As part of this month’s Wild Goose Festival, I’ve been invited as part of my Public Art Lead role to host a playful birdwatching experience which will be appearing in and around Dumfries town centre during the festivals run, from the 19th to the 29th October.

Inspired by the returning migratory bird population, we are creating a new artwork exploring creative bird spotting through the creation of pop-up spaces for viewing and listening to potential bird behaviours. As Roaming Birdwatchers, the artwork–of no fixed location–will be appearing in public spaces around the town centre as part of four pop-up events facilitating a space for pausing and reflecting on our non-human winter residents.

Audiences and members of the public are invited to join the artists and partners from the Wild Goose Festival programme in an outdoor environment to observe the skies and consider our relationship with non-human inhabitants of our everyday spaces. The work includes a series of colourful deckchairs, and a commissioned soundscape using audio recorded from local visitors as well as alternative viewing devices for seeing differently.

The project, inspired by the Wild Goose Festival’s theme Keep Looking Up, also includes a series of project flags that will be appearing around the town sharing the message that both encourages a skyward focus to spot the returning bird population as they continue to arrive, but also can be seen as a message of hope and optimism in challenging times.How can we see the town differently, and what sort of new ways of seeing can help us uncover unique understandings of our place?

The Keep Looking Up roaming installation will be found in and around the town centre on the following dates:
Thursday 19th 1-4 pm
Friday 20th 1-4pm
Monday 23rd 2-5 pm
Thursday 26th 1-4 pm

Big thanks to the wonderful Erin for being my model for these pictures – superstar!