Story Telling In Progress
Sand castle adjudicator, Miss Ruth Macdougall.
Indeed I have been invited to adjudicate at the sand castle competition on Farr beach as part of this year's Bettyhill Gala. What an honour, not to mention responsibility. Organised by the aptly named Ranger, Paul Castle with whom five others and I roamed the countryside around Skerray on Thursday of last week, learning the names of numerous wildflowers, discovering orchids and beasties whilst competing with the gathering mist of the ocean. Only a few hours earlier I had taken to the sea once again with Billie for a trip round Eilean Nan Ron with my video camera. The sea that day was deadly calm, perfect for spotting the dorsal fin of a basking shark or orca. Sadly we saw neither. I had expected to see one as they have been spotted on several occasions in the area recently. I even found a large dead seal on the beach. It’s body was intact but the head was missing completely, Billie thought that it could have been an orca although sometimes seals are shot round here when they are deemed to be threatening a catch of fish. Entirely legal for the fisherman but sad for the seals.
After getting nothing done last week I had a lot of work to catch up on this week. During my second week here I had decided on the suggestion of Meg to organise a story telling event for Saturday the 29th . I called the evening Story Telling in Progress and invited the skilled storyteller Essie Stewart to attend in the hope that she might share some of her stories from the area with me. She arrived on Friday evening and stayed with me for the weekend. I was unsure how the evening would unfold. Despite the fame of people in these parts for the oral tradition of story telling and the numerous notices I have put up encouraging people to come by my studio and talk to me, I have found that people are quite shy, and I hoped that an informal evening would allow them to relax and create an atmosphere in which they felt less self conscious about speaking to me. At the very least I hoped it would be an enjoyable social event for the local people, which indeed it turned out to be. Around 25 people came along, a perfect number for the size of space. I felt it best just to play the evening by ear. Great storytelling requires the right mood and spontaneity. So, I began the evening by introducing myself and the work, I told a story from the Lebanon and then opened it up to the floor and anyone who had a story they wanted to tell. As it happened after a brief discussion between everyone gathered, it seemed people were far happier just to chat, drink and look at the work, and as the evening wore on, the stories began to emerge. Everyone has a story. I had asked people from the local community to write me a short story relating their first voyage from the port at Skerray. I have so far received two. The first from the Post Mistress Marlyn and the second from Eloise, they are both beautiful stories and receiving them was like Christmas, two wonderful gifts that I can pass on in turn. Marlyn’s story told of the day they took the last sheep from Eilean Nan Ron back to the mainland, a hair-raising trip, marking her first taste of Whisky. Eloise story told of her first trip with Billie two weeks ago to Eilean Roan and Eilean Neave, beautifully written and accompanied by a rock she had collected as her visual.
Being surrounded by so much text and stories, I have decided to write a short story or a novella perhaps, using stories gathered not only here but also from the Lebanon. I hope to accompany the book with a video work to be projected at a site yet to be decided. I have also been contacted by one of my friends in Lebanon who has initiated a project based on our daily lives as we each observe and respond to this conflict, both in Lebanon and from afar. I am happy to be doing this, as she pointed out in her e-mail, to continue working together is in itself a form of resistance.
Things just keep getting worse there, Qana.. Yvette produced a painting in response to the last massacre there in 1996, I imagine she must be preparing the next canvas. I really despair for them. For a moment it seemed as though Blair would call for an immediate cease-fire, but today it seems he has returned to obediently following the Americans. The International community… has let everybody down and at times like these it is easy to be cynical, after all, cynicism is the most accessible version of happiness. However, in order to resist such apathetic thoughts, there is one quote I always try to remember:
‘’The main interest in work and life is to become someone that you were not in the beginning. If you knew when you began a book what you would say at the end, do you think you would have the courage to write it? What is true of writing and of a love relationship is also true for life. The game is only worthwhile insofar as we don’t know what will be the end’’.
Michel Foucault
I’m looking forward to beginning my story in earnest.
I have also been invited to submit one of my pictures for the front cover of next month’s an magazine (an art information magazine) hopefully my picture will be of adequate resolution for them. Tomorrow is bowling in the community hall, I missed last weeks but am ready to return! Ciao ciao.
