In A Shetland Landscape

(post by Kay)

This evening we were lucky enough to witness magic in the making. Shetland’s traditional fiddle festival, Fiddle Frenzy, happens to be on this week, impeccable timing considering we have just arrived! So we went to see a gig by Angus Lyon & Ruaridh Campbell; accordion & fiddle. Intimate and electrifying.

Day 2 (post by Kay)

Mousa. Five years ago I tried to get to the island of Mousa, famous for the most well preserved Iron Age broch tower in the world. It was a glorious sunny day (each one is golden in Shetland) and I and my friend and colleague Cristina, who had come to visit, lured by the exoticism of Shetland, waited for the Mousa boat in vain while we watched it speed past and away to the broch without us. The departure harbour had been changed ad-hock due to the weather.

Today was a success story. Mousa did not disappoint. It was forecast to be the sunniest day of the week, and it was gorgeous. The boat was so packed; they had to do two trips. The island is now an RSPB nature reserve, with important breeding colonies of seals and seabirds, including the storm petrel, which nest within the Broch walls.

We spent three hours walking a circuit of the island, and saw seals, and a variety of birds including storm petrels, great skuas, black guillemots and arctic terns. Joseph made some sound recordings along the walk, capturing the sound of seals “snorting” and lots of birdcalls against the background murmuring of the sea. The interesting thing about me being with him while he is recording is that I have to be motionless so as not to make any noise so the microphones don’t pick up unwanted sound. Therefore I am forced to be still and absorb the environment through sight or sound, which is, I admit, unusual or one could even say a challenge for me! Anyone who knows me understands that I do not easily stop – for any reason. But I loved every minute of it. What a place! How lucky we are to be in a place where we can stop, perforce, and enjoy such treasures of nature.

After the boat brought us back to the mainland, we came back to the booth and sat in the sunshine on our terrace by the water’s edge. Idyllic.

(post by Kay)

A bit of background to how we ended up here:

Five years ago I was commissioned to deliver a participatory public art commission by Shetland Schools Service for Olnafirth Primary School in Shetland. I spent several months in the islands, researching, designing, making and installing the artwork. The purpose of the commission was to create a sculptural artwork that could be used for play and for quiet time, so I designed a set of 5 toadstool shaped sculptures sited in the school playground. One of the most important cultural traditions of Shetland was reflected through the designs: Fair Isle knit patterns, which lent themselves conveniently well to mosaic! The entire project is documented in an artists talking blog: https://www.a-n.co.uk/blogs/unravelling-shetland

Shetland has been beckoning me back ever since. It is a special place. I found out about Scalloway Booth then, a studio available to hire for periods of one month, managed by WASPS. I was offered a slot for August 2015 about 2 years ago, so have had plenty of time to plan the project. Firstly Joseph and I decided to collaborate on this project. We have worked together a couple of times in the past, but never as two artists collaborating on a project involving either a residency or an exhibition as ambitious as this. We were accepted for a collaborative exhibition at Shetland Museum and Archives as part of their Made in Shetland programme, proposing to create an immersive, multi-sensory evocation of the Shetland Landscape through ceramics and sound. An a-n funded research trip last November was extremely useful in helping us to plan, meet potential partners and solidify our ideas. We were delighted to discover how spacious and well appointed the gallery, Da Gadderie, is, and immediately started imagining what we could do in the space.

The plan for this residency is to work this out through research and design. Our starting point will be to identify a series of walks across the landscape, which we plan to map through ceramics and sound. Shetland Amenity Trust are partnering the project, and we are expecting to meet with one of the rangers next week, who will be able to help select the best routes to start investigating.

And as for today (DAY 1):

We arrived in Lerwick at 7.30 this morning after a 2 day journey from Brighton and now it’s 10.30 pm after a first day of getting our bearings. Already I’ve bumped into one of the teachers from Olnafirth Primary miles from where both of us live – just shows how small this place is! And not only that, but it was at Frankie’s Fish and Chips where we went to eat this evening, boasting not only to be “Britain’s most northerly fish and chip shop” but is also the winner of Britain’s best fish and chips 2015! And you know what, I believe it is true. Delicious. But now it is time to take a gentle stroll along the waterfront of Scalloway. The gentle lapping sound of water and the lights shimmering on the water are drawing me outside before the darkness sets in…