From the Mountains to the Sea
The Voyage Spring Summer 2013
Boat building, Film, Voice, Dance and a Great Journey. To make a great journey in a vessel of your own making is no small thing. To make that journey alongside other vessels made by people from other communities, within the broad embrace of the mountains, the river and sea has even greater potential.
Beneath the Mountain
July 14th-17th 2012
Currach building workshop + Gathering the team and Planning sessions. The first workshop will take place on the banks of the River Wye at Glasbury near Hay-on Wye. We will build 2 currachs with Rory Macphee, designer and boat builder who lectures at Falmouth Marine School. This initial workshop is aimed at individuals, organisations and group leaders who would like to take part in the project and voyage in Spring Summer 2013. There will also be places for people interested the making, craft, history and use of traditional boats. The costs of the 4 day Workshop including camping will be £200.00 per person. Alongside building the Currachs there will be daily planning sessions and workshops exploring the practical and creative potentials of the voyage. Visiting ecologists, marine historians, artists, educators and poets will offer their insights into this extraordinary landscape. Evenings will include campfires, shared meals, music, films and wild stories.
The project will involve people and communities from the mountains and the sea. Together we will build 6-8 Curraghs, the traditional skin covered boats. These small sea going vessels used by the Celtic saints, fishermen and traders are still used today. Having built our boats and learned how to sail them, the groups, accompanied by experienced river and marine professionals will make an extraordinary journey by river and sea. Our voyage would be the 150 mile approx 7 day journey down the River Wye and along the Severn estuary South Wales coast to St Donats Arts Centre Atlantic College. This inspirational project will be an Epic journey and voyage of discovery in more ways than one. Alongside the practical elements of boatbuilding and the voyage, the project aims to develop performance and film. We will explore the great cycle of the River, from the Mountains to the Sea. Using Celtic myth and stories as a reference point we will be making our own connections to the great cycles of the natural world and asking – “how do our own personal stories connect to the world story in this particular time and place?”. Each group involved will take away – their own Currach, a wealth of experience and hopefully inspiration to take forward their own projects in their communities.
For further details, including rates and booking places contact John Whitehead 07951 315821 john@lightfootschool.co.uk Artists website www.lynettemargerison.co.uk For more information on Currachs and the Partner websites www.valleyandvalecommunityarts.co.uk www.artsalivewales.org.uk