall. ⁄ Small Business Christmas Lunch: An annual institution for all small businesses in Huntly.

Creative Challenge Award

This year’s Creative Challenge Award was given again to Sophie Lawson. She was awarded the prize for her model of a wolf’s head, created as part of her Advanced Higher in Art. Sophie is a keen model builder, and intends to pursue a career in the arts. She hopes to attend art school after finishing at the Gordon Schools.

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 24 Annual Report 2014/15 Huntly Cultural Fund

The Huntly Cultural Fund was launched for local cultural groups to apply for funding to make Huntly and area an even more creative place with projects that reflected the year of Natural Scotland in 2013 or the Year of Homecoming in 2014. There were a total of 68 applicants and 38 of them won funding. The projects included Huntly Music Summer School, Community PA equipment, Thighs the Limit — a local pedicab project, Rhynie Woman — A Pictish Café and a plethora of other performance, craft, music and education activities. More info on the Huntly Cultural fund winners can be found on our website, http://www.deveron-arts.com/about/creative- place-award-and-huntly-cultural-fund/

Over the year the Cultural Fund Winners took part in a number of events organised by Catrin Jeans, the Cultural Health Visitor. These included the Room to Roam Festival in the Square, where Cultural Fund winners set up stalls showcasing their projects and the Speed meet event which gave all the Cultural Fund winners the opportunity to share their projects and ideas.

4. Capital Development and Purchases

Library ⁄ Books continue to be purchased in relation to our current programme, the notion of walking and socially engaged art.

Other Purchases ⁄ Kitchen equipment for Brander Building and Old Road ⁄ Laptop stands ⁄ Macbook Air ⁄ Kitchen equipment for the DA Office ⁄ Upgrade of kitchen equipment and bedding at 51 Old Road ⁄ Walking equipment funded by Big Lottery, including GPS, over-trousers, compasses ⁄ Pico projector ⁄ Camera cables ⁄ Office shelving for library expansion ⁄ Paint and curtain rails for the house in Old Road ⁄ Coffee percolator ⁄ SD card, Hard Drive & cables

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 25 Annual Report 2014/15 5. Publications & CD Launches

Books and other Publications ⁄ Some Colour Trends, Alec Finlay ⁄ Lorg-Coise, Gill Russell ⁄ Ower the Hills tae Huntly, Ron Brander ⁄ Fernweh, Claudia Zeiske (ed.) & Mary Jane Jacobs (ed.) ⁄ Hielan’ Symphony, Paul Anderson ⁄ Walking off the Grid, Michael Höpfner ⁄ Aberdeenshire Ways, The Caravan Gallery and Jacques Coetzer

Deveron Arts continues to produce a quarterly newsletter. Ash Branston was also commissioned to produce a short film about Huntly — soon to appear on our website.

6. Networking and Training

Deveron Arts staff attended meetings: ⁄ Emilia Sabiu, Cherimus, Sardegna (CZ) ⁄ Alan Melrose, Walks for Health (CZ) ⁄ Rocca Gutteridge, Ugandan Arts Trust (CZ) ⁄ Cairngorm Outdoor Action Trust: Murray Swap (CZ) ⁄ Glenlivet Community Development Trust and Estate (CZ) ⁄ Land Use workshop with Hatton Institute (CZ) ⁄ AB54 Health Group (CJ) ⁄ Early Years Development Group (CJ) ⁄ Curator Jesper Ericsson, The Gordon Highlanders Museum (CJ) ⁄ Cultural and Creative Enterprises in the North East, RGU Aberdeen (CJ) ⁄ NDR media team, Hannover (CZ) ⁄ Aberdeenshire Access officers (CZ) ⁄ Belinda Miller, Head of Aberdeenshire Council Economic Development Department (CZ) ⁄ Sutton PR (CZ) ⁄ Jason Bowman; discussion about 20 years of socially engaged art in Britain conference (CZ) ⁄ Engage meetings in Edinburgh (CZ) ⁄ Barclay Price, former Director of Art and Business (CZ) ⁄ Andrew Dixon, former CEO of Creative Scotland (CZ) ⁄ Richard Demarco (CZ) ⁄ Andrea Geile (CZ)

