deveron projects annual report 2019/20 April 2019 - March 2020

1 Introduction Staff, Partners, Board, Artists

Residency Programme / Projects Town is the Garden Slow Marathon FLAX B Means B Future Fruit Bordered Miles Heritage Bakehouse Neep & Okra Kitchen Weeping Willow Tree The Square Deal

Research Programme / Events Kittelfrauen March Movement of Freedom Sound, Image and Place The Last Brexfast GRAFT

Home Programme Friday Lunch Food Chain Farmers' Market

Appendix

Thanks

2 3 Introduction

Now in its 24th year, there isn’t much Deveron Projects hasn’t addressed in our home town of Huntly. Always responsive to an ever-changing socio-political environment, 2019-20 saw the or- ganisation focusing on food culture, sustainability, town centre regeneration, political division and freedom of movement in a local context and beyond.

The Town is the Garden completed a successful three year programme of growing, learning and sharing skills. Norma D Hunter investigated the context of a local poem and the people’s com- mons during the annual Slow MarAthon. Christine Borland gathered growers in Huntly and began a multi-year investigation into flax. David Ward was commissioned to compose B means B, an operatic exploration into the social divisions intensified by Brexit. Ela Orleans returned to Huntly for Sound Image Place, where she premiered Sylvan Ghosts / Viridian Echoes – an audio visual composition created during her 2018 residency. The Edinburgh Art Festival saw a collabo- ration with Many Studios to question barriers facing international artists working in Scotland and to draft a manifesto titled Movement of Freedom. Claudia delivered a 90k pilgrimage, co-cu- rated with Gabriele Konsor, to investigate the meaning of Partnerlook! Jonathan Baxter and Sarah Gittins, with the new addition to the family Ben, came to Huntly to consider how a Future Fruit orchard can respond to our current ecological and climate emergency. Clemens Wilhelm returned to plant the Weeping Willow Tree, collaborating with Richard Demarco and others to mark that important Day in History when the UK was officially split from the EU, while remain- ing in Europe. Iman Tajik was resident in Huntly to explore our relationship with Bordered Miles. Social architects Drassana helped shape the vision for the redevelopment of Square Deal, a Staff major capital project which continues into 2020/21. Deveron Projects launched the Neep & Okra Director: Claudia Zeiske Kitchen Huntly Heritage Bakehouse Project Manager: Robyn Wolsey and , two food initiatives allied with community efforts to Artists Art & Community Worker: Petra Pennington HOME regenerate the town. The programme continued to explore themes of community, identity, Ela Orleans / Clemens Wilhelm Town is the Garden Green Coordinator: Joss Allen locality and cultural exchange. / Gabriele Konsor / Christine Town is the Garden Project Gardener: Lindy Young Borland / Norma D Hunter / Town is the Garden Project Assistant: Caroline Gatt / Rhian Davies Throughout 2019/20, Deveron Projects employed 14 people, ran 8 internships, produced 4 short David Ward / Jonathan Baxter Neep & Okra Project Manager: Bill Logan / Kawther Luay Neep & Okra Chef-Artist: Kawther Luay / Nele Hinz films, raised over £630,000, delivered over 200 events with over 4000 participants, had 3039 & Sarah Gittins / Drassana / Iman Tajik Neep & Okra Chef Assistants: Daniel Mackie / John Sergison followers on Facebook, 1666 on instagram, and 73k website views. Heritage Baker: Robert Singer / Kate Taylor Beale Capital Project Consultant: Bryan Beattie Whew! We’re excited to ask, what’s next? Partners Capital Project Team: Jill Andrews, Architect / John Pascoe, CQS Creative Scotland Project Interns: Zeynep Yildiz / Will Gore / Xavier Verger / Midori Do- Aberdeenshire Council bashi / Alex Severn / Najmeh Doostdar / Rhian Davies / Trisha Mandal Big Lottery Fund Volunteers: Kjell Herben / Ingrid Wylie / Leo Gibson / Patrick Tumelty / British Council Lucy Edwards / Nicola McPherson / many more Wellbeing Festival Cleaning: Hilda Fowler / Alison Cockburn Foundation Scotland Website: Dorian Fraser-Moore Scottish Refugee Council Design: Mark Samouelle Marr Area Partnership Media: Lesley Booth The Orchard Project Board Climate Challenge Fund Dummuies Windfarm Yunior Aguiar / Steve Brown / Pauline Burmann / The Gordon Schools Camilla Crosta / Sinead Delaney /Andrew Dixon Private Donations / Iain Irving / Chloe Billy Kift / Tracey Mackenna / Goethe Institute Kevin MacIntosh / Alan Macpherson / Lynn Syrian New Scots Rutter / Christine Sell / Chantelle Thomson / Paths for All Jason Williamson / Mike Whittall and many more

