From 11 – 15 July 2023, Myvillages and SSW held the Rural School of Economics Summer Camp. Taking place outside in the landscape, in the studio and in the Lumsden Village Hall, it was a week of discovery, exploration and coming together around the energy and understanding it’s impact on our work.
We were made up of a cohort of artists from North East Scotland and further afield, facilitators, farmers, crofters, people from Lumsden and surrounding areas. A diverse mix of co-learning activities went on, giving us many ways into thinking and making including drawings, conversation and word maps; eating communal meals (cooked by Sally), drinking countless cups of tea (from mugs made by Ramkumar Kanadasan) and we cooked and ate Gado-Gado (led by Myvillages with a recipe from Gudskul); spent the day learning about oil in Aberdeen (with Rachel Grant) and taking a tour of St Nicholas Kirk (from Arthur); a sheep shearing demonstration and talk (from Jimmy and Katie from Croft of Blairwick); learning how to process fleece (with Marguerite from Westfield Croft); singing karaoke (with Tyler Lewis), watching films (by Ashanti Harris), making a podcast (with Sophie Hope) and relaxing in the sauna.
Thank you to all the artists, Cathrine Whiteman, Eve Mosher, Scott Herrett, Beth Bramich, Robyn Wolsey, Alison Scott, Viviane Tabach, Abigail Beeley, Miles Benzies, Miriam Seddon, Rachel Grant, Sophie Hope, the people who came to take part, Myvillages and the SSW team for making this happen.
Photographer Felicity Crawshaw was with us for the duration of the camp and has captured some wonderful moments that we’ve shared below, click on the images to enlarge and view gallery.
