Working the Tweed

Welcome to Working the Tweed!

Our project is a collaboration between artists Kate Foster (visual artist), Jules Horne (writer), Claire Pençak (choreographer) and James Wyness (composer) and environmental organisations Tweed Forum and Southern Uplands Partnership.

It is one of 14 projects across Scotland to be awarded ‘Year of Natural Scotland 2013’ funding, and will focus on the people that work on and around the River Tweed Catchment. We are excited about what this collaboration will generate. Through conversation with specialists who work the river and its tributaries, we aim to bring to surface some of the less-known worlds, maps, and voices, and languages of the Tweed.

As artists, we will reflect on these hidden aspects of the Tweed and its tributaries and offer further possibilities of how people relate to the Rivers. Early on in the project, we were told ‘The Borders is the Tweed’ yet the role of this river catchment in the daily lives of Borders people is often taken for granted, and perhaps little understood.

We are developing a series of participatory events around and beside the rivers which different communities of people in the Tweed catchment can access.

These include:

Six Riverside Meetings between river specialists and artists focusing on different catchment management themes from Habitats and Species to Flood Management and River Works.
Six Tweed Sessions – traditional music sessions at different locations in the Tweed Catchment to collect and celebrate the songs and tunes inspired by the rivers.
Knowing Your River: A series of public events that encourage us to think about our connections to the river.
An exhibition and public workshop at Harestanes Countryside Visitor Centre, October 9th – 31st 2013

We gratefully acknowledge the support we have received from our funders and supporters.

Creative Scotland Lottery