Performers, Riders Artists and a Unicorn Gather for Environmental Art Festival Scotland
Free summer event takes place against beautiful backdrop of Dumfries and Galloway’s Morton Castle
ARTISTS, performers, riders and even a unicorn are gathering at the beautiful Morton Castle in Dumfries and Galloway for the Environmental Art Festival Scotland.
This year’s event, badged as EAFS Off Grid, includes a costumed performance called Bellmouth Papercone by Oceanallover, on Sunday, which will take place against the impressive backdrop of the medieval castle, its loch and the surrounding hillsides.
Another project, called Quest, will see riders from Annandale and Nithsdale cross the hills from Moffat on a 12-hour expedition carrying water from Hartfell Spring which is said to give special powers of wisdom to anyone who drinks it.
Among the 15 horsemen and women on the trek will be Cornets who take part in the annual ridings of the marches that take place across Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders.
Quest involves riders from Lockerbie, Annan, Dumfries, Thornhill and Sanquhar and is led by local environmental artist and director of ‘Wide Open’ Jan Hogarth.
Jan said: “EAFS is all about bringing people together – artists, scientists, local communities and people who love the land – and to look for better ways to live in the future.
“There’s also a sense of it being about healing, and there’s a bit of symbolism in having riders from Annandale and Nithsdale bringing the water of wisdom together as the regions were notorious for feuding with each other in the past.”
Another feature of the free public art event, which takes place on Saturday and Sunday, is a unicorn – a creature with strong mythical associations with wisdom and healing.
EAFS will have a whole variety of installations and activities to experience and is highly distinctive because it’s about taking part in the art, rather than being a passive observer.
Robbie Coleman, a co-curator of EAFS, said: “It’s an art event in itself, not a show that one group is making for another group of people to come and stare at then go away. It’s about being a participant not an audience. We are an artist community hosting adventures in the landscape.”
Taking part will be fun. One feature will be the 100ft River of Fire Barbeque, created by Jools Cox from Castle Douglas, which will cook up fish caught in local rivers and other regional produce. A 
bread oven will bake loaves made from corn milled on the spot.
There will be a 30ft labyrinth, performance by Toronto dancer Bill Coleman, spherical vessels called Urchins on the loch and an Inuit kayak. All fit with the festival’s themes which include hospitality, journeys, generosity and inventiveness.
Another key aspect of EAFS Off Grid will be the five fireside conversations initiated by artists, scientists, visionaries and people who work with the land. These will let people talk about subjects of every kind, such as how people need to adapt to create a more positive future.
The event’s main base will be near the castle and if the weather is fine, the evening sky will be lit by a supermoon – when the full moon looks especially large because it is at the closest point of its orbit round the earth.
Robbie said: “There will be wild camping in the area round Morton Castle, creating a ‘village’ feel for 24 hours, long enough but small enough for everyone to get to know each other. They will go out during the day, into the surrounding hills and landscapes to enjoy the artworks and then have a pleasant place to return.”
One of the plans is to chart where festival visitors have come from – they already know that someone is arriving all the way from South Korea – and then to show their movements round the landscape during the event.
EAFS is an art event which the participants will shape themselves rather than being just a set of artworks and activities laid on by the organisers.
It aims to attract visitors from all over Scotland, and beyond, and will bring together people who work with the land, scientists, artists, environmentalists, cultural thinkers, poets and performers to participate in the festival.
There will be many surprises and discoveries but one thing participants can be sure of is that there will be plenty of hospitality and a sense of togetherness.
