Next week sees delegates gathering at Mareel for Shoormal – an international conference from The Centre for Rural Creativity at Shetland College UHI and Shetland Arts Development Agency exploring multidisciplinary research and knowledge exchange across the creative industries.
The conference will explore, create and debate creative practice; the environment; innovation in the creative economy; islands and creative solutions; digital collaboration; heritage and culture. The evening events are a combination of specially commissioned pieces and work by local and national artists and can be booked separately to the main conference.
Wednesday: Shaping Futures
On day one, we’re looking to the future and asking how we get there. Presentations and workshops feature some technology talk and a long view of the creative economy, followed by a short piece by local musician Suzanne Briggs inspired by Sumburgh, two of Scotland’s most distinctive musicians Fraser Fifield and Graeme Stephen perform improvised and pre-composed sets and Kishie Wife Collective members Roseanne Watt and Kathy Hubbard talk about discuss the joys and challenges of working as a collective.
Thursday: The Space Between
On day two, we’ll be exploring the spaces between land and sea, human and non-human, dispersed communities and island places. Researchers and creative practitioners will investigate the potential of in-between spaces and points of contact for intellectual and creative engagement, followed by an evening of music that crosses boundaries, exploring sounds, field recordings and electronics from Extinction Rebellion artist Martin Disley, ‘StillNess’ from composer Renzo Spiteri and ‘The Idea of the North’ from Morag Currie.
Friday: Heritage and Resilience
The emphasis of panel sessions on day three is on heritage-making practices and how they shape resilience in cultural, community and ecological terms. After talks and workshops, enjoy an evening of entertainment from Shetland ForWirds and performance artist David Sherry.
