Languages Of Land As Night Draws In - Film Screening & Discussion

What’s on offer?

What does a reciprocal relationship with land look, smell, feel, sound like? If we try to move beyond ownership and extraction—or even conservation—how do we then relate to the hazel-shaws, aps'tgu'j, and móinéar**?

Whilst the COP26 conference is in full-swing in Glasgow, The Bare Project (a theatre and interactive arts company) together with CUSP will be at Lyth Arts in Caithness, the UK’s most northernly mainland arts centre, trying to understand ancient relationships with land that may help guide our future.

We will be working with crofters, linguists, a herbalist, academics, a filmmaker, and a fiddle player to get to grips with the languages of land that have been all-but lost to British colonialism, and post-industrial capitalism.

We are a group of English speakers and recognise that these stories, concepts, and words cannot necessarily be directly translated. So, what experiences can we create to help others to understand these languages of land when words are insufficient?

Join us at 6pm on the 24th November for a film screening and online discussion about the project as we continue to ask these questions.

What’s it about?

This event—co-hosted by CUSP at the University of Surrey (UK) and Artsadmin, in partnership with The Bare Project and Lyth Arts Centre, as part of the 2021 ESRC Festival of Social Science—is designed for people who are interested in land justice, the role of language in our relationships with land, and arts-based approaches to research and activism.

Further details can be accessed on the CUSP website. The free event is taking place via ZOOM. Please register your seat to receive joining details and updates on the event as they occur. For enquiries, please email events@cusp.ac.uk.

This piece is part of a broader project called The People’s Palace of Possibility, a long-form arts and permaculture project which began via the postal service during the lockdowns of 2020, and will culminate in a community-owned food forest in South Yorkshire. It is supported by the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP), Creative Carbon Scotland, and University of Glasgow.

The piece we will be screening is directed by CUSP researcher Dr Malaika Cunningham, and forms part of her practice research residency with Artsadmin. The project is part of the Caithness and Sutherland Climate Beacon 'The Land for Those That Work It', part of Creative Carbon Scotland’s Climate Beacons programme.

Who’s leading the event?

Dr Malaika Cunningham, University of Surrey

Open to

Anyone welcome.

Of particular interest to

General public, young people, residents of the Scottish Highlands, anyone with an interest in climate change, colonialism, participatory democracy, land and food justice, re-wilding and participatory theatre.