ATTEND – Highland Culture Collective

Following a year of socially engaged creativity in care settings, Catriona Meighan and Hector MacInnes present workshops, talks, research and co-created work.

It is a task to come to see the world as it is – Iris Murdoch

Following a year of socially engaged creativity in care settings, Catriona Meighan and Hector MacInnes present a series of workshops and talks, share co-created work, and reflect on the meaning of their practice in this context.

As part of an ongoing residency with the Highland Culture Collective, Catriona and Hector have spent 2021-22 working alongside communities particularly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic – women and children affected by domestic abuse, people living within the criminal justice system, and those affected by mental health issues. As well as offering a platform to some of the work these groups have made, ATTEND will explore some of the common themes and tensions that have emerged, between giving voice and offering shelter, between amplification and quietness, creatively leading and creatively being led.

Among the difficulties and negotiations of working in these settings, the simple act of attending offers itself as a single item to do list. To attend is to heed, to care for, and to notice something or someone, as well as showing up. It is to attempt, at least, to come to see the world as it is, to meet people where they are at.

Preview Evening, Thu 3^rd Nov (6pm-8pm). Join Catriona and Hector as they open the exhibition and share new co-created work. Refreshments provided. Open door – no ticket required.

Difficult Conversations with Catriona Meighan, Sat 5^th Nov (11am-12pm). Open workshop using accessible creative activities to explore having conversations about difficult themes and using creative means to respond. During this session we’ll explore themes the exhibition focuses on and look into our individual responses and those within the group and our society.

iPads for Improvisers with Hector MacInnes, Sat 5^th Nov (2pm-4pm). A workshop exploring sound, music and movement – tapping into iPads’ touchscreens, gyroscopes, accelerometers and compasses to turn them into tools of noisy expression. iPads provided, limited to 6 places.

Artists in Conversation Wed 9^th Nov (6pm-8pm). An evening of performance lecture and talk with Catriona Meighan and Hector MacInnes, alongside a response to their work by Sinéad Hargan, followed by a Q&A with the artists.

Using What You Have with Catriona Meighan, Sat 12^th Nov (11am-12pm). A short creative workshop to explore what we can do creatively with what we have. Everyone has the capacity for creativity and there are many ways to explore this without the need for large quantities of expensive or specific materials. Can we find ways to be creative in our everyday lives, and what impact might this have?

You Are Not Here with Hector MacInnes – 2pm–4pm
An introduction to some techniques for remote collaboration and creative dislocation, using hi tech, lo tech and no tech approaches.

Catriona Meighan is a visual artist based in Inverness. Hector MacInnes is a sound artist and musician from the Isle of Skye. They are artists in residence with the Highland Culture Collective – which is part of the Culture Collective – a Scotland-wide response to the pandemic in socially engaged and community arts.