Lyth Arts Centre is a fine place, Generous and welcoming. A lovely theatre space located in the flat Northernmost fringe of the Scottish mainland.[1]
The Art Centre was established by the visionary William Wilson, an accomplished artist and musician who worked in film and television in London before returning to his native Caithness. What began as a gallery grew into an intimate venue which regularly over-spilled into William’s home in the adjacent schoolhouse.
It is a space to meet, to converse, to entertain in the fullest sense of the word.
We visited to perform on May Day…or Beltane if you will…or International Workers Day. Or the first day of summer. A propitious start to the second leg of Pibroch’s 2023 tour.
Caithness & Sutherland. Flow Country. A vast reserve of peatland.[2]
Just offshore from Helmsdale, windfarms vie with the Beatrice oil platforms just visible from shore. A few miles up the road, Dounreay: the UK’s only fast-breeder nuclear reactor is being decommissioned. Positioned well out of harms way (unless you live in Caithness).[3]
Beyond the nuclear power plant, on the seabed beneath the Pentland Firth, the UK’s first tidal power plant is pushing boundaries.[4]
As always, the after show discussion at Lyth Art Centre was enlightening, inspiring.
Here is some of what I heard about Climate Justice in Caithness.
I heard that art – music, song, theatre, poetry, visual arts, making – is how we talk to ourselves, together, about experience, about value. That without art there is no conversation. And yet the current context constricts and suffocates the arts – withdrawing subsidies and charging high tariffs on the spaces in which folk can meet.
I heard that Climate Action is always about ‘place’ – places – the ground on which we stand. That, although the problem is global and pervasive – as each increment of emission raises the average global temperature everywhere – the only place we, as human beings, can respond is here and now. In the place we each find ourselves.
I heard that, as in Shetland, Caithness produces vast amounts of renewable energy, in the form of electricity from wind turbines, yet still pays higher tariffs for electricity than consumers in the South (and closer to urban centres).
I heard that sociality had been commoditised to ‘entertainment’ without the engagement and participation originally embedded in the word. That ‘ceilidh’ means ‘to visit’ – a verb – not ‘a dance’ – a noun.
I heard that folk know but struggle with the fact that meaningful change demands a paradigm shift – that, based on the current model, current lifeways, a shift to a low emissions, sustainable outcome is impossible for those living in ‘remote’ locations.
I heard that folk from Caithness ‘go away’, to the merchant navy or to the South, but that many come back. That folk come back if they can, when they can.
I heard that ‘where are you from?’ means ‘who are you from?’.
I heard that we need to share – through conversation, theatre, sessions, recitations, open mics, karaoke – because we NEED to talk about ‘stuff’.
I heard (again) how the establishment closed ranks after Piper Alpha. That Occidental exited the North Sea richer than they arrived. That Armand Hammer did not lose a penny. That there were no commercial repercussions.
I heard that songs and poems last – are shared through time and space – that folk join in in the chorus, are part of the remembering. That the thought and the feelings persist long after speeches, reports or presentations are forgotten.
I heard that the Climate Emergency presents each and all of us with a Perfect Moral Storm and has, in its nature, a great capacity for moral corruption.[5]
I heard that we want young people to join in our conversations – we want to hear their voices on this topic.
I heard that conversation is a form of action – a precursor of an agreement to act.
I heard, again, that imagination has a moral force and is vital to our collective future.
I heard Nancy Nicolson sing – Who Pays the Piper?[6]
[2]The Flow Country | The Flow Country
[5]A Perfect Moral Storm – The Ethical Tragedy of Climate Change. Stephen Gardiner.