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 26 Annual Report 2014/15 ⁄ Simon Preston – follow up’ the town is the menu’ (CZ) ⁄ Dr Julian Davis, Public Health Lecturer at the University of Dundee (CJ) ⁄ MassArt’, Tunis (CZ) ⁄ Glasgow International Festival Opening (CJ) ⁄ Le Mouvement Performing the City, Biel/Bienne 2014 (CJ) ⁄ Team train outing to Wigtown book festival and Dumfries (Spring Fling and Wide Open) ⁄ Visit to Qualandia biennial, Palestine (CZ) ⁄ Common Practice, London (CZ & JA)

We had many visitors, among them: ⁄ Janet Starkey, author of a new cooking book for Huntly ⁄ Janet Archer, CEO Creative Scotland ⁄ Students from Gray’s School of Art (2 days) ⁄ Artist Tim Knowles ⁄ Artist Caroline Wendling ⁄ An Talla Solais team from Ullapool in May ⁄ Jason E Bowman, Writer, Curator and MFA in Fine Art Programme Leader at Valand Academy, Gothenburg ⁄ Violet Nantume, Curator at the Ugandan Arts Trust ⁄ Rocca Gutteridge, Director – Ugandan Arts Trust ⁄ Dr Sarah Worden, Curator Africa Dept.; Scottish National Museums as Shadow Curator for Sanaa Gateja ⁄ North of Scotland Ramblers Rendezvous with some 250 walkers from around Huntly; many of them took part in the town collection walk. ⁄ NDR TV crew with Sven Tietzer from Germany ⁄ SSW residents ⁄ Nicola Henderson ⁄ Omar Afif ⁄ Wochenklausur/Vienna ⁄ Prof Natasha Mauthner, University of Aberdeen ⁄ Fiona MacDonald, artist, Kent ⁄ Gemma Connell, Youth Arts Development Officer, The Lemon Tree ⁄ Paths for All

On behalf of Deveron Arts, staff presented talks, including: ⁄ Gray’s School of Art (KS) ⁄ Glasgow Live; participants from arts and heritage organisations (CZ) ⁄ Huntly 1st Scouts (CZ) ⁄ Birkbeck College, London (CZ) ⁄ Gordon Schools Assembly on Slow Marathon and path making (CZ & CJ) ⁄ Delegation of students from Stavanger: talk about town is the venue (CZ) ⁄ Scottish Towns conference, Paisley: talk about town is the venue and Creative Place award (CZ) ⁄ AIR symposium, London on Staying: talk about town is the venue (CJ) ⁄ Wigtown Book Festival (CZ) ⁄ Strathbogie Guild (CZ)

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 27 Annual Report 2014/15 Training

⁄ First Aid course (KS) ⁄ Land Use workshop (KS) ⁄ Conflict Resolution course (KS) ⁄ Advanced Navigation (CZ) ⁄ Walking Leader (CJ)

7. Funding and Thanks Funding has been granted / received from the following bodies during the course of the year:

⁄ Creative Scotland / Creative Scotland Regular Funding ⁄ Aberdeenshire Council ⁄ Be Part of the Picture Fund: Aberdeenshire Council ⁄ Paths for All ⁄ The African Arts Trust ⁄ Big Lottery ⁄ Heritage Lottery Fund ⁄ Forestry Commission Scotland ⁄ NHS Grampian ⁄ Deans of Huntly ⁄ Knock Distillery ⁄ Private Donor

We are grateful for the continuous support of all our funders, and the many volunteers in Huntly. We thank our board of management and our many partners both in Huntly and further afield. There are too many to name them all.

