Artist-Researcher Creative Project: ‘Stories, Song & Stewardship in Abriachan Forest’

It is Latha Buidhe Bealtainn, the lucky yellow day of Beltane, and I am delighted to share news that my project 'Stories, Songs and Stewardship in Abriachan Forest', rooted in my home place, has been funded by Creative Scotland.

Through fieldwork and research - finding the songs, tunes, stories, placenames and seasonal traditions connected to this landscape - the project is about cultural darning and mending, weaving threads from the past into the present. Seasonal convivial gatherings are where findings are offered back to the community, to a new generation: shared, sung, carefully darned back into the ongoing story of this place.

The project begins from the belief that nature restoration is as much a cultural task as it is an ecological one: that lasting community stewardship depends on a deep sense of place, which grows from cultural memory and meaning - kept alive through living creative practice.

Our first May gathering is 'Song of the Summer.' The wonderful Ryan Dziadowiec and I will lead a walk to the shieling hut on Càrn na Leitire, noticing and naming plants, trees, wildflowers and birdsong along the way, and sharing stories of shieling life. We'll return to Abriachan Hall for soup, art activities, and shieling songs, and will write new words for an old Gaelic tune. We will also be joined by Gaelic songbirds Ealtainn. https://lnkd.in/eMNKQ98Z

Supported by Creative Scotland with funds from the Scottish Government. Thank you 🙏