Funding for music and nature projects
People and planet are focus of ventures
A Stirling art and culture initiative has backed two local art projects aimed at creating positive changes for people and planet.
Stirling’s Place Partnership Project Scene Stirling awarded grants to environmental artist Scott Hunter. He received £1450 towards for a climate change project exploring the ecological potential of a former munitions depot on the banks of the Forth.
Musician and filmmaker Omar Aborida, also received £1480 to fund a film project promoting talent and diversity within the local music scene.
Born and raised in Fife, Scott planned to be a gas engineer rather than an artist; but a trip to Japan in 2009 saw him change course. He said: “I never actually intended to become a photographer. In 2009, I purchased a digital camera to document my travels through Japan and fell in love with the medium.
“During a photography residency in Japan some years later, I encountered a heatwave and their worst typhoon in 25 years. This experience prompted my interest in environmental issues surrounding climate change and its effects on nature.”
Scott’s method is part photography, part environmental science; combining imagery and soil chromatography. He is particularly interested in how nature has reclaimed former industrial landscapes.
He added: “After working extensively along the Fife coastline, I wanted to move up the River Forth to explore alternative brownfield sites in Stirling that sit along the riverbank. The Bandeath munitions depot sparked my interest after researching its links by rail to the naval bases at Crombie and Rosyth, where my father used to work.
“My initial survey of the Bandeath site suggests that the wetland area provides a haven for birds, while the derelict buildings provide sanctuary for plant and animal species.
“I’m looking forward to sharing my findings with the local community and showing how new ecosystems can often spring up in the most unlikely of places.”
Meanwhile, Strathblane-based filmmaker Omar Aborida, who has worked on TV and film productions such as Taggart, Rebus, Perfect Sense and Stone of Destiny, will use his talents to help promote lesser-known local musicians.
He said: “Up until the pandemic I was working as a recording artist and touring musician. But lockdown saw me returning to my filmmaking roots and setting up a production company, Tape Rituals alongside photographer Harrison Reid.”
He added: “The idea behind the project, came about through my own experience of lockdown.
All my normal touring activities suddenly stopped. It struck me that many musicians with successful international careers are virtually unknown in their own local communities, despite being well known in other countries.”
Omar’s documentary will focus on Brina, a Falkirk-based Jamaican reggae singer whose music fuses together Scottish and Jamaican influences.
“Brina is a fantastic artist who has developed a strong following in Europe and East Africa. I’m hoping this documentary will raise her profile locally, as well as showcase how wonderfully diverse the Scottish music scene can be,” he added.
“We’ll be filming at some of Forth Valley’s most iconic locations, to show how place and locality inspire Brina as an artist.”
This will be Omar’s second film profiling a local musician. He was previously awarded a Scene Stirling microgrant to create a short film about Stirling based folk guitarist Scott William Urquhart, which will be premiered online at www. scenestirling.com from today (Friday)