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 28 Annual Report 2014/15 Press Appendix: Appendix: Summer Newsletter 30/05/14 23/05/14 23/05/14 23/05/14 12/05/14 11/042014 11/04/14 04/04/14 06/06/14 04/07/14 05/07/14 04/07/14 08/06/14 11/07/14 09/06/14 11/07/14 18/07/14 12/06/14 18/07/14 27/06/14 25/07/14 05/09/14 25/08/14 22/08/14 30/06/14 05/09/14 05/09/14 05/09/14 10/09/14 01/06/14 12/09/14 12/09/14 12/09/14 13/09/14 19/09/14 03/10/14 07/10/14 10/10/14 17/10/14 24/10/14 25/10/14 Press Values 2014-15

Values Noth News Huntly Express Huntly Express Huntly Express Huntly Express BBC News Online Huntly Express Huntly Express Huntly Express Huntly Express Huntly Express Start Journal (startjournal.org) Huntly Express BBC Radio Scotland Huntly Express The Herald Scotland STV News Huntly Express The Press and Journal Huntly Express Huntly Express Huntly Express Huntly Express AB54 Magazine Huntly Express The Herald Scotland Huntly Express Huntly Express Huntly Express Art in Scotland (artinscotland.tv) Knock News Huntly Express Huntly Express Huntly Express the Herald Scotland Huntly Express Huntly Express walkinghighlands.co.uk Huntly Express The Northern Scot Huntly Express Press & Journal

MacKay of Uganda With and Against The Flow Slow Marathon 2014 Perambulator Slow Marathon 2014 Slow Marathon 2014 Oaks and Amity fundraising workshop MacKay d'Uganda The Lubare and The Boat Deveron Arts Creative Challenge Cup The Lubare and The Boat Xenson The Lubare and The Boat Xenson The Lubare and The Boat The Lubare and The Boat Summer Ceilidhs The Lubare and The Boat Xenson The Lubare and The Boat Walking Activities The Lubare and the Boat Claudia Zeiske Travel Writing The Town is the Menu NEOS IFAJ Emily White Urbanscape + Ruralsprawl The Lubare and The Boat Hairst Travel Writing Workshop Pre-referendum Quiz Deveron Arts Walking Activities Oaks Hielan Ways Hielan Ways Hielan Ways Halloween Hielan Ways MacKay of Uganda Annes Deveron Book Slow Weekend Gathers Pace Pram Artist's Final Push Scholars Mini Marathon Walkers take part in 'slow marathon' Aberdeenshire Letters to the editor Fundraising Know How Chruch Spring Plans Artists Celebrate Life of Rhynie Man Sophie's Creative Win The Lubare and the Boat: Alexander Mackay's Spirit Rises at Deveron Arts Pilgrims Walk Celebration Sunday Morning With … Tag Session African Artist to Celebrate the Legacy of Little-Known Scottish Missionary Curtain Up On Ceilidhs Festival: The Lubare and The Boat MacKay Artist Engages Youth MacKay Steps Retraced By Artist Winter Walking Cash Secured Artist pushes the boat out on River Bogie trek Worthies Wordies Travel Writing Workshop Inside Track: making a modern menu from local meal memories Create your own Huntly masterpiece Agricultural journalists to descend on Huntly Morag in tune for experience of a lifetime Claudia Zeiske: Urbanscape + Ruralsprawl Kwetu Africa - The Mackay Project Cooking up culinary delights Indy ref quiz for all ages Join travel writing workshop Artistic Gems in a Brilliant Cultural Hubs Calling All Keen Walkers Oak Saplings will be at centre of international arts project Artists and Mountaineers to celebrate Hielan' Ways Event looks to explore ancient drovers' routes Walking festival will look to the skies as well hills Music and Dance Merge for Halloween Project My Life KAREN DARKE 6 pages 52.5 12.5 67.5 40.8 16.5 16.5 49.5 14.5 100 6.5 5.5 30 66 44 43 13 88 24 16 13 51 96 24 45 39 25 13 20 48 42 52 72 27 598.80 per page 5 5 £35.50 £35.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3,50 £3,50 £3,50 £3,50 £3,50 £3,50 £3,50 £3,50 £3,50 £3,50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £5.00 £35 £5 £183.75 £150.50 £236.25 £178.50 £157,50 £173,25 £507,50 £252.00 £3,593 £22.75 £45.50 £19.25 £1,448 £56.00 £57,75 £57,75 £1,385 £87,50 £45,50 £17.50 £95.00 £105 £231 £154 £308 £336 £168 £147 £182 £84 £65 £84 £70 £17.50