4 5 Residency programme / projects

From April 2019, a section of a circular flax planting was seeded every week for 6 weeks in the Brander Garden where it grew as a literal test-bed for the FLAX project. Participants are led through the aeons on a Cosmic Walk guided by Patrick Geddes at Huntly Community Orchard.

The Neep & Okra team explored Pantry Food Fayre through a series of cookery workshops in Huntly Community Kitchen with the Huntly Food Bank and Alexander Scotts Hospital. Square Deal open day building tour.

Lantern lit procession to The Weeping Willow Tree site by the banks of the River Deveron.

6 7 Town is the Garden

Duration: April 2017 - March 2020 Activities: Discussion, Growing, Eating, Think- ing, Reflecting Funders/Partners: Climate Challenge Fund / The Finnis Scott Foundation / Action Earth / Tes- co Groundworks / The Grow Wild Fund Website: www.deveron-projects.com/town-gar- den/ The Town is the Garden began in 2017 with Joss Allen (Green Coordinator), Camille Si- neau (Project Assistant) and Lindy Young (Project Gardener), and was joined by Car- oline Gatt (Project Assistant) in 2018 and Rhian Davies (Project Assistant) in 2020. For 3 years, Town is the Garden explored the future of food production in Huntly through a programme of skills-sharing workshops, reading groups, seed swaps, educational in- terventions and explorations into alternative economies. Read a farewell from the Town is the Garden and a summary of the project’s events in their own words on p.25.

The project leaves lasting legacies in Huntly and Deveron Projects, one of which is the Strathbogie Seed Collective - a community seed library located in Orb’s Bookshop, cu- rated by Dawn Finch, Katrina Flad and Joss Allen. The aim of the seed library is to share and disseminate viable seeds, especially heirloom and new local varieties that might otherwise be lost. The Town is the Garden Library, a collection of research, recipes and practical guides is hosted in the Neep & Okra Kitchen at No.8 Castle Street.

Pictured: Conversations on the future of food at the Peoples Assembly, Hairst 2019; Queer Garden of Abundant Possibilities with Joe Crowdy

8 9 Norma D Hunter / Slow Marathon 2019

Duration: 20th & 21st April Activities: Walking, Reading, Po- etry, Right to Roam Funders/Partners: Creative Scot- land / Paths for All Website: www.deveron-projects. com/events/slow-marathon-2019/

The 2019 Slow Marathon ex- plored themes of poetry and our common right to roam through a route inspired by Huntly’s lo- cal poem;

The Ba’Hill, the Battlehill, the Clashmach and the Bin, they all form a circle and Huntly lies within.

Curated with Norma D Hunter, collaborating with Huntly Writ- er’s, the Rambling Rhymes Slow Marathon 2019 invited walkers to challenge their en- durance and participate in ar- tistic activities that helped the appreciation of the local envi- ronment and our access to it. The route took walkers on a circular walk around Huntly, as- cending and descending each of the four hills in the poem on the way. The start and end point of the walk was Huntly Town Square, and a booklet was made that illustrated the route of the walk.

As part of the Slow Marathon weekend of events, we host- ed a Pathmakers’ Gathering at the Gordon Arms Hotel, where Claudia and Norma chaired a discussion between poets Calum Rodger and John Bol- land, which was entitled ‘Walk- ing, Poetry and the Commons’.

