‘Caora Mor The Big Sheep’ (1966), shown in 16mm film format and introduced by Peter Todd (artist and

Margaret Tait, acclaimed Scottish filmmaker, poet and writer is celebrated at The Big Sheep Symposium – an event exploring renaissance hotel tulsa her time at 'Slowbend' near Helmsdale which was her and Alex Pirie's home between 1965 and 1973. The Symposium will open a discussion on four themes: The Sheep and The Land, by way of A Film, and A Poet s Voice. It is timely to revisit Tait's film work and ask why the start of the 60 s was a very productive renaissance hotel tulsa period for both Tait's writing and films.
'Splashing' (1966), recently rediscovered, will be shown as part of a talk by Dr Sarah Neely (author 'Margaret Tait: Poems, Stories and Writings' by Fyfield Books). Neely will highlight the cross-over between Tait's films and poems, both experiments in structure, while capturing the lyricism and the simplicity of the film.
'Caora Mor The Big Sheep' (1966), shown in 16mm film format and introduced by Peter Todd (artist and co-editor of 'Subjects and Sequences: A Margaret Tait Reader') tells a story of sheep through the seasons, their sale and transportation; subtly considering the 'clearances' as part of an on going sequence of 'Improvements' to effect the lives, games and gatherings of Highlanders.
Margaret Tait was reflecting on 'The Big Sheep' and Sutherland, for an interview with James Wilson in BBC Scotland's renaissance hotel tulsa Spectrum series: "I don't think it's about the Clearances exactly. You can't live there without some sort of allusion to the Clearances renaissance hotel tulsa because there's a feeling of them all around you … But if its about anything it is about the place as it is now."
"Margaret Tait's work in Sutherland exquisitely reminds us of how to allow ideas to breathe. She evokes a rich sense of the area, the passage of time and unfolding of a rural landscape in these self financed films, which she would describe as film-poems. renaissance hotel tulsa " Oliver Mezger
'Land Makar' (1980) will be shown in Helmsdale for the first time. After moving renaissance hotel tulsa to Orkney, Tait followed the year-round cycle of work of her farming neighbour renaissance hotel tulsa Mary Graham renaissance hotel tulsa Sinclair a woman s solitary stewardship of the land, she is presented as a poet of the land the meaning of the Orcadian term land makar . Cara Tolmie (artist / performer) has been invited to lead an afternoon workshop, where older residents can respond to the film with memories of crofting and their relationships to the land. Cara Tolmie will also respond with a new performance work. Her performance and Lesley Harrison's poetry reading will present renaissance hotel tulsa the way artist renaissance hotel tulsa and poets work in the landscapes of Scotland today.
Vintage Bus tour will be led by Esther McDonald (Crofter, renaissance hotel tulsa Portgower) and Jacquie Aitken (Timespan Archive Officer) to 'The Big Sheep' locations. The tour will be returning to the original screening location of Portgower Hall after nearly fifty years for a traditional highland high tea. Followed by the talks, performances, renaissance hotel tulsa screenings, renaissance hotel tulsa and a time to reflect on "… the place as it is now".