SOTHI - A Year in Review
Hello and welcome to the final edition of our Spotlight series in 2022. This year has been an incredibly exciting one for the Spirit of the Highlands and Islands team. Join us as we look back at the past year and give a sneak peek of what’s in store for 2023.
2022 - A Year Bursting with Stories
Over the past two years, we have been incredibly fortunate to hear more of your stories of what the Highlands and Islands mean to you. So, at the start of 2022, we at the Spirit of the Highlands and Islands team set out with a mission - to create a series of digital media assets which celebrate the ‘spirit’ of our region and these incredible stories of the people who live, work and visit here. Ultimately, these were to inspire people to go and visit areas of stunning natural and cultural heritage across the Highlands and Islands.
If a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words…
As the old saying goes, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ and this, in particular, speaks volumes to the Highlands and Islands which have long been one of the most photographed regions of Scotland. Anywhere you go in the region, each landscape has its own story to tell - from the dramatic peaks of Rannoch Moor to the glistening beaches of North Uist, the bustling streets of Inverness to the calm of the Seaboard Villages.
It is the extraordinary relationship between people and place that inspired the basis of the creation of a new series of photography of the Highlands and Islands. We were delighted to bring on board the award-winning team at Airborne Lens to help accomplish this. Over the course of the year, the talented team at Airborne Lens have travelled the length and breadth of the Highlands and Islands capturing not only sites of natural and cultural importance across the region but also snapshots into the daily lives of the people who live and work across the region. You can view a selection of images taken by Airborne Lens below.
…Then a Video is Worth a Million
In addition to their fantastic work capturing new photography of the region, we were delighted to work with Airborne Lens to create 360° immersive films inspired by the landscape of the Highlands and Islands and the stories kindly shared with us by you on our archive. These films were displayed inside our 360° immersive portal, affectionately known as the ‘TARDIS’, and through virtual reality (VR) headsets.
Following on from the success of its first appearances at the Royal Highland Show in June, the City of Inverness Highland Games in July and the Black Isle Show in August of this year, we were delighted to be able to tour our immersive portal and VR headsets from September to November. This tour marked the first time we had brought these interactive experiences to local communities across the Highlands and Islands.
From the St Duthac Book & Arts Festival in Tain to Talla Nan Ros in Kingussie, the tour was with a great success and met with positive feedback from local communities. The tour provided two unique ways to engage with and experience the natural and cultural heritage of the Highlands and Islands.
St Duthus Collegiate Church, TainImage provided by Ewan Weatherspoon
NatureScot Colleagues at Talla Nan Ros, KingussieImage provided by Paul Campbell
City of Inverness Highland Games 2022Image provided by Paul Campbell
Visitors inside the immersive portal at St Duthus Collegiate Church, TainImage provided by Ewen Weatherspoon
Stories in Every Thread
In a brief departure from the digital, work to stitch the Tapestry of the Highlands and Islands is now in full swing and constantly gaining momentum. With over 650 stitchers across 52 groups, which span the entirety of the Highlands and Islands, the tapestry now represents the largest known community arts project in the region. Needle in hand, stitchers from all walks of life, from the ages of 2 to 97 years old, have had a hand in breathing life into the story of their local area depicted in their area’s panel. Stitchers across the region have also been hard at work creating their own ‘journey stones’ - designs which hold their own personal stories. Look out for these on the story archive in the New Year!
The Tapestry team are working to use local materials and products where possible, to boost local economies and awareness of craft industries in the Highlands and Islands. Earlier in the year, we received kind donations of tweed and tartan for the Tapestry from Harris Tweed and Lochcarron Weavers, for which we are incredibly grateful.
Over the past few months, recent design workshops by the Tapestry team have proved a great success with stitchers. Held by designer Andrew Crummy and Stitch Coordinator Kirstie Campbell, each workshop has provided a fascinating deep dive into the design process and an opportunity for different groups to connect outside the online stitcher’s forum.
Tapestry workshop at the City of Inverness Highland Games 2022Image provided by Spirit of the Highlands and Islands
Julie, Norma and Anne, three of The Spirited Stitchers, with designer Andrew Crummy (centre) and coordinator Kirstie Campbell (right)Image provided by Paul Campbell
A sample design by visual artist and designer Andrew Crummy.Image provided by Andrew Crummy and Kirstie Campbell
The colours and textures of the Scottish wool and Harris tweed to be used by the Alness Stitchers GroupImage provided by Paul Campbell
Listen to Words that Speak Volumes
One of the great joys of working on a project like the Spirit of the Highlands and Islands is to be able to hear directly what the Highlands and Islands mean to you. This year, we teamed up with the brilliant team at Smartify who embarked on four trips covering the length and breadth of the region to conduct a series of audio interviews to explore what the ‘Spirit of the Highlands and Islands’ means to local communities.
From cherished memories to a favourite place, historical events to new traditions, and from heart-touching experiences to amusing anecdotes - both the SOTHI and Smartify teams have had the pleasure to listen to an incredible array of stories which speak volumes of local areas and communities. Click below to explore some of our favourites and stay tuned as we post more of these stories to our archive in the New Year!
Final Thoughts
That brings us to the end of our 2022 in review at the Spirit of the Highlands and Islands team. We cannot wait to share with you more of what we have in store in the New Year and will return in mid-January with our first Spotlight of the year. Until then, we hope you have a wonderful holiday season and wish you all the best for 2023.
Ben Cruachan in Winter, Argyll and the IslesImage provided by Airborne Lens
We Want to Hear From You!
Stories are at the heart of what we do as a project and we are always looking to learn more about what the Highlands and Islands means to people who live, work, and visit here.
December may mark the end of Scotland’s Year of Stories but we will always want to hear from you. What are some of your favourite memories that you have made in the Highlands and Islands in 2022? Tell us below, we can't wait to hear from you!
Click here to share your story through our online story portal.