The Common Toad and Southern Hawker Dragonfly took centre-stage in the latest Cùra Guardian exhibition installation and event, which took shape as part of the Highlands & Islands Climate Festival on Friday September 29th 2023. This was staged as a community event at Lochardil Primary School in Inverness for an audience of over 200 children, families, teachers and special guests including Cllr Jackie Hendry and Cllr Andrew Mackintosh. Cllr Jackie Hendry is the Highland Species Champion for the Common Toad.
The exhibition installation presented the world of Coire Loch, a magical setting in the Highlands and home to different species of dragonfly including the Southern Hawker, an important species as it is a climate change marker.
Water lilies fill the edge of the loch, opening in the day and closing at night and you don’t have to wait long before you will see the dragonflies, including the Southern Hawker.
This species is only now being seen regularly in the Highlands, previously only recorded much further south, demonstrating the climate really is changing and the natural world has noticed this! This is why Heartstone chose these images from Cùra Guardian for this contribution to the Highlands & Islands Climate Festival this year.
This event presented for the first time the dance-drama of ‘Dragonfly’. Sitakumari led the piece through dance and narrative story with the selected children of Lochardil playing the role of the dragonfly’s young, repeating the life cycle once the mother has passed away. Below is the dragonfly in its nymph stage.
Cllr Jackie Hendry is pictured in the photo (left) with Sitakumari and standing in front of the Common Toad image, with children, who performed in the Dragonfly piece, and with Cllr Mackintosh.
She said:
“I was delighted to be present at the latest Cùra Guardian event in Inverness and see an exhibition installation and performance of ‘Dragonfly’ at Lochardil Primary School as part of the Climate Festival. Sitakumari as Heartstone performed the story, with narration and dance, together with a supporting cast of children, about the life cycle of the dragonfly, with important reference to the environment and climate change. The Southern Hawker Dragonfly was not native to the Highlands as it preferred the warmer south, but can now be found here, which is testament to how the climate is changing. The story is one of many that can be found on the Cùra Guardian website. I was especially excited to see the wonderful photo of the Common Toad, of which I am species champion, in the installation!”
Sitakumari said:
‘We at Heartstone were so happy to be able present a Cùra Guardian exhibition installation and showcase a very first performance of ‘Dragonfly’ as part of the Climate Festival with the help of the Lochardil children. Most importantly, it gave us an opportunity to highlight the real world where the wildlife is found in the Highlands. I hope we have helped in a small way to get the message across that this is another issue on which we all need to put aside differences and work together!’
Cùra Guardian, Heartstone’s new website and roadshow on the natural environment, was launched from Highland Council Chamber in May with the support of NatureScot, RSA Scotland and Highland Council
A Highland badger called Cùra is the centrepiece of this environmental project, which aims to shine a new light on the natural world through documentary, including spectacular images, latest scientific research connected with it highlighting the issues we are facing today, and cultural story intertwined. It is these connections that make it unique. It opens in Highland Scotland but then spreads out to cultures across the world.
The preliminary phase of the website, where you will be able to see all the images in this post and many more, can be accessed at www.curaguardian.scot. The story of the Dragonfly is the first on the site: ‘In the Beat of a Dragonfly’s Heart’.
You can also follow all the latest developments and events on twitter @curaguardian
All photographs: ©Nick Sidle/Heartstone. All rights reserved.
Our grateful thanks to the Highlands & Islands Climate Festival for their funding and support for this programme and the Headteacher, Audrey Kellecher, staff and children of Lochardil Primary for hosting and participating in the event.
