28-36 Victoria Street
Stromness
KW16 3AA
Please note that this event has already happened.
To see upcoming events please visit the Events page.
To see upcoming events please visit the Events page.
Join poet Valerie Gillies & photographer Rebecca Marr for a talk presented by the Orkney Arts Society in the Pier Arts Centre, Stromness.
Valerie will give readings from this new collection of work that celebrates Scotland's wild grasses, simultaneously Rebecca will project photographs of the grasses.
During the presentation the artists will share insights into their collaboration including their way of working during a challenging year, their methods of keeping notebooks and using a digital 'scroll book' and will share quotes from some of the nature books they found inspiring.
The artists will talk about recognising the grasses, spending time in their living world, coming to know their names. They will explore why it is good for our well-being to be outside watching the grass moving in the breeze, how it has a positive impact on us to see the diversity and variety of the pasture or the moor. They will refer to the way in which earlier generations used the grass in their proverbs and sayings and pose the question 'how can these be helpful at specific times in our lives?'.
Valerie will draw on her own living memories and how these have informed her poetry, recalling a life among the grasses: finding a lapwing’s nest on the muir; putting a hand into the outline of a mountain hare’s form to discover if the lair is still warm; learning to cut grass with a sickle, or to swing a scythe along with a grandparent; filling a hay-net for a horse or moving kye to fresh pasture.
The event will close with a discussion with the audience about their own experiences of the world of the grasses, especially at this season of the year.
Tickets can be bought in advance and cost £5 for non-members, £4 for members, £1 for children.
