Experience the sights and sounds of glen and forest

An innovative art installation can be seen in Glenbuchat from this weekend. Created by artist Gill Russell, ‘Where Long Shadows Fall’ was created in collaboration with the Glenbuchat community with funding from the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA), LEADER, and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).

The installation involves going on a short walk at the woods and will start from the community hall. It is designed to be contemplative in nature and encourages people to connect in their own way.

Gill Russell said: “The artwork will be an audio installation which will have a mixture of extracts of voices from stories of the lives of people who live in the Glen, from oral history recordings collected from within the community, interspersed with the sounds of the Glen and the forest”.

The installation will start during North East Open Studios (NEOS) week (10-17 September 2011) and will run until the 9th October 2011.

During NEOS week, visitors to the hall will also be given the opportunity to contribute to a community artwork. This will take the form of a tiled collage celebrating the UNESCO Year of the Forest and will be created with help from volunteer artists.

Fiona McLean, the Community Heritage Officer for the Cairngorms National Park Authority said: “This is an exciting and innovative project which through the forest and local environment in Glenbuchat will inspire visitors and help them to value their sense of place within it”.

Sue Scoggins, local operations officer for SNH, said: “We are delighted to support this novel initiative which provides a real hands-on experience for the local community and visitors to the Cairngorms National Park to experience the sights and sounds of glen and forest”.

This year has been declared as ‘International Year of Forests’ by the United Nations General Assembly to raise awareness about sustainable management, conservation and development of forests. Forests provide shelter and are a source of food, medicine and clean water and play a vital role in maintaining a stable global climate and environment. It is estimated 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihood.

‘Where Long Shadows Fall’ can be found near the Glenbuchat Community Hall – just follow the signs from the A97, between Alford and Strathdon.
Further information can be found at http://longshadows.co.uk/