The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
New ‘ecomuseum’ to open in countryside
Heritage: Outdoor attraction will offer range of experiences
An innovative “museum without walls” spanning 1,000sq kilometres of central and eastern Scotland will be unveiled next month.
The Cateran Ecomuseum is a completely outdoor experience covering countryside in east Perthshire and west Angus.
The new attraction is the first of its kind on mainland Scotland and one of only 300 in the world.
The museum will launch its No Boundaries programme with three specially commissioned temporary outdoor installations, all inspired by the area’s natural and cultural heritage.
A light installation, Poetry Becomes People, will see fragments of poetry by Blairgowrie’s Hamish Henderson, Ecomuseum poet in residence Jim Mackintosh, and local young people projected on to the roof of the Glenshee Kirk and the house in front of the kirk where Henderson lived.
A second light installation, The Carrying Stream, created by Dundee digital art studio Biome Collective, will be shown in Alyth, Blairgowrie and Glenshee.
It will feature sound recordings taken from a series of walks in the countryside, fused with archival recordings of traditional song, poetry and the spoken word.
On November 11, a giant jute portrait of Hamish Henderson will be unveiled, covering more than a hectare of the hillside at the Spittal of Glenshee, on Bad an Loin.
Designed by Alyth-based artist Martin McGuinness and titled “Come aa ye at hame wi Freedom” it has been inspired by portraits of Henderson by the Scottish realist painter Alexander Moffat.
Clare Cooper, co-founder of the Cateran Ecomuseum, said: “We’ve had enormous support from local people and organisations in bringing the Cateran Ecomuseum to life and in realising the No Boundaries launch programme.
“We’re very grateful to everyone involved and can’t wait to see what will be an extraordinary and very powerful image of one of Scotland’s most important cultural figures.”
Pete Crane, head of visitor services for the Cairngorms National Park Authority, said: “The Cairngorms is an inspiration to many and the cultural heritage of Glenshee is something we are keen to help promote.
“We are delighted to have been able to support this celebration of one of Scotland’s great cultural figures and his connections to the glen.”
Originating in France in the 1970s, Ecomuseums focus on the identity of a place.
The only other one in Scotland is on Skye.
The Cateran Ecomuseum is on the 500 million-yearold Highland Boundary Fault – the geological feature dividing Scotland’s Highlands and Lowlands.
The museum’s boundary stretches from Kirriemuir to Coupar Angus and includes Alyth, Blairgowrie and Rattray, Meigle and Mount Blair.
Visitors can tour the sprawling Ecomuseum site, which features ancient Pictish stones and the Cateran Trail, through a series of itineraries that have been locally designed for walkers, cyclists and motorists.
“We’re keen to promote the cultural heritage of Glenshee”