The first Cùra Guardian Roadshow, linked with the online publication ‘Cura Guardian’, opened at The Macphail Centre, Ullapool on Monday March 25th 2024. It was opened by Cllr Isabelle Campbell, the Vice-Convenor of Highland Council and Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh Councillor.
Cllr Campbell pictured here, at right, visiting the exhibition said:
‘I was delighted to be asked to open the Cura Guardian Roadshow at the Macphail Centre in Ullapool on the 25th March. The event was delightful, opening audience’s eyes, young and old, about the relationship between the natural world and the animals, birds and insects within it, especially at a time when climate change is affecting the world around us. The theme of the day in Ullapool was the life of the dragonfly, how it evolves from birth to death. Sitakumari and the talented supporting dancers drawn from students at Ullapool High School demonstrated most gracefully what happens during a dragonfly’s life span. To be connected via video link to India was most intriguing, particularly to be told the effect of climate change there in that hot climate. It makes everyone aware of the dangerous world we live in and why we all need to help to change it, starting from a very young age. Cura Guardian – the website, exhibition and stage performance – connects different countries with different stories of birds, insects and animals and how they relate to these themes that makes it interesting for children, as well as adults. It helps all of us relate to these inhabitants of our planet and makes us much more aware of climate change, the loss of biodiversity and why we all need to care.’
She was followed by Lucy Beattie, SNP Candidate for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter-Ross, pictured here second from left, together with, from right to left, Rolf Schmidt, Highland Multicultural Association, Cath Hill-Freeman, who curated the exhibition installation, Sitakumari, Nila Joshi, Founder Edinburgh Women’s Interfaith Group, and at left of photo, one of the audience members.
Lucy Beattie said:
‘It was great to attend the Cura Guardian Roadshow in Ullapool and to say a short word about my work as a farmer and Teaching Fellow in Science Communication as so much of this links to the work which was presented.
The concept behind Cùra Guardian of bringing together science, cultural stories from so many different parts of the world and relevant history in the context of understanding the natural environment and where we are today is so important. It was great to connect Wester-Ross with scientists from Mumbai on the day in Ullapool.
What is valuable is that this combination provides a new route to engage and communicate with a wide general public. Finding a successful way to present the science to those who do not come from a science background is crucial to understanding what is happening and why, particularly when it comes to climate change and loss of biodiversity.
The visual stories provoke an emotional response in those who see them and it is important to have empathy for the subjects under consideration. The stories and images on Cùra Guardian are achieving this, not only are they insightful but they are also engaging and entertaining, which is why this approach can reach a broad audience and across continents.
The power and potential of dance as a medium to reach an audience and tell a story is evocative. The dance pieces that were shared were absolutely first class.
The roadshow is important and I look forward to seeing the next event take shape. I am delighted to have been able to contribute my own comment on the Slow Worm, which is now added to the story on the website and I look forward to reading other comments from ‘Friends of Cura’.
I am raising awareness of Cùra Guardian with all those I meet, including schools, and will be encouraging as many as I can to become subscribers and new ‘Friends of Cura’.
Cllr Chris Ballance, Green Councillor for Aird and Loch Ness, Depute Leader, City of Inverness Area Committee and Chair, Inverness Community Partnership, pictured here as one of the speakers who launched Cura Guardian from the main Highland Council Chamber in 2023 from which this, the first Roadshow event has followed, joined online and said:
‘Cura Guardian is an important project. The online publication combines fantastic natural world photography by Nick Sidle with both traditional stories and stories added by members of the public. Meantime Sitakumari’s dance, part of the Roadshow drawn from her background in Indian Classical Dance developed into a contemporary storytelling form, brings some of the animals to life with performances suitable for both adults and children. Heartstone is creating international links for this part of its work, with contacts in India, Fiji, S America, Tanzania and beyond.
I hope many will subscribe to ‘Cura Guardian’ and become a ‘Friend of Cura’ as I have done and add to the wealth of stories already on the website.’
Sitakumari introduced ‘Cùra Guardian’ starting at the Gateway at www.curaguardian.com, an innovative online publication shining a new light on the natural world through stories, spectacular galleries of images, latest scientific research highlighting the issues we are facing today, global cultural story and history intertwined. ‘Cura Guardian’ is a route to be taken into worlds people have not experienced before, be inspired and from that starting point, understand better the challenges we face of the loss of biodiversity, climate change, how these issues will affect us all and why sustainable development is crucial.
The publication is first and foremost intended to be a visually captivating and entertaining route into the environment, which is also insightful and powerful, connecting people and the world that surrounds them. More stories are being added as more contacts and connections are made.
