Pupils help create sound memorial for lost Fife fishermen

Fife teenagers are working with an internationally-acclaimed composer to create a sound memorial for East Neuk fishermen lost at sea.

The Waid Academy pupils have joined forces with sound artist Robin Rimbaud, otherwise known as Scanner, for the East Neuk Festival’s Big Project.

The result will be performed at the Anstruther school on June 28 before being installed at the Scottish Fisheries Museum.

All proceeds from the premier will go towards funding a monument in Pittenweem in memory of those who have died at sea.

Retired local fisherman Ronnie Hughes’s drive to secure a physical memorial is the inspiration behind this year’s Big Project.

The East Neuk Festival has partnered the museum and Waid Academy to create a memorial in sound, drawing on field recordings, marine hymns, oral histories and statistics and data about fatalities at sea.

Pupils will contribute their recordings and ideas to the piece which will be given its final form by Scanner, who has created similar events around the world.

The artist said many of his works celebrated forgotten or overlooked aspects of the world. “This new commission is very appealing, encouraging a fuller appreciation of the history of the area itself and to raise the profile through a newsworthy artwork,” he said.

Jen Gordon, assistant curator of the Scottish Fisheries Museum, said: “Recognising the sacrifice fishermen have made in this highrisk profession has always been an important part of the story we tell.

“Addressing this issue in such a poignant and imaginative way is exactly the sort of interpretation the museum aspires to incorporate more of into our displays.”

The Festival’s Big Projects are annual commissions of new works by major artists who work with community musicians on themes of local importance. Last year, De Profundis celebrated Fife’s miners and in 2016 Memorial Ground commemorated East Neuk men who fell during the First World War.