Pictured: Walkers on the Castle Hotel avenue, returning to Huntly during Deveron Projects’ annual walking event ‘Slow Marathon 2019’ Pictured: Setting off from the Town Square; Preparations in the Brander Garden; Walkers at the top of the Clashmach; Collecting stamps en route

2 3 David Ward / B Means B

Duration: April - August 2019 Activities: Composition, Opera, Brexit-Noise, Bureaucracy Funders: Creative Scotland Website: www.deveron-projects.com/b-means-b/

Local Huntly composer David Ward joined the Deveron Projects team in Summer 2019 to produce a chamber opera on and around the theme of Brexit and its impacts on our lives. Brexit has global implications, but also touch- es the smallest facets of our everyday lives. B Means B questioned whether we can get be- yond the ‘noise’ of the discord inherent within Christine Borland / FLAX the Brexit debate, and in doing so, whether we Duration: April 2019 - Ongoing can reach any points of shared understanding. Activities: Gardening, Local History, Colonialism Funders/Partners: Royal Scottish Academy / Royal Working with librettist Neville Rigby, David Botanics Edinburgh began composing an operatic piece reacting Website: www.deveron-projects.com/flax to aspects of the noise and confusion around Brexit. As a chamber opera, it is expected to Developed out of visual artist Christine Bor- be about an hour in duration, written for a small land’s time in Huntly as Thinker in Residence, company of four singers and six instruments. the FLAX project involves a 2-year research and The work will examine the opposing attitudes production period, with the aim of establishing a of Brexit through the eyes of a domestic family community of flax growers around Huntly. household in Scotland. Huntly once had a thriving linen industry. Re- Taking this global/local parallel approach placed by cotton, this has been reduced over the further, David plans to pair professional op- decades, along with the flax fields surrounding era-dramatic voices with singers, both profes- the town. After seeing the artefacts in the for- sional and amateur, from the folk music tradi- mer Brander Museum that document this thriv- tion of the North East of Scotland. ing eighteenth century linen industry, Christine embarked on researching this heritage and its subsequent decline in slow time. Replaced by cotton, Huntly’s linen industry has been reduced over the decades, along with the flax fields surrounding the town. Her inquiry takes place alongside a community of interested local grow- ers and craftspeople, led by the Town is the Gar- den project team, particularly Caroline Gatt and Lindy Young.

A series of talks and events to consider and share some of the project’s wider themes took place throughout the growth cycle of the plant. These included a performative flax ‘rippling’ event, and a Storylines workshop, which took place in the Bin Forest and explored where hu- mans have influenced and been influenced by the land around Huntly over time.

Pictured: Local Huntly composer David Ward; Hand-written composition process to create the operatic arrangement ‘B Means B’ Pictured: Christine Borland shares the movement of FLAX sowing; Movement workshop led by Caroline Gatt during Storylines; Brander flax flower

4 5 Huntly Heritage Bakehouse Neep & Okra Kitchen Duration: September 2019 - ongoing Duration: August 2019 - ongoing Activities: Baking, Recipe Sharing, Learning, Skills Sharing Activities: 50/50 Cooking, Eating, Recipe & Skills Sharing Funders/Partners: LEADER, Scotland the Bread Funders/Partners: Aspiring Communities Fund Website: www.deveron-projects.com/heritage-bakehouse/ Website: www.deveron-projects.com/neep-and-okra-project/