Behind the stories are the image galleries, all photographs produced by Nick Sidle, who has authored and edited the publication. These provide the inspiration for each story and lead to the growing number of partners in Scotland and worldwide, who are providing the access for the images and contributing information – scientific, cultural, historical – to add into the stories. Key contributors include those introduced by NatureScot, who have co-funded the development stage.
‘Cùra Guardian’ partners are also being interviewed for ‘The Cùra Channel, which includes recordings from the original overseas contributors who were part of the very first Cùra Guardian event held at Inverness Cathedral in 2021 to mark the start of COP26. This was the earliest stage of Cura Guardian from which the online publication subsequently took shape. The contributors included S America, Canada, India and Fiji, all partners who continue to support Cura Guardian with new contributions.
Cura Guardian includes stories and images connected to the stars and planets as these too connect people and cultures across the world. Most recently, the spectacular Aurora seen in the Highlands was captured and appears as one of the stories on the site. To highlight this aspect of Cùra, a special online presentation followed from Mr Arvind Paranjpye, the Director of the Nehru Planetarium, who joined from Mumbai, a keen supporter of Cùra Guardian, currently assisting with bringing new partners from India.
He talked of the ‘dark sky’ and why light pollution, seen all over the world and even in India, is impacting on our ability to see the stars and planets at night. He talked of how he has noticed how this is affecting wildlife, confused by light levels which is affecting their behaviour. He also talked of the solar eclipse, another image and story included on Cura Guardian. Particularly interesting however was his story of Orion, a constellation seen in India as well as in the UK. Europe and others parts of the northern hemisphere. The stories told of Orion in India relate to Nataraja and the deer killed by Shiva, contrasting with the story told of Orion, the hunter, in the west, a story from Greek mythology. Both stories reflect the people who saw the same constellation and what they made of it giving us insight into the different cultural approaches but a common humanity. It was fortuitous that Orion was seen in the night sky and photographed by Nick Sidle a day after the Roadshow event and will shortly be going up on Cura Guardian as the next story.
Friends of Cura
One of the most important aspects of Cura Guardian is ‘Friends of Cura’, referred to already by Lucy Beattie, Cllr Chris Ballance and again by Cllr Jackie Hendry below. A ‘Friend of Cura’ is anyone who would like to support the concept or has what they feel is an important story or comment to add to any of the stories featured on Cura Guardian. Several of the Species Champions in Highland have already contributed.
This includes Cllr Jackie Hendry, Inverness Ness-side, Depute Provost, Inverness and Area.
Her species is the Common Toad. The image from the website is at right and you can read about it at:
https://curaguardian.exposure.co/reptiles-and-amphibians-scotland
Her additional comment is below the image/short story on the site at ‘Reptiles and Amphibians’. Here is what she said about it:
‘I have been a supporter of Heartstone for many years and was thrilled to be invited to a pre-roadshow event at Lochardil Primary School last year. Learning about our habitats and species through storytelling guarantees a captive audience, whatever age you are – and it is vital that these stories are told.
I am the species champion for the Common Toad, known as Bufo Bufo. Nick Sidle has wonderful images of the Toad on the Cura Guardian website, which we can all subscribe to and become a Cura Guardian Friend.
On the website you will hear why I wanted to champion the Toad and its importance to our wild life cycles and biodiversity. We are all aware that the climate is changing and the threat of loss of habitat and breeding grounds mean that the Toad faces an uncertain future.
Please engage with Cura Guardian and contribute to it if you can. Well done on a very successful event.’
Similarly, Cllr Chris Ballance has become a ‘Friend of Cùra’. His comment on the recent wildfires in Highland is found below the image of Corrimony on the site at Inverness-shire/Short Stories:
https://curaguardian.exposure.co/invernessshire
Lucy Beattie’s comment on the Slow Worm is added to the end of the story feature and can be accessed from the link below:
https://curaguardian.exposure.co/what-im-not
The Cura Guardian Exhibition Installation
The Roadshow includes an exhibition installation, drawing on images from the online publication, an installation which can be moved across an area reaching even the remotest of locations. In Ullapool, the installation was curated by Cath Hill-Freeman, one of the core team for Cura Guardian and pictured above.
The Cura Guardian Performance
In the second half of the event, Sitakumari, principal dancer/storyteller for Heartstone, at left, was joined by five young Ullapool dancers to present a dance-drama drawn from one of the stories on Cùra Guardian, ‘In the Beat of a Dragonfly’s Heart’
This story can be accessed from the link below:
https://curaguardian.exposure.co/in-the-beat-of-a-dragonflys-heart
The Southern Hawker Dragonfly is an important species as it has become a climate change marker. It is 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!
Sitakumari played the roles of the adult female dragonfly and her male counterpart whilst the young dancers brought the day and night forests to life and culminated as the young nymphs, the next generation of dragonflies, the children of the heroine of the story that she will never see but will continue to influence throughout their lives as her own life was influenced by her predecessors.
