Project Summary
Children of the Mist is a project that comes from two goals. The first is to document and record the Highland and Island communities, and the second is to affect change through art and its exhibition. By distributing and displaying the final product, we hope to raise awareness of the damaging effects of centralisation on these communities.
We will travel along the coast, stopping in small communities along the way, circling up through Sutherland, the Northern Isles and passing finally through the Western Isles and the west coast. We’ll be locating and staying in bothies, camping in the wild, and walking off-road, navigating through less explored regions. In these isolated places we’ll be knocking on doors, talking to communities, and photographing people in their natural environments, in the spirt of the American FSA photographers of the 1930s.
Our goals include compiling the photography and writing into a self-published book or zine, and exhibiting the works, as well as digitally distributing any short film(s) that we might make.
Who Are We?
We are Erasmus Mackenna and Theodore Wilkins-Lang, fellow artists and collaborators from Dundee who have been working together for the past year. Last year we both worked on separate projects which involved both fundraising and traveling. Theodore went to America (his homeland), to photograph the Republican Convention, raising money through IndieGoGo, and Erasmus walked on Skye and North Uist to raise money for Highland Hospice and research the history of the region. Children of the Mist would be our first major collaborative undertaking, following a series of short films made in Dundee.
Funding: Where is Your Money Going?
We are raising £5000 for this project. The money will be split into several categories: travel, accommodation, supplies including food, film (the project will be shot of analogue film), and distribution costs (from developing the photos to printing a publication). We believe £5000 will cover these costs sufficiently. This amount will also give us the flexibility to invest more time in researching history, travelling, and diving deeper into the secrets of the communities.
Why Should I Donate?
We believe that is incredibly important to bring the voices and the culture of the people of the Highlands & Islands to a wider audience, namely the central belt of Scotland, through art. Due to centralisation, people are often left without true representation, forced to toil in silence. As we are both artists, we feel the best way we can help is to use our mediums of writing, spoken word, photography and cinema to raise awareness. You will be aiding our efforts as well as helping two upcoming artists with their first major work in collaboration.
Other Ways You Can Help
We are fully aware that not all of you reading this have the money to donate, even if you want to support us. If that is the case, sharing and spreading the word can have a massive impact.
If you want to know any more about the project, our aims, or anything else, don’t hesitate to contact us via Erasmus’ email: erasmusmackenna@outlook.com.
Thanks so much, and solidarity forever,
-Theodore and Erasmus