The processes and heritage of bread and bakeries have Iraqi-Scottish artist-chef Kawther Luay joined Deveron Pro- played an important role in rural towns. At one time, Hunt- jects to develop a locally sourced, globally inspired food ly boasted thirteen individual bakehouses, but these days and hospitality project. Kawther’s own practice explores are long past. Artist-baker Robert Singer, and then Kate ways of integrating Levantine cuisine into its rich culinary Taylor-Beale, came to Huntly with a view to investigate heritage with environmentally sustainable, local produce. whether there is still an interest within the community for In Huntly, she has been using this experience to help de- hand-made bread. Their intention was to discover what velop a town centre regeneration response through a long- knowledge people have of past bakeries, and how this term sustainable fusion food project. knowledge can contribute to town centre renewal. Working with food as the contextual meeting point of the Heritage Bakehouse is driven by the principle that social- environment, agriculture, ethical trade, migration and ly engaged arts can rejuvenate a place with meaningful wellbeing, this project aims to deliver a collaborative pro- purpose, by supporting the ethos that everyone is an art- gramme of events, curated menus, talks and workshops. ist. The overall vision of the project is to create a bake- Through adopting a foreign pantry that merges with local house local to Huntly, where the loaves baked can be home-grown produce, Neep & Okra sets to offer an ex- used to create a sustainable and ultimately self-funding pansive taste in food culture, inspiring new connections, heritage bakery. A key aspect of the project has been to friendships and valuable cultural exchange. create opportunities that encourage local participation in the process of bread making. Robert began the project by Throughout the project so far, Neep & Okra have hosted gathering local information about growing grain, milling food workshops, teaching participants how to make things and baking, and Kate has now formed relationships with such as Kombucha, Kubba and a 50/50 Burns Supper. local organic wheat growers from Coldwells and Mun- They have catered and collaborated with Deveron Projects’ goswells. Heritage Bakehouse bread is now stocked in other projects, helping out with events including Who Is Forbes Raeburn butchers in Huntly, and in Deveron Pro- Afraid of Ideaology - a monthly Film and Food Night hosted jects’ Honesty Shop. by the Town is the Garden team, and The Elves Workshop 2019, a community consultation event for Square Deal. Since January, Kate has had a focus on running socially The kitchen has also played host and caterer for discus- engaged workshops and events to get people involved in sions on town regeneration, with the event 50/50 Meet & the process of baking. In the future, Kate plans to spread Greet, aiming to foster opportunity for local businesses and the word and develop the project by holding one-to-one the public to meet the Neep & Okra team and discuss how baking sessions and live baking demonstrations. to regenerate Huntly.

6 7 Jonathan Baxter & Sarah Gittins / Future Fruit

Duration: February 2019 - February 2020 Activities: Apple Pressing, Public Meetings, Orchard Care, Mapping Funders/Partners: Climate Challenge Fund / Community Growing Fund / Tesco Bags of Help Website: www.deveron-projects.com/ future-fruit/

Jonathan Baxter and Sarah Gittins came to Huntly to consider how an existing or- chard can be rethought in response to our current ecological and climate emergen- cy. Whilst thinking from the perspective of an ecosystem, they also considered the relevance of Patrick Geddes to Huntly, looking at how collective action can be manifested.

Iman Tajik / Bordered Miles The orchards that Jonathan and Sarah Duration: February - March 2020 set to work with were pre-existing and Activities: Walking, Discussion, Letter-writing made up of two separate groups of fruit Funders/Partners: Global Justice Glasgow / Scottish trees planted by artist Norma D Hunter, Detainee Visitors / Cabrach Trust through her Bite on the Side project, and Networks of Wellbeing. Website: www.deveron-projects.com/bordered-miles/

