Findhorn Arts

It was a wonderful spell of weather and a great excuse to take the family and camp at Culbin sands for a couple of nights and take part in the annual Findhorn Bay Arts Festival, which ran from 21-25 September at venues and and around Forres.

biosculpture: Biomatrix Water Solutions

We spent a wonderful evening listening to gaelic singer Julie Fowlis and her band of first class folk musicians. The second evening we watched an interesting autobiographical performance piece by Mairi Campbell, from Lismore. She is well-known for her traditional music CDs, and in recent years she has written many of her own songs with husband Dave Francis. The piece 'Pulse', follows Mairi's musical evolution from the stifling Guildhall in London to finding her own 'pulse' in step dance and the music of her own west coast of Scotland. It was funny and moving, and involved some improvisation. 

Luke Jerram: Glass microbiology

Improvisation, collaboration and finding one's 'voice' in the creative arts, is right at the heart of Mairi Campbell's work. She involved the audience in creating some pieces of improvised music and singing, which was really excellent. 

 During the days we visited various exhibitions in the Findhorn area. I particularly enjoyed the work at Brodie Castle. This included the inspiring 2020Vision photographic celebration of UK wildlife conservation, Luke Jerram's intricate glass models of lethal virus molecules (Glass Microbiology) and the 'Biosculpture' of islands of wildlife habitat on Brodie pond. There were also paintings Lisa Shaw inspired by the pond life of the biosculptures.