Its been a very busy and engaging week and has passed very quickly. We've been extremely lucky with the weather and it's been so nice to sit out and eat dinner outside every evening with everyone. It makes all the hard work in the run up to the week seem worthwhile.
We've been lucky enough to have Pascal Wyse, multimedia producer for the Guardian down from London to talk about his work with soundscapes and images and last night we had one of last year's participants Alice Carfrae back to talk about her work Tin Girls. There was silence in the room while she talked about the women she met who were survivors of trafficking. She showed the multimedia work she produced after last year's workshop which included performance, theatre, images and sound. The group at The Hinterlands raised several hundred pounds to help her put on an exhibition of her work and duckrabbit matched the money raised, making a total of around £900.00.
We also heard from John MacPherson speaking about the land, the sea, woodland and belief. He showed some beautiful work and gave everyone even more to think about. It's always a treat to have speakers along for the week and although it's hard for everyone to take a break and drag themselves away from their laptops and audio editing, it provides a breathing space for inspiration and re-energises the group.
Last year was the first workshop and it's been tempting to compare the two years, but there really is no comparison. As with all groups when you bring people together and build a community over a week all sorts of energy flies around and I've found this year every bit as enjoyable as last. It will seem very strange when everyone packs their things and leaves the site. Tonight though is the final night where the local community gather together to watch the films the teams produce. There is a real sense of fulfilment from the participants, the crowd and the people who've taken time to share their stories and it will be a very special event.