Glasgow-based Iranian artist Iman Tajik planned to work Jonathan and Sarah began their inves- with us on Bordered Miles, a project supported by Glasgow tigations and interventions in February International Festival that was set to be a part of their 2020 2019, returning to foster discussions programme. Influenced by his experience of crossing bor- and events with the community. A key ders, Iman planned to use borders and freedom of move- part of the project was involvement in ment to question how geographical and political boundaries the Farmers’ Markets; in August, they can be made more visible and known, be that between cit- used the platform to map Huntly’s exten- ies, boroughs, countries, buildings or fields. sive fruit trees; in September the map- ping continued during the annual Huntly Two complimentary walks were planned in order to discuss Hairst, alongside juice tasting and screen and explore these themes: one from Glasgow to Dungavel printing sessions; in November the stall Removal Centre, Scotland’s only detention centre, and an- shared Huntly Apple Juice pressed from other from the depopulated Cabrach to Huntly, which has the orchard and locally donated apples. seen much land flight in the past. Through these walks, Iman invited us to join him in investigating the idea of bor- The project also considered the rele- ders in order to raise awareness of locations where free- vance of Aberdeenshire-born Patrick dom of movement conflicts with geo-political boundaries to- Geddes (1854-1932) - ecologist, educa- day and in the past. Walking has long been used for political tor and visual thinker - to Huntly. How do action and it can be a powerful artistic gesture with political the visual tools Geddes used to aid his relevance. Ultimately, these walks would draw attention to thinking relate to the many interests and the movement of bodies as a natural right of any species. needs of all age groups, cultures, demo- graphics, and species in Huntly? Future Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this project Fruit takes Geddes philosophy and ap- was suspended. Instead, Iman stayed with Deveron Pro- plies it as a tool for reimagining our rela- jects to work on the Under One Sky project - our global tionship with the past, present and future. online Slow Marathon.

Pictured: Barbed wire over Scotland’s only Detention Centre, Dungavel, on the outskirts of Glasgow; Iman exploring the Cabrach landscape Pictured: Jonathan, Sarah and Ben in Brander Garden; local historian Dr. Patrick Scott examines Future Fruit map; Screenprinting at Hairst

8 9 Clemens Wilhelm / Weeping Willow Tree

Duration: October 2018 – January 2020 Activities: Walking, Discussion, Tree Planting, Celebrating/Commiserating Funders/Partners: Creative Scotland / Goethe Institute Website: www.deveron-projects.com/ weeping-willow-tree/

Berlin-based artist Clemens Wilhelm responded to a Think:Brexit call-out in October 2018; proposing to plant a Weeping Willow tree in a public site in Huntly to provide a place of shelter for folk to meet and to begin to help heal divisions triggered by the Brexit referendum.

Local craftsman David Whitehead worked with Clemens on the pro- duction of a wooden bench, which was completed and installed by the river Deveron in March 2019, built A lot of people have asked me: “Does Huntly need a tree like this?” And I think to encircle the growing tree over its so, I think it would be a good thing to have because Brexit is like a wound. And 50 year life span. Three more ‘Brexit if you want to heal it, you have to show your wound. You can’t say “this is not Days’ followed, and with them a se- happening”, or “I am ignoring it”, “I will stay at home, watch TV or get drunk”, or whatever. You have to first show your wound, otherwise you will not be healed. I ries of discussion events and artistic am very happy that so many of you are here to address this wound and to heal it!” interventions. Finally, on January 31st 2020, Britain left the European Clemens Wilhelm, addressing the crowd at the Weeping Willow Tree planting, Union and the Weeping Willow Tree 31st January 2020 was planted on the sunset river- bank.

The planting was presided over by six appointed Tree Guardians, Clemens, and Richard Demarco, who shared words of hope that this site could become a possible place of pilgrimage, a point of reference for the language of art as a universal language for human beings regard- less of state or nation.

Pictured: Ben and local Explorer Scouts burning their stag sculpture; Apple pressing at the Farmers’ Market; Gordon Primary School ‘Imagine Pictured: Weeping Willow Tree Guardians, Lindy, Steve, Fiona, Gordon and artist Clemens Wilhelm; Locals and visitors gather for twilight planting

10 11 drassana / The In 2019, we acquired a much loved heritage building known square deal as Square Deal, which has a prominent place in Huntly’s 200 year workshop and retail history - evolving from the Duration: May 2019 - Ongoing town’s tin smith, into a craft shop, a savings bank, and most Activites: Architectural Planning, De- signing, Mapping, Community Consul- recently, into a small department store and chemist. Taking tation, Thinking About the Future this rich past, this project seeks to draw together the future Funders/Partners: Scottish Land Fund story of the space with its history, whilst helping to rethink / Aberdeenshire Town Centre Fund the town centre experience and regeneration. / Clashindarroch Community Fund / Huntly Community Council We have employed the skills of social architects and de- Website: www.deveron-projects.com/ signers Ester Gisbert Alemany and Alfonso M. Cuadrado, square-deal/ also known as Drassana. Coming from Alicante, Spain, where they have established ‘The Common People’s Archi- tect Office’, Drassana offer an affordable design service for those that would normally choose not to hire an architect. They have now brought the tools of their people oriented approach to Huntly, to participate in the remaking of the for- mer Square Deal shop and residences.

