Mull group joins in with mass procession in Edinburgh
A group of around 20 women and children representing Mull and Iona took part in Sunday’s spectacular Processions event in Edinburgh.
Thousands of women took to the streets in Scotland’s capital to celebrate 100 years since the first women in Britain secured the right to vote.
The Edinburgh Procession was part of a mass participation artwork taking place simultaneously in the capitals of the UK to mark the achievements of the women’s suffrage movement.
The group from Mull and Iona, supported by the arts organisation Comar, and their banner were prominently featured during the march.
Comar was chosen as one of only 16 Tier 1 organisations in Scotland to create banners in collaboration with women artists and community groups. Artist Alicia Hendrick ran a series of workshops between April and June which created pennants for participants and a main banner carried by different members of the group throughout the march. Alicia said: ‘Our banner is a celebration of the inspirational women of our islands. It takes the shape of a sail held aloft by oars and incorporates handmade fishing net. At its centre a map of Mull is filled with images of island women and in the sea surrounding the map are inscribed the names of more women we admire.
‘A sash across the main banner carries as our motto the words “We Know Where We’re Going” in local wool.’
This slogan is taken from the title of the film, I Know Where I’m Going, filmed on Mull in the 1940s.
One of the Mull and Iona group, Tobermory High School pupil Katie-Qiu McCrone, 12, who was representing the 1st Tobermory Guides, was interviewed by the BBC on Reporting Scotland and said her hope for the future is that women and girls will be treated equally with men.