Museum nan Eilean will next month open a conservation-focused original art exhibition ‘The Cry of the Curlew’ in Benbecula.
The curlew is facing many challenges today. Climate Change, habitat loss, an increase in predators and changing landscapes have all added to their decline. The UK Curlew population has almost halved in the last 25 years, and as the UK holds nearly 30% of the European breeding population, this is of great concern. Unless the balance tips back in its favour, the red-listed Curlew may be in its last decade.
The exhibition opens to the public in, Lionacleit, Isle of Benbecula, on Friday 6 September and will be on show until Saturday 26 October.
Barbara Murray who curated the exhibition says,
“This exhibition celebrates the beauty and fragility of curlews on their return to the UK to breed, helping us to appreciate their soul-stirring presence in our lives. The artists’ collaboration expresses the joy of having these graceful birds in our lives as well as the dangers we have put them in. It also highlights practical things we can all do to ensure our descendants can continue to appreciate them”.
Nine artists collaborated in the exhibition – Barbara Murray, Paco Valera, Hester Cox, Sally Zaranko, June Gersten-Roberts, Stephanie Smith, Sarah Smith, Emily Berry-Mennerdahl and Jonas Böttern – to draw attention to the plight of the curlew. Its gracefulness and beauty are celebrated through original artwork, photography, poetry and sculpture. A video and soundscape by June Gersten-Roberts features interviews with farmers on sustainability, along with Alastair McIntosh’s poem ‘Extinction’, set to the music of Loriana Pauli. Informative banners detail successful approaches to conservation and set out what we can all do to improve the Curlew’s chances of sustainability.
For many years, Barbara and Paco returned, like the birds themselves, to the same upland fells and meadows in Yorkshire, around Wensleydale and Swaledale, to hear the curlew’s soul-stirring cry and to observe these, and other birds, nesting and parenting their young. The exhibition, and the accompanying book, present images, prose, and poems exposing the meaning humans place on the presence of such beautiful birds.
Caitriona MacCuish, Museum nan Eilean, says
“Curlews are common visitors to the Outer Hebrides and now also breed in Uist. Many will recognise their distinctive call, that can often be heard in the late evenings. Museum nan Eilean wanted to highlight how the community can become involved with conservation and to shine a light on what would be lost if these ground-nesting birds disappear forever from our islands.”
There will be an exhibition preview with an opportunity to meet Barbara Murray on Thursday 5 September at 7pm. If you would like to reserve a place, please email museumU&B@cne-siar.gov.uk
More information from:
www.outerhebridesheritage.org.uk/whats-on/