The project’s aim is to build a place that can act as both a space for the local community and for an international cre- ative community - a space to host events or even incubate community business. Drassana intend to design atmos- pheres that capture and continue the stories of previous re- lationships between the building, the people and the things that have previously populated Square Deal. The local com- munity’s presence has been a key part of Drassana’s work methods - at Christmas we held an elf themed community consultation event, welcoming Huntly into the space to dis- cuss what the future of Square Deal could be, amongst oth- er discussions with local historians, crafters and residents.

Pictured: Deveron Projects team, artists, volunteers, architects and board members gathered during Square Deal Elves Workshop 2019 Pictured: Deveron Projects team, volunteers, artists and participants in conversation during Square Deal Elves Workshop open day

12 13 Research programme / events

Sound Image Place Duration: 24th & 25th October Activies: Listening, Walking, Discussion, Film Screening Partners: Aberdeenshire Council, SOUND, Across the Grain Website: www.deveron-projects.com/events/sound-image- and-place/ Sound, Image, Place was a two-day symposium exploring the history and future of soundscap- ing, bringing together sound, film and live music. Together with Prof. Pete Stollery (University of Aberdeen), Dr. Louise Harris (University of Glasgow), Michael Pattison (Alchemy Film & Arts) and Maja Zećo (PhD, Gray’s School of Art), we considered current aural and visual connections and personal and archival narratives, as well as a (re)discovery of Huntly and its satellite woodlands through soundwalking.

The symposium culminated in the premiere of Sylvan Ghosts / Viridian Echoes by audio-visual composer Ela Orleans, based on her 2018 residency in Huntly, and performed live by the artist with musicians from the North-East of Scotland. This screening was shown at Huntly Golf Club alongside works by Dudendance with live musical performances by Fiona Soe Paing and Argen- tine composer Fabiana Galante.

Pictured: Soundwalking Huntly; Thoughts shared by the fireside; Lantern procession to the Weeping Willow Tree; Kittelfrauen; Ela with musicians Pictured: Petra leading White Wood Walk; Soundwalking Huntly; Najmeh visits the White Wood; Participants enjoy discussion over a cup of tea

14 15 Movement of Freedom Duration: 26th July 2019 Activities: Discussion, Manifesto thinking Funders/Partners: Many Studios / Edinburgh Art Festival Website: https://www.deveron-projects.com/ movement-freedom/

