Artists appointed to help Aberdeenshire communities reflect and heal

Aberdeenshire Council’s Remembering Together initiative has appointed a team comprising a musician, a furniture maker and a walking artist.

Lead artist, Claudia Zeiske

Collectively they will create a fitting tribute to remember the impact COVID has had on individuals and communities, focusing on hope and healing.

Edinburgh-based Claudia Zeiske has been handed the role of lead artist, to coordinate the work across a number of communities over the next nine months.

She led the initial phase of this engaging arts project, having walked a 200 km journey in the Summer of 2022 from the summit of Ben Macdui to the ports of Peterhead and Fraserburgh.

Hundreds of individuals and groups walked and met up with the artist, discussing their experiences of COVID and sharing their thoughts on what a remembering piece could look like for Aberdeenshire.

Furniture-maker, Chris Nangle, creates bespoke ecologically responsible furniture in the landscape. He will work with Zeiske and the communities of Aberdeenshire to source locations for several unique structures that will be bedded into the landscape, places for people to visit, reflect and contemplate.

Aberdeenshire’s world-renowned fiddler, Dr Paul Anderson, will capture the inspiration of the stories and emotions that have been shared as part of this initiative, in new compositions authentic to the people and places he visits. The tunes will be performed on the violin and recorded as pieces intended to heal and lift the spirits.

Cllr Anne Stirling, chair of the council’s Communities Committee said, "In the spirit of true community engagement, we embraced Participatory Budgeting through this project.

"We conducted two surveys that reached across Aberdeenshire, giving our residents the opportunity to shape our creative tribute to the impact of Covid. The overwhelming response was a testament to the resilience and positivity of our communities in the Northeast, with a resounding call for hope and healing. It's heartwarming to see our communities come together to create a legacy that reflects their vision for a brighter future."

The three artists will be working in and around Aberdeenshire in the coming weeks.

If you are a local group that would like more information and/or would like to welcome the artists to your community, then please email [email protected]

Remembering Together: Aberdeenshire is managed by Live Life Aberdeenshire’s Cultural Services in partnership with Greenspace Scotland and is funded by the Scottish Government.

Further information on this Scotland-wide initiative can be found at www.rememberingtogether.scot