On the verge of being overwhelmed writing
my PhD thesis, I decided to go for a short writing retreat in Berwick upon
Tweed. I enjoyed the quiet environment of the small town and wished I could prolong
that period. It was hard to believe when I got the news after coming back from
Berwick- yes I have been awarded SGSAH’s thinker in residency to work on something
related to my PhD research for three weeks at Deveron Arts based in Huntly.
Looking closely at the map of Huntly in Google earth, I knew no other place can
be more appropriate for PhD ‘thinking’ for three weeks. This report is an
account of my experiences in Huntly in those three weeks and also my
reflections on that experience.
Week 1_Settling down and setting the expectations
I was welcomed by Sophie, Intern at Deveron
Arts and my room-mate for next three weeks at the train station. Though the
Google-map said that the house was really close to the train station but I
could not imagine how close it was. In fact, nothing in Huntly is far rightly
said by Josh, the project manager at Deveron Arts who I met on the next day.
During the first week, I discussed with Claudia, Director of Deveron Arts about
my goal for the three weeks, what was expected from me and also what I could
expect from Deveron Arts that would be helpful in my present research. Though I
wrote a proposal (to explore children’s perception of aesthetics related to
landscape elements) while applying for the residency, I was reassured that this
residency (just like artist in residence) is designed to help PhD students at
advanced level of studies to make progress in the work staying in an
environment away from their day to day one. I could carry on the writing I was
doing or I could work on the proposal I sent. I found Deveron Arts inspired by
the philosophy of Patrick Geddes, making their activities local engaging
community people which inspired me to explore children’s perception of
aesthetics in the context of Huntly. Josh helped me contact the local primary
school so that I ccould talk with some children and learn their favourite
places and activities (which I could compare to my findings researching with
primary school children in Bangladesh and find the similarities and differences
in children’s perceptions in different culture and context). I also started
studying on perception of aesthetics, development of aesthetics in young
children and its relation to stress recovery which would be used to update the
literature review of my PhD thesis.
Researching the web resources of Deveron
Arts, I had an idea of their activities. However, being there was a different
experience. Unlike the post graduate research study space in the university
where I work as an isolated self, I became the part of a family. Deveron Arts
is a family who cares to spend time together once a week with all the members of
the family and also the members of the extended family, the community. The day
is generally Friday when the people from the local community were invited to
have lunch together with the Deveron Arts family cooked by a member and listen
to the lecture of a guest speaker or artist at minimal price. I shared my
research on Friday, at the end of the first week with the members of Deveron
Arts and some people from the local community. It generated a lively discussion
and the comments were valuable for my research. The experience in the stitch
share event is also worth sharing where we learnt to embroider and worked on a
peace flag for the white wood project. I admit I could never think of doing
embroidery sitting in a small village in UK, but doing something out of comfort
zone was rewarding in many other ways.
Farmer’s market on Saturday and afterwards
the training walk for slow marathon gave me the opportunity to meet some local
people in Huntly. Other than climbing tp the top of Arthur’s Seat, this was my
first experience of walking through the forest.
Week 2_Writing one Chapter of my PhD thesis
During the second week, I worked mostly
from my room on the first floor of 51 Old Road overlooking the hills far far
away. I am currently in the writing stage of my PhD and I took this opportunity
to give the writing a boost. I worked on a chapter of my PhD in the morning,
had lunch at office with other colleagues and spent the afternoon reading the
literature on children’s perception of aesthetics. While Josh was away for a
seminar, I was able to work in the best corner of the office overlooking the
Brander gardens which we would be designing the coming week.
I think, now its time to introduce other
colleagues in Deveron Arts- Rachel with whom I shared an office was an alumni
from Edinburgh College of Art and Omar, an artist in residence. Besides being a
folk musician, Omar is a wonderful cook living in the same house with me and
Sophie. He cooked a traditional Moroccan dish for us one night- Tazin (most
probably) and couscous. He played Gimbri and danced Moroccan folk dance. We
talked about art, music, politics and what not while enjoying Moroccan dishes.
I promised Sophie and Omar that I would cook traditional Bangladeshi meal for
them.
I explored most of Huntly during these two
weeks. I generally went out for a run in the morning. I tried to take a
different route every day, therefore explored almost all the nooks and cronies
of Huntly. The walking guide from Deveron Arts was very helpful to find the
potential routes. My favourite route was from the castle street towards the
castle and then running alongside the Deveron river past Huntly outdoor centre.
On Friday night we attended a short bread launching ceremony at Scottish
Sculpture Workshop. I have been living in Edinburgh for about three years, but
I first danced Ceilidh on that night at Lumsden.
