Exhibitions in Mackay Country

3 Nov 2006 in Highland, Visual Arts & Crafts

Books ‘n Birdies

Arts Co-ordinator NORMAN GIBSON sets the scene for the final two exhibitions in the Mackay Country Residencies project.

FROM JULY to October this year, three artists were working in Mackay Country as successful applicants for a residency project devised and managed by Durness Development Limited. Ruth Macdougall’s successful show took place last month in Skerray and, at the end of this month, the other two artists, Deirdre Nelson and Joanne Kaar, are to hold their exhibitions in Scourie and Durness respectively.

A textile artist, Deirdre took as her starting point the famed bird colonies of Handa Island and recreated the various species by traditional knitting techniques. Research on her chosen location included the emigration of its people from Handa to Nova Scotia and Cape Breton.

In addition to her personal explorations, Deirdre involved local school children in the creative project and was also able to make direct links with an art teacher in Cape Breton and to set up an exchange between the pupils of both countries.

Based in Durness, Joanne Kaar’s work was also stimulated by ideas of journeys over land and sea – and through timescales that included archaeological periods.

These were realised in a series of handmade ‘books’ and paper objects contained in boxes within a boat-shaped case. Exploring new techniques, Joanne examined the physical and chemical effects of the landscape on artworks buried in a peat bog or placed in saltwater and dried in the wind.

Among other experiments, she initiated a grow-your-own hut circle and threw six identical bottles into the sea off Faraid Head. This particular act – both commemorative and exploratory – took place on the date that the ‘Canton’ was shipwrecked off the rocks in 1849. Each bottle held an account of the disaster.

Deirdre’s exhibition ‘Birdies of Weavers Bay’ is being held in Scourie Village Hall on Saturday 25 November (10am-5pm). Her work will be on display alongside that of children from Scourie Nursery, Kinlochbervie High School and the Primary schools of Scourie, Achfary, Kinlochbervie and Sydney in Cape Breton. The village Christmas Fair takes place in the same venue from 2pm. Joanne’s exhibition ‘Journeys’ runs for two weeks from 26 November at 1 Bard Terrace in Durness, and will be open on a daily basis.

A National Lottery grant through the Scottish Arts Council and partnership funding from the Highland Year of Culture 2007 enabled each of the artists to take part in this first, fully arts-based project of the Durness development group. Their experiences and ideas can be further explored on blogsites set up during the residencies and followed by readers from different parts of the world (see links below).

(Norman Gibson is Arts Co-ordinator for the Mackay Country Residencies)