october, 2021

01oct1:00 am15dec(dec 15)1:00 amThe Awakening

Event Details

The Awakening, is a 9,000 sqm installation of a giant hand sited on the Coire Lairige at the Spittal of Glenshee.

Co-designed by talented Tayside-based artist Martin McGuinness – whose acclaimed portrait of Hamish Henderson formed part of the launch of the Cateran Ecomuseum in 2019 – and long-term collaborator Fraser Gray, it is inspired by the Glen’s many connections to the legendary pan-Gaelic giant hero Finn mac Cumhaill, including the story that he is asleep under the mountains with his warriors ready to be awoken at a time of great portent to come to our aid.

Researcher, Dr Peter McNiven has found place-name evidence of the Finn Mac Cumhaill legend in Glenshee that he believes is unprecedented in its density in Scotland.

Made out of 2,500m of Jute and Geotextile and pinned to the earth with steel pins it has took nearly 500 man hours to install over the October period. The piece will be in place for 10 weeks, coinciding with the UN Climate Change Conference – COP26 – in Glasgow.

A symbolic ceremony to awaken the giant is planned in Glenshee at the start of the Conference, which is also the date of Samhain, the great Celtic festival where the door to ‘the other world’ is open.  At this event, a Pictish war horn, the Carnyx, will be sounded three times by musical archaeologist and wind instrumentalist John Kenny. This is the signal Scottish giant Lore tells us will awaken the giant.

Glenshee takes its name from the Gaelic word shith, signifying ‘fairies’. Until the old tongue died out in the late 1800’s the inhabitants were known as Sithichean a’ Ghlinnshith – ‘The Elves of Glenshee’. The Glen’s ancient meeting place behind the kirk was called Dun Shith (Hill of the Fairies) and is still dominated by a standing stone from the Bronze age. The Coire Shith or Fairy Burn, plunges down the side of Ben Gulabin, the mountain commanding the head of Glenshee adding still more weight to the glens fairy past.

The Cateran Ecomuseum’s poet in residence Jim Mackintosh has written a new poem for The Awakening, and storyteller Lindsey Gibb has re-imagined a new tale about the piece too, both of which will be performed in public for the first time at The Awakening ceremony, which will also be feature pupils from Kirkmichael Primary School who will gift representatives from the area with hazel trees.

In one of the most famous of the Finn mac Cumhaill stories, The Salmon of Knowledge, Finn gains the knowledge of all the world from eating the salmon, who gained the knowledge of all the world from the Hazel nuts dropped into the water by the nine Hazel trees that surrounded the Well of Wisdom. The presentation of the Hazel trees symbolises the knowledge of all the word being gifted back to us by the giant.

Part of the Commission brief to the artists was that the piece would encourage ‘Active Travel’. This means that whilst you can see it from the MacThomas Bridge, the best viewing point can be reached by walking up the Cateran Trail (clearly signposted) towards Enochdhu. Signposts are adjacent to the Spittal of Glenshee Hotel, currently undergoing refurbishment.

The walk should take reasonably fit people in the region of 15 – 20 minutes. Walking boots and suitable outdoor wear are advised.

 

Time

October 1 (Friday) 1:00 am - December 15 (Wednesday) 1:00 am

Location

Spittal of Glenshee

PH10 7QE

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