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 29 Annual Report 2014/15 28/03/15 27/03/15 06/03/15 23/02/15 19/02/15 13/02/15 06/02/15 30/01/15 23/01/15 23/01/15 22/01/15 02/01/15 02/01/15 02/01/15 02/01/15 19/12/14 19/12/14 12/12/14 28/11/14 14/11/14 08/11/14 10/11/14 08/11/14 06/11/14 31/10/14 Herald Scotland The Press and Journal The Huntly Express Herald Scotland online The Press and Journal The Huntly Express The Huntly Express The Huntly Express The Huntly Express The Huntly Express The Press and Journal The Huntly Express The Huntly Express The Huntly Express The Huntly Express The Huntly Express The Huntly Express The Huntly Express The Huntly Express The Huntly Express BBC Radio Scotland The Scotsman (online) Scotland on Sunday Press & Journal The Huntly Express

Oaks&Amity Oaks&Amity Oaks&Amity Anthony Schrag Aiden O'Rourke Deveron Arts Claudia Zeiske Slow Marathon Slow Marathon Walking Claudia Zeiske Aiden O'Rourke Christmas Tree Slow Marathon Slow Marathon Santa in the Bin Winter Solstice Walk Dressing the Tree Dressing the Tree Oaks & Amity Hielan Ways Hielan Ways Hielan Ways Hielan Ways Oaks and Amity

Total Artist's legacy to take root with peace wood planting Oaks and Amity Cultural Cat Chat Scottish Artist To Walk From Aberdeenshire to Venice Aidan O'Rourke Deveron Arts unveil schedule of new events Promotional team in search of new ideas Walkers Lining up for slow marathon Slow Marathon plans are on the right track Cultural Cat Chat Your Weekend interview Deveron stint for folk award winner Huntly tree lights wrecked by vandals Looking back on the year gone by Talking about Walking Successful return of Santa in the Bin Winter Solstice Walk Ann throws switch on festive lights display Time to get swtiched on Oak leaves hold story of town's war dead BBC Out of Doors Preview: The Hielan' Ways Symposium, Tomintoul Walk this way Celebration of the Hielan' Ways Artist wants to hear sounds of peace on Rememberance Day

17.5 29.5 40.5 N/A N/A 164 126 114 7.5 13 13 32 29 86 54 27 76 10 56 10 52 27

7 8

£35.00 £33.15 £5.00 £3.50 £5.00 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £5.00 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £3.50 £5.00 £3.50

£21,002.90 £2,730.00 £5,436.60

£227.50 £640.00 £101.50 £301.00 £147.50 £141.75 £196.00 £399.00 £182.00 £630.00 £87.50 £49.00 £28.00 £94.50 £35.00 £35.00 £94.50 £26.25 £189 £266

£17,50

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 30 Annual Report 2014/15 EventMiscellaneous Statistics

