Stephen Palmer Travel Bursary Fund 24
“This opportunity has been established to honour Stephen Palmer, a highly regarded and deeply respected Officer and Visual Arts specialist who devoted much of his career to the work of Creative Scotland and its predecessor body, The Scottish Arts Council. Established following his death in 2021 this annual award reflects Stephen’s deep belief in the value of travel to broaden horizons, to build new connections and to inform and inspire the development of new work. The bursary is intended to support the creative and professional development of individuals working in the visual arts sector in Scotland. It is open to freelance artists, curators, producers, writers and educators at any stage in their career.” https://engage.org/happenings/stephen-palmer-travel-bursary-fund/
Holy Island, Lindisfarne, is cut-off from the mainland twice a day by the North Sea. At high tide the road is covered by between 4ft (1.2m) and 6ft (1.8m) of sea water (and even more during exceptional tides or severe weather).
I received a travel bursary for 2024 that enables me to explore Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, or Medcaut: The philologist Andrew Breeze (following up on a suggestion by Richard Coates) proposed that the name ultimately derives from the Latin ‘Medicata’ [Insula] or Healing Island, owing to the island's ‘reputation for medicinal herbs’ (wiki). I will undertake a short-form embedded residency on the island so as to explore its origins as a space of healing, hope and history at a time of contemporary climate disarray.
The island is projected to be cleaved in two by 2050, by rising sea levels, and so it embodies both a microcosm and macrocosm of human reverence and desecration. It is at once seen as a point of pilgrimage, refuge and economic activity, containing several lighthouses, a complex network of lime kilns, three pubs, a hotel and a post office yet seemingly cannot resist the ravages of surging sea levels.
The opportunity will provide a wedge of embedded space to explore how ‘caring is a form of resistance’ (Otobong Nkanga) whilst also considering how tangible, experiential and empathetic ways of creative working allow for healing, restoration, reconstruction, and ultimately, environmental advocacy/activism.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Lindisfarne represents an unrivalled island environment in terms of the UK and is an internationally recognised site of medieval religious significance. Despite its small size the island was chosen as the location for a monastery in 634 CE and was known as a deeply cultured place of learning: St Cuthbert, one of its leading saints, was considered to be England’s first ‘nature conservationist’ so the site offers a powerful historical provenance in terms of the foundation for a contemporary reflection on climate change.
The island is a site of outstanding geology and wildlife, as well as being designated as a national nature reserve; many of the plants found onsite are of Arctic origin and the nature reserve was founded to safeguard internationally important wildfowl and wading birds.
The bursary has been developed by Creative Scotland in partnership with Engage Scotland. The Stephen Palmer Travel Bursary Fund is supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.