In July 2019, Many Studios and Deveron Projects co-produced the event Movement of Freedom, which brought together around 40 senior creative practitioners as well as Scottish Government representatives to dis- cuss issues and barriers in the UK Visa and Immigration system, especially in relation to inviting international artists to participate in arts programmes in Scotland. The event posed some interesting ques- tions, the key one being ‘how can the arts, creative and cultural sectors in Scotland and across the UK call for a more transpar- ent and accountable VISA system that will underpin the international connections and diversity of expression that is fundamen- tal to our work and the social, cultural and economic contributions that we make to the country for the benefit of all?’. In response to the Movement of Freedom workshop, Many Studios are creating a graft Manifesto and Toolkit, designed to explain Duration: 8th February 2020 the Visa process to producers and organisa- Kittelfrauen March Activies: Growing, Grafting, Celebrat- tions in order to increase the success rate of Duration: 3rd - 5th October 2019 ing, Talking, Feasting applications. They are working closely with Activities: Walking, Talking, Meeting, Partner-looking Partners: Climate Challenge Fund, the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Aspiring Communities Fund Creative Scotland and other institutions with Funders/Partners: landmade. / British Council / Schloss Meyenburg Website: www.deveron-projects.com/ experience of supporting and submitting events/graft/ applications for artists to travel to Scotland. Website: www.deveron-projects.com/partnerlook/ The manifesto will be utilised to advocate Playing with graft as a metaphor for a better system. Under the motto ‘Kittel meets Kilt’, the Kittelfrau- and theme of the day, a day of work- en Parade forms the prelude of the Partnerlook! shops was followed by an evening project. Led by curator Claudia Zeiske, a varied celebration and insight into the fu- group of women walked and talked the ‘Strodisign ture of three projects; Future Fruit, pinafores’ cross-country from Strodehne to Mey- Neep & Okra Kitchen and Town is enburg. the Garden. Speeches were fol- lowed by a storytelling piece, writ- The approx. 90 km route was into three hiking ten and performed by Annie Lord, days, linking with friends and colleagues along the exploring the art of grafting. ‘Graft’ way to include Festland e.V. („Dorfmacht Oper“) considered the human desire to in Klein Leppin and Kunstfreunde Pritzwalk e.V. gain control over nature and its re- Each walk was connected to a socio-political production. And finally, local meets theme relevant to life in rural Europe today, look- global food and music. This event ing at old and not so-old symbols and traditions marked the launch of the Neep & on the way. To help unearth persistent and pre-ex- Okra Cafe, which was forced to isting patterns, representatives from culture, poli- close its doors in March due to the tics and other walks of life were invited to join the Covid-19 pandemic. march to frame the daily discussions. Pictured: Participants talk through the barriers facing international artists working in Scotland; Group of Kittelfrauen during the 3-day march Pictured: Guests during the Neep & Okra Cafe launch at GRAFT; Future Fruit screenprinting workshop; Local musicians start impromptu folk night

16 17 Home programme / place work folk

The Last Brexfast Duration: 1st November 2019 Activies: Listening, Talking, Discussion Partners: Goethe Institut, Creative Scotland Website: www.deveron-projects.com/events/day-history/ Running alongside the Residency and Research Programmes during 2019/20, our HOME pro- gramme was run by Art & Community Worker Petra Pennington delivering a series of community Deveron Projects’ Last Brexfast aimed to explore building projects based on skills sharing and hospitality through a seasonal programme. Those what we mean by the term democracy today: its include the Farmers’ Markets, our weekly Friday Lunch and monthly Food Chain cookery sessions. roots, its future, within and outwith the EU as well as seeking for new options and a renewal in its belief. Place/Work/Folk is at the core of De- Together with Clemens Wilhelm; Prof Alison Phibbs, veron Projects’ HOME programme, UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration; artist Sam- providing a contemporary response to son Kambalu, University of Oxford (Ruskin College); Aberdeenshire born philosopher and Francis McKee, CCA; Manick Govinda, co-founder town planner Patrick Geddes’ triptych of Brexit Creatives, and a kalabash for time keep- for community planning (see business ing, we provided an open space for discussion. plan for full description of the pro- gramme). This programme has been This event marked the end of Deveron Projects’ preparing the ground to look even Think:Brexit programme, and the beginning of a deeper at the regeneration of Huntly Transition Period anticipating futures developing through a re-reading of its economy: our own cultural trade deals post-Brexit in Europe exploring the idea that an economy is and beyond. much more diverse than the ‘tip of the iceberg,’ that a traditional reading of an economy may suggest.

We believe that there are a whole se- ries of exchanges, values and relation- ships that take place in everyday life and that contribute to the economy of a place. We wish to pick up on these and look for creative solutions to help improve our town, based on ideas of sustainability, regeneration and well- being, starting with the former Square Deal shop.

