Innovative food arts project coming to Portree

An new food arts project will bring an interactive installation to the coastline of Portree this September.

The CLIMAVORE: On Tidal Zones sees ATLAS Arts, based on Skye, work in partnership with internationally acclaimed Cooking Sections - artists Daniel Fernández Pascual & Alon Schwabe.

The first phase of the work of CLIMAVORE: On Tidal Zones will explore the environmental effects of aquaculture and will consist of an interactive installation that will react with the tides on the changing coastline of Portree.

Each day at low tide at Bayfiled, Portree from 14 to 24 September 2017 the installation will reappear above the water line and will function as a dining table. There will be free tastings of recipes featuring seaweeds, pysters, clams and mussels.

Over the opening weekend, the installation will be activated by Cooking Sections in collaboration with local chefs, researchers, anthropologists, and residents of the island to share their experience with their audience.

The long-term aim of the Cooking Sections project is to look at forms of eating, that address environmental regeneration by promoting ingredients that proactively respond to the new ecological challenges of Scottish waters. Climavore: On Tidal Zones promotes the consumption of seaweeds and bivalves among local residents, restaurants, and tourists. These animals and plants purify the water by breathing, and can also help monitor the improvement of water quality along the coast of the island.

Emma Nicolson, ATLAS Arts Director, said:

"We are delighted to be working with Daniel and Alon of Cooking Sections on this very creative and engaging endeavour and as they have developed the project, they have met with a wide variety of people around the island, including chefs, fishermen and local interest groups, to gain a better understanding of the different perspectives on the sustainability of the aquaculture industry around Skye.

"We are also thrilled to be working with nine local restaurants who will be including some of the produce in their daily menus, taking the essence of Climavore to the diners across the island.

"We will also be launching two complementary art works running alongside Climavore:On Tidal Zones in the coming weeks to add to our programme of talks, foraging walks and tours, making it a very full arts experience around the coastline of the island."

Commenting on their project and approach, Cooking Sections added:

"Using food and geopolitics to investigate forms of social environmental transformation, we were struck by the extent of Skye’s coast spanning over 400 miles long and the changing historical connections the inhabitants of the island had to the waters surrounding them.

"Skye with its rich history of food production and consumption, and the well-established culture of tourism is going through an accelerated environmental transformation where efficiency and cost-benefit paradigms are predicting the future landscape. CLIMAVORE seeks to establish a conversation with fishermen, bivalve farmers and seaweed growers to think of other informed ways of eating in light of climate change, ocean acidification and pollution."

The project will launch with a preview event on 14 September 2017 and will run until 24 September. Over the opening weekend 15 to 17 September, the installation will form the central element between Cooking Sections and local chefs, researchers, anthropologists, and residents of the island.

There will also be a full public programme including a series of free talks, film screenings, foraging walks, collaborations with other local venues and tours along the coastline of Skye.

This project has been commissioned by ATLAS Arts and supported by The Pebble Trust, Outset Scotland, Creative Scotland and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. ATLAS Arts would also like to thank Calum Matheson for the use of his land.

For more information please visit: http://www.atlasarts.org/