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In August 2013 we set sail from Stromness on our second Sea Change expedition, aboard Lerwick community boat The Swan, with a crew of 27 artists, scientists and informers. More ›

The Crew

The expedition crew of 27 includes a wide range of scientific and creative folk.
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Silver Darlings

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At John and Fiona Cumming’s house looking over to Hoy, we watched the Scrabster ferry plunge into the streaming dark sea, wind and rain in loud gusts on the windows. A hare hunched, ears flat against its back, and a farmer called a sheep down from the green sides of an old quarry with a handful of feed. We watched Michael Powell’s The Edge of the World, filmed on Foula, which tells the story of the abandonment of a remote northern isle by its divided community. We talked of fish, and the once booming herring industry which brought the Swan into being – one of the finest, and fastest sail fishing boats in Scotland – but ultimately collapsed through overfishing and mechanical plunder (the fishery is now in better health following a fishing ban in the 1970s and the introduction of quotas). We talked of the smell of birch and oak barked hemp nets and sails, of Neil Gunn’s magnificent The Silver Darlings, of the women who gutted the herring, of 90 million herring caught in a single day off Yarmouth at the height of the boom…90 million. We talked of the decline and collapse of fishery after fishery under the converging pressures of overfishing, pollution and climate change. We listened to the wind gusting, buffeting in the dark…Change, transformation, the ebb and flow of traditions, technologies, and hopes.

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Author: Ruth Little

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Joins the expedition for week 1, 2 and 3 Ruth Little is a theatre and dance dramaturg, a teacher and writer. She lectured in English literature at the University of Sydney, and was artistic associate at the Young Vic. She was literary manager at Out of Joint, Soho Theatre and the Royal Court. Ruth is currently associate director at Cape Farewell, where she is curating Sea Change, a 4-year programme of interdisciplinary research.
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1 Comment

  1. avatar Julia Little says:

    Beautiful! x

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James Brady’s expedition blog for ecoartscotland

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See James Brady’s blog here:   http://ecoartscotland.net/    

Leaving Fair Isle

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Andy Crabb’s Sea Changes Part 1 now on vimeo

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Sea Changes, part 1 featuring Karine Polwart from Andy Crabb on Vimeo. Part 1 of a film about Cape Farewell’s Northern Isles expedition, on board the Swan LK243. The Swan is a traditional Shetland fishing sail boat, restored and operated by a community based trust in Shetland swantrust.com/. She is a truly beautiful boat. The film... Read more ›

Carbon Cycle

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CARBON/SINK Site-specific organic drawing, North Haven pier, Fair Isle (peat and fresh water / 12” x 120”)     A musing on the ecology of the Carbon Cycle and the human intervention within it’s system: the symbiotic links between the entropy of organic matter – moorland as a carbon sink – fossil fuels – carbon... Read more ›

Wind, stone

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Wind, stone: by Teresa Elwes

Fish For The Table

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FishForTheTable 03 vimeo from Tam Treanor.

Microcosms: Eons, Tides and Dreams

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‘I go to the rockpool at the slack of the tide to mind me what my poetry’s for.’ –      Jen Hadfield (from the poem, Daed-traa*)           ‘The parent materials were gathered together as volcanoes poured them out in fiery streams, as waters running over the bare rocks of the continents wore... Read more ›

Quota

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quota n 1. the proportional or part of a whole that is due from, due to, or allocated to a person or group 2. a prescribed number or quantity, as of items to be manufactured, imported, or exported, immigrants admitted to a country [from Latin quota pars how big a share?, from quotus of what... Read more ›

Freedom Come All Ye” performed by Karine Polwart in The Italian Chapel, Orkney August 2013.

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“Freedom Come All Ye” performed by Karine Polwart in The Italian Chapel, Orkney August 2013. from Andy Crabb on Vimeo. In August 2013 members of Cape Farewell’s “Sea Change” project explored the landscapes, history and future of the Orkneys whilst sailing on board The Swan, a beautifully restored Shetland Fifie. The group consisting of artists,... Read more ›

Pelagic Gannets

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When the seas calmed and I was no longer confined to my sick bunk, it was wonderful to be on deck and to observe my new watery surroundings, I saw gannets flap and glide past the Swan and was amazed to see their large wingspan for the first time. They truly are a majestic bird!... Read more ›

Sea change See change

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Poet. Climate change.  Environmentalist.  Scientist. Carbon economy. (Ex-)soldier. Renewables. Conservationist.  Fishing quota.  Artist. Sustainability. Writer.  Everyday words susceptible to our own interpretation, predisposition and characterisation.   Words that can be polarising and divisive.  So what happens when you mix them with a few associated ingredients?  On the one hand there is the potential for an explosive... Read more ›

Big words + Lumpy times

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LUMPY adj lumpier, lumpiest full of or having lumps (Transport / Nautical Terms) (esp of the sea) rough confused seas We headed south on ‘lumpy’ seas from Scalloway towards Sumburgh Head.  Our direction towards the East side was guided by the weather forecast and I was pleased to be moving at last. I have been... Read more ›