ALICE Sharp is the director of Invisible Dust, the arts and environment organisation behind Shore, a multi-arts and science project reflecting Scotland’s coastal communities’ responses to Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Inspired by the work of marine scientists and the Scottish communities affected by MPAs, Jarman Film Award 2018 nominee Margaret Salmon and community video artist Ed Webb-Ingall have created new films which will tour venues across the country.
WITH Shore, we aim to spark Scotland-wide conversations about “how we see the sea” and the role of MPAs in preserving or “shoring up” our endangered aquatic worlds.
The two films have been shot in Wester Ross and Arran and their contrasting coastal positions provide ideal settings for exploring the relationship between local communities and the seas. Margaret Salmon has created a beautifully filmed work called Chladach which includes footage of a ceilidh, a mother reading from celebrated environmentalist Rachel Carson’s book and a day spent in a wet suit filming maerl beds.
Ed Webb-Ingall has produced a film from a series of community workshops on Arran and speaking to local people and fishermen. His film contrasts the views from different parts of the community and raises questions such as: “Who owns the sea?”
Invisible Dust works to bring artists and scientists together to produce artists commissions, exhibitions and events exploring environmental issues and climate change. As director and creator, I’ve been working on artworks looking at our oceans since 2013, including an exhibition with Tacita Dean, Martin Parr and China Mieville which attracted 400,000 people as part of Hull UK City of Culture 2017.
Shore will launch in Brodick on July 20 in partnership with COAST (Community of Arran Seabed Trust) and the films will have their world premiere in the recently renovated Screen Machine mobile cinema. The event will also host storytelling sessions with Local Voices and hands-on activities encouraging people of all ages to become citizen marine scientists.
We’ll then take Shore on tour across Scotland over 18 months to communities with close connections to the sea and MPAs. Alongside screenings of the artists’ films there will be additional content co-curated with each host venue, as well as opportunities for everyone to contribute their own thoughts.
This will create a chain conversation across Scotland as all participants and audiences are invited to respond to the ideas and learnings of the previous tour location.
Throughout Shore, voices, texts and images will be gathered and shared online to create an impression of the national picture around the social, economic and environmental implications of MPAs. We hope to encourage a wider national awareness and open up dialogue around the challenges of caring for our natural resources in Scotland and the UK.
Shore launches on July 20, Screen Machine at Auchrannie Rd, Brodick, Isle of Arran, 1.45pm.
Shore then tours to: Screen Machine at Castlebay, Barra (Sep 8), Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum and Arts Centre, Lochmaddy, North Uist (date TBC), ATLAS Arts, Portree, Skye (date TBC), Screen Machine at Ullapool (Oct 22), Dundee Contemporary Arts (Jan 23), Timespan Museum and Arts Centre, Helmsdale (Mar 22 to 24), Edinburgh International Science Festival, Dynamic Earth, Holyrood, Edinburgh (Apr date TBC). www.invisibledust.com #ShoreScotland
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