FOUR LOCATIONS in Argyll and Bute have created continuing memorials to those who died during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Highly-regarded artist Luke Winter led the project in Rothesay with its reach extending across Bute.
The programme of Reflect: Remembering Together culminated in three temporary artworks on Rothesay Promenade inspired by the island’s history.
They formed part of the wider, lasting tributes feeding out across Argyll and Bute in Garelochhead, Mull and Campbeltown.
“At its best art creates conversations that wouldn’t happen otherwise. It opens a space for wonder, for the profound that sits around disguised as the everyday.
“During COVID, the normal collapsed for all of us, and for some more than others.
“Art can help us to make sense of things that are hard to talk about, hard to make sense of,” Mr Winter told this newspaper.
The executive director at Argyll and Bute Council, Kirsty Flanagan said: “Remembering Together brought together communities and artists/creative practitioners in collective acts of reflection, remembrance, hope and healing.
“Supported with £4.1 million provided by the Scottish Government, memorial projects were co-created in every local authority area of Scotland through communities working with artists/ creative practitioners to honour those who have lost their lives to Covid-19 and reflect on their own experiences.”
She said a first phase consultation identified the importance of the outdoors and natural environment in supporting the mental health of communities during the pandemic.
It also encouraged the creation of artworks and events that could be shared across Argyll and Bute’s wide geography, rather than being situated in any single location.
Luke Winter commented: “Communities who chat together, get involved in common tasks together are better placed to help each other cope, to remember and tell their common histories, to resist outside pressures, to celebrate their values.
“Mutual aid requires mutual understanding, which always begins with talking.”
Throughout the project, Mr Winter worked collaboratively with local artists and creative people to strengthen and build new networks, including with cabinet maker Ray Beverly, who assisted woodwork on the final pieces; artist engineer Isa Gordon, who helped with design; artist Ariadne Bicknell, who did the computer renders; and Bonnie Bling who manufactured the signage.
The engineering firm Casa de Perro rented workshop space for fabrication; and arts co-ordinators Ellen Potter and Deirdre McKenna were involved in helping support the project’s development.
Mr Winter created three artworks titled Silver Linings, inspired by Bute’s history as a beloved seaside destination.
Stories gathered from workshops were captured on the work’s reflective surfaces and integrated into temporary illuminated shrines along Rothesay promenade