2014/15 Events date events participants onlookers Children Adults London%&%Open%School%East%talk 1 12 Christ%Church%talk 12/03/14 1 20 Visit%Scotland%visitors 03/03/14 1 5 Shetland%UHI%talk 1 Norwegian%delegation%talk 07/03/14 1 11 SSW%emerging%artists%talk 21/03/14 1 5 Talk%at%Grays%School%of%Art%on%being%a%professional%Artist 26/03/14 1 30 Fundraising%Workshop 1 9 Janet%Archer%Walk%and%Talk 23/04/14 1 29 Moray%Walking%Festival:%Deveron%Walk%in%the%Cabrach 19/06/14 1 12 A%Walk%at%the%Edge%of%the%World 27/06/14 1 5 Events%Day%(beadmaking%with%Sanaa) 1 8 5 3 River%Deveron%workshop%with%Jake%Williams 19/06/14 3 72 72 Children's%art%week:%Brownies 1 24 24 Wee%toots%fundraiser 1 30 100 Path%bashing%(CHV) 1 9 Coast%Deveron%Walk%from%Banff 24/05/14 1 7 German%TV%Burns%Supper 20/07/14 1 30 Pre&referendum%Quiz 17/09/14 1 56 Best%in%Show%at%Pipes%in%the%Park 30/08/14 1 15 100 NEOS 8/9/14&12/9/14 1 10 50 Vote%Mobile 18/09/14 1 3 Skills%Biennale/Huntly%Hairst%Farmers'%Market 06/09/14 1 90 Skills%Biennale/Huntly%Hairst%Gayle's%Workshop 06/09/14 1 40 Travel%Writing%Workshop%with%Mike%Carter 27/10/14 2 12 CZ%talk%in%Wigtown 01/10/14 1 14 14 Halloween%in%Huntly%&%Farmers'%Market 01/11/14 1 30 100 Hielan'Way%Symposium%walking%day 14/11/14 1 65 Hielan'Ways%Symposium%Talking%Day 15/11/15 1 110 Sounds%of%Peace 11/11/14 1 17 Rememberance%Day%walk 09/11/14 1 6 Ethical%Fayre 29/11/14 1 10 100 Handmade%in%Huntly:%Caroline%Wendling 26/11/14 1 85 200 The%Poor%Had%No%Lawyers%&%talk%with%Andy%Wightman 27/11/14 1 105 CZ%talk%at%Scottish%Towns%Conference,%Paisley 18/11/14 1 220 CZ%talk%Stavanger%Business%students 20/11/14 1 11 Making%Christmas%Bird%Baubles%&%Guides 1 30 Making%Christmas%Bird%Baubles%&%Brownies 1 30 Making%Christmas%Bird%Baubles%&%School 2 60 Christmas%Basteln%at%the%Bin 06/12/14 1 20 100 Christmas%Tree%lights%switch%on 07/12/14 1 10 100 Wochenklausur%artists%talk%and%%lunch 08/12/14 1 15 Small%Business%Christmas%Lunch 19/12/14 1 23 Winter%Solstice%Walk 21/12/14 1 15 Mountain%Talks:%Mountains%of%Mallorca 13/01/15 1 23 Gordon%Schools%community%studies%class%visits various 5 28 Snow%Shoe%Walk 18/01/15 1 6 Culture%Club 07/02/15 10 40 Monday%Winter%Walks 09/02/15 5 60 CZTalk%Birkbeck%College,%London 2 60 Slow%Marathon%Training 21/01/15 10 50 Mountain%Talks:%Munro%Bagging 25/02/15 1 35 Some%Culture%a%Day%keeps%the%Doctor%Away 03/03/15 1 30 CZ%talk%Limerick 2 60 Mountain%Talks:%The%trail%less%travelled%in%Nepal 18/03/15 1 34 Design%in%Motion%&%V&A%Travelling%gallery 08/04/15 1 250 Total

Perambulator 34 213 Lubare%and%the%Boat 61 1147 Hielan'Way 42 1959 Oaks%and%Amity 14 512 Aidan%O'Rourke 4 150 TOTAL 243 6077

Deveron Arts: the town is the venue 31 Annual Report 2014/15