Environment - Leeming + Paterson

In February 2023, Ted Leeming + Morag Paterson were invited to be artists in residence for the Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership’s inaugural event – the Fantastic Forest Festival.

The concept was to reach out in different ways, listen to and be inspired by the rarely heard voices of our local hills & glens - including people of all ages, particularly young people, and the various interest groups that constitute any communitythrough a variety of events held in trusted environments that allowed individuals a safe space within which to engage.

Dumfries & Galloway based artists Leeming + Paterson talk about their work as artists working in the environment. They tell us about the Fantastic Forest Festival and the recently announced Artful Migration residency…

Throughout the month of February, the festival included online and in person engagements, walks, workshops, talks & discussions, competitions, an exhibition, activism, adverts, editorial & postcards to allow individuals to respond in person or anonymously to a variety of questions posed. Events were advertised locally through a range of media to enable accessibility to as many people in the community as possible.

Ted and Mog co-curated the festival and attended most of the events at which they asked a variety of questions including “What three words describe forestry in Galloway today?”, “Imagine a future Forest that balances biodiversity, climate & community.”, and on an artists’ walk they invited attendees to “Design a 2150 guide book for a future Forest on this site.” The responses they received inspired and informed their own research, culminating in a series of artistic outcomes including a portfolio of images exploring conifer plantations, and artworks highlighting the tensions between forestry & agriculture. They also produced an eBook/zine drawing together the various findings gathered throughout the festival and which they will be submitting as a community response to the current consultation by Scottish Forestry on how they will support our future forest industry.

“The residency allowed us to focus on an environmental issue centred within our wider exploration of issues surrounding biodiversity, climate change, and the interactions of man with the environment. With land use a current focus for our work the residency was a perfect forum that allowed us to listen, engage with, and respond to members of the community and with experts. The knowledge, interest, enthusiasm, and the concerns raised were profound and enlightening, and we now take the responsibility of ensuring those voices will be heard extremely seriously.”

“We are also particularly honoured to have been awarded the third “Artful Migration” and working closely with UPLAND and the RSPB & Forestry & Land Scotland.”

Leeming + Paterson will undertake UPLAND’s Artful Migration residency, which runs until Autumn. During the residency they will spend time at Lochar Mosses observing and learning about the beautiful and elusive Nightjar, one of Scotland’s rarest and most unusual birds, and a species which appears to be thriving in Dumfries and Galloway.

“It is a story not simply of a unique bird but about habitat and the threats of extractive land use techniques, of changing weather patterns, increasing development and infrastructure, and of the conflicts for all migratory species, not just here in Scotland but across multiple continents and oceans which constitute their homes and highways. The increasing numbers of this mystical bird of folklore legend visiting our region is a true exemplar of long-term thinking ‘with nature’ rather than extractive land management. The residency includes community engagement and culminates in an exhibition at Gracefield in October together with an accompanying inaugural Conference of Migration, also planned to take place in Dumfries. We are currently in the middle of our initial research phase and can’t wait for the birds to arrive.”

For further information about their work, you can contact Ted and Morag by email, info@ leemingpaterson.com or you can see their work and read more at www.leemingpaterson.com