Photographs: The Southern Hawker Dragonfly and Coire Loch from Cura Guardian – ©Nick Sidle
The images of the dragonfly and Coire Loch in Glen Afric in the Highlands, were both included in the exhibition. It is from these images that the choreography for the dance-drama was drawn, with all parts of the images above brought to life on stage.
Lesley Strachan, art teacher at Ullapool High, who led the project for the school and had helped to recruit the dancers said:
‘It was wonderful for our pupils to have the chance to be involved in such a significant and important project, and particularly for the opportunity to perform in a dance piece. This is the first time these young people have had that chance….Your performance was entrancing and very engaging and this opportunity to watch dance as an artform was also a one-off for many of the pupils in the audience. Having our S1 and S2’s helping and getting an idea of what it takes to put on an event like this was also worthwhile. Thank you for offering to recognise this achievement with certificates.’
The dance-drama performance and exhibition were thoroughly appreciated by all and Cllr Christopher Birt, councillor for Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh, pictured here second from left, with Headteacher, Caroline Boyd (first left), Sitakumari and another audience member, captured the response of the audience in his feedback comments
Cllr Birt said:
‘I am writing to you again to thank you so much for this amazing afternoon event; it was really beautiful and simply wonderful. You are so clever to bring together strands of science, art and dance! I am sure such performances are loved at all the locations you visit……The Ullapool students working with you last week obviously enjoyed themselves!
I also loved the exhibition; a collection of such beautiful photos, so expertly taken.
Thank you so much for the whole wonderful experience! I hope that people all over Highland will be able to experience it too.’
Two of the dancers are pictured at right being interviewed after the event by representatives of the Pebble Trust, one of the funders of ‘Cura Guardian’ and the Roadshow in Ullapool.
Caroline Boyd, the Headteacher, pictured above said:
‘It was a great experience for our young people to be part of the event – definitely a proud Head Teacher moment!’
Nila Joshi, pictured first on the right, is the Founder of Edinburgh Women’s Interfaith Group and a core member of the Cura Guardian team. She said:
‘This was such a memorable event. The Cura stories and photographs were not just enjoyable, they really gave the audience insight and understanding. The dancers looked so elegant and successfully took the audience more deeply into the story they were telling. We all built a bridge of friendship on the day. A wonderful experience for everyone!’
Rolf Schmidt, representing the Highland Multicultural Association, pictured on the right in the photo with Sitakumari , centre, opened the contact with Mr Arvind Paranjpye in Mumbai. He encapsulated the whole experience and purpose of the Roadshow in his statement:
‘I believe that what we create in the world around us reflects the spirit inside us. In the context of the environmental crises, the Cùra Guardian project uses high-quality photography, linked stories, story telling, and dramatic dance performance to inspire a holistic and spiritual appreciation of the natural environment that goes beyond technical solutions and that I feel is very much needed.’
Heartstone is now preparing for its next Roadshow event, planned for Inverness in the summer and autumn.
Heartstone is grateful for the funding and support of NatureScot and The Pebble Trust for the website development and staging of this event. We are also grateful for the support of High Life Highland, especially Moira Renwick and her colleagues and Ullapool High School, especially Lesley Strachan, for their support, including locating the Ullapool dancers and local volunteers who have made this event possible.
Background information:
Cùra is a character from the book Heartstone was founded from, ‘The Heartstone Odyssey’. He is a badger and his name in Gaelic means ‘protector’ or ‘guardian’. In the story, his role is that of a protector of place and home, both social and the natural world, and he has a strong Highland historical connection, a story for children which is also capturing the hearts and minds of adults, which is why he was chosen to lend his name to this project.
One of the aspects of the Cùra project which makes it stand out as a unique concept, is the connection which is being made through it with indigenous communities across the world. The partners currently include Canada, USA, Colombia, Peru, Kenya, India and the Pacific Islands and more are being added with time. These communities are sharing their own cultural stories for Cùra Guardian which demonstrate the connection they have had with the environment which surrounds them over millennia and which has shaped their worlds, as well as raising some of the issues they face now.
These connections have been made possible through a photolibrary of over 2m images which, alongside the Cùra story, provides the starting point for the entire project. Built over a period of 30 years, this is the work of Highlands-based photographer, Nick Sidle, Heartstone’s photographer and writer and the man who created the Cùra concept. Many of the images have been gathered with special access from environmental partners within Scotland and globally and the library is still growing. The environmental part of Nick’s photolibrary includes plants, animals and habitats which bring Cùra’s world in the Highlands to life. In this project, it has a further role – it provides the mechanism through which the global connections are being made.
Cura Guardian is supported by several MSP’s and Species Champions in Highland including Mark Ruskell, Ariane Burgess, Maree Todd and Rhoda Grant.
