From the Mouths of the Caves, Final Exhibition, Iona
Our final exhibition at Iona Village Hall marked the culmination of almost a year of conversations, drawings, questions, songs, field trips, friendships and shared discoveries between children living on two very different archipelagos.
What began with a group of Hebridean children making subjective maps of home, collecting friendship pebbles from the beach and wondering what life might be like in the High Arctic, grew into an extraordinary exchange between 56 young artists from the Inner Hebrides and Svalbard.
On midsummer’s eve, the Village Hall became a meeting place for both island communities. Artworks created in Longyearbyen and the Hebrides sat side by side: maps, cyanotypes, cave prints, field notebooks and etchings told stories of glaciers, ice caves, sea caves, seabirds, whales, weather, kelp forests and the one ocean that connects us all. Alongside the exhibition, marine scientists Dr Denise Risch and Dr Kim Last from the Scottish Association for Marine Science shared how ocean currents, underwater sound and migratory species link Svalbard and the Hebrides, while local fisherman Neil Jardine spoke about his involvement in the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust's Creeling for Sound citizen science project, reminding us that scientific discovery can begin with people who know their seas intimately.
The exhibition also celebrated the naming of the previously unnamed sea cave on Iona. Drawing on words and reflections gathered in their notebooks throughout the workshops, the children developed two names for the cave, which were translated into Scottish Gaelic by Dr Alasdair Whyte and beautifully hand-lettered by local artist Stephen Raw. It was a fitting way to conclude a project rooted in place, language and shared imagination.
Looking back, perhaps the most remarkable outcome has not been the artworks themselves, but the relationships they represent. Scientists, artists, teachers, local experts, fishermen, rangers, families and children all contributed their own ways of understanding the world. Together, they created something none of us could have made alone.
From the Mouths of the Caves would not have been possible without the generosity, enthusiasm and support of so many people.
Our heartfelt thanks go to our project partners and funders:
Artica Svalbard
TIDAL ArtS
Sparebankstiftelsen Nord-Norge
Scottish Association for Marine Science – Dr Denise Risch, Dr Kim Last, Dr Laura Hobbs and Andy Crabb
University of Glasgow – Dr Alasdair Whyte
Norwegian University of Science and Technology – Professor Siri Granum Carson
Bunessan Primary School – Richard, Lorna and all the pupils
Iona Primary School – Stephen, Linda and all the pupils
Longyearbyen School – Thea, Hildegunn and all the pupils
National Trust for Scotland – Emily Wilkins
Kelp Ink & Video – Miek Zwamborn and Rutger Emmelkamp
Geology – Dr John Faithfull
Staffa Tours – Pal, Finlay and Colin
Stephen Raw - Calligraphy
Neil Jardine - Creeling for Sound citizen science project
Special thanks also to Fiona, Gordon and Anja at Iona Village Hall; Rowena for her wonderful help with the exhibition installation; Jann for making our magnificent polar bears; and Neil for lending the creels that became part of the exhibition.
Finally, thank you to the young artists whose curiosity, imagination and generosity made this project what it became:
Harris, Euan, Laurie, Hamish, MacKenzie, Lucy, Morven, Màiri, Emily, Orlaith, Caitlyn, Naomi, Gryffe, Fraser, Oliver, Callum, Fredrik, Maria, Ole, Elisei, Ker, Emilie, Mia, Isak, Solveig, Tove, Ingelin, Noah, Kaja, Oskar, Brage, Ella, Johannes, Mathilde, Vetle, Hanna, Aurora, Tuva, Samuel and Noomi.
Thank you for reminding us that art really can explain everything.
