Hares on the Mountain
Moving image and series of live performances.
Scottish landscapes have long been romanticised as wild places, despite the majority having been drastically altered for hunting and agriculture. Hares on the Mountain connects the land ownership of the Cabrach, an upland area on the northernmost fringe of the Cairngorms, and its impact on the people and animals living in and around the area, reflecting wider issues experienced across the country.
The performance subverts the gender relations of the folksong, which in historical iterations used more violent anthropomorphous language to describe men pursuing women, before shifting to adopt the imagery of hunting. The ritualistic repetition and subsequent breakdown of the song becomes a meditative grievance for all life forms that have experienced violence and displacement, offering opportunity to reclaim these spaces and heal the relationships between ourselves, other species and our landscape.
Exhibited alongside CAILLEACH//CABRACH at Scottish Landscapes: A New Generation at Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh, 2023.