Pictured: Claudia introduces the question, What is Democracy?; Manick Govinda shares his views; Samson Kambalu addresses the crowd Pictured: Friday Lunch with Lucia Ruggerone in the Brander Kitchen, part of the HOME Programme; Patrick Geddes illistrated by Jacques Coetzer

18 19 Pictured: Intern Will with the newly built Brander pizza oven; Intern Xavier reads the Huntly Express; Town is the Garden on residency in Italy; Pictured: Writer and comedian A L Kennedy hosts an evening of ‘Understanding Brexit’ following the planting of the Weeping Willow Tree Neep and Okra introduce their locally sourced, globally inspired philosophy during a Farmers’ Market; Deveron Projects team in the White Wood

20 21 appendix ii. Press Report i. Event Statistics

iii. Funding Support

22 23 iv. Audience Analysis v. Farewell from Town is the Garden Facebook impressions “We are all compost” Neep & Okra / Heritage Bakery Job Opportunities Town is the Garden is down with the worms. A er nearly 3 years of thinking-with and making-with the garden, we’re returning to the compost heap. From this incredible heap2 we rst emerged, and began with a party! We gathered round the future hairst3, fomenting and fermenting with microbial cultures. In glass 4 5 ‘Where were you when houses, allotments, orchards and empty shops we planned gardens together . Creating gardens of possibilities 6 7 Brexit happened?’ and possible gardens of kinship . From little or nothing we found companionship with mushrooms. rough 8 Slow Marathon Community the seasons of weeds we learned stories from plants in the wrong places and became collaborators in tickets selling SGSAH Residency Christmas Day contaminating diversity9. We partied again. Mapping the soils of Huntly we travelled through communities fast! Opportunity Lunch from below10, composting as we went. From old ways11 we wove stories and memory together into gathering baskets for harvests still to come. We practiced thinking like a forest12, cra ing gardens as possible paths to developing more-than-human communicative habits. Again we partied. In the queer garden of abundant possibilities13, we considered what practices of tending towards or tending for plants can teach us about how we pay attention to our surroundings and to one another. Weeds followed us wherever we went, and we followed them. With humour and hopefulness, we cooked our way through a cataclysm14. We became entangled in future fruit15, reanimating and rethinking with Patrick Geddes towards a multi-species commons. Over breakfast we made eld notes for surviving the future16, in the hope that thinking together may help us pay better attention to the entanglement of human and more-than-human worlds. Over lunch we honed our skills and shared our knowledge in the garden17. In the evening we journeyed across worlds to other ecosystems and other ways of knowing18. Now back to the worms, lets see what emerges from the humus... Website Demographics 1. Haraway, Donna. “Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Plantationocene, Chthluluocene: Making Kin” Environmental Humanities 6 (2015): 161. 2. e Incredible Heap, 22/07/17 3. Huntly Hairst, 02/09/17 4. Planning a Garden Together, 20/01/18 5. A Garden of Possibilities, 08/03/18 6. Possible Gardens of Kinship, 16/06/18 7. From Little or Nothing, 14/04/18 8. Seasons of Weeds: Spring, 24/03/18 9.Tsing, Anna. “Contaminated Diversity in ‘Slow Disturbance’: Potential Collaborators for a Liveable Earth,” Why Do We Value Diversity? Biocultural Diversity in a Global Context, edited by Gary Martin, Diana Mincyte, and Ursula Münster, RCC Perspectives 2012, no. 9, 95–97 10. Communities From Below, 21/07/18 11. From Old Hands New Ways, 18/08/18 12. inking Like a Forest, 23/02/19 13. Queer Garden of Abundant Possibilities, 15/06/19 14. Cooking in a Cataclysm, 06/09/19 15. Future Fruit, various dates 16. Field Notes on Surviving the Future, various dates` 17. Gardener’s Lunch, various dates 18. Film programme, various dates

24 25 Thanks to participated, partnered and helped us throughout 2019-20!

Deveron Projects team in the Brander Garden, October 2019. Pictured from left: Najmeh Doostdar, Kawther Luay, Robert Singer, Bill Logan, Robyn Wolsey, Joss Allen, Claudia Zeiske, Rhian Davies; Caroline Gatt, Petra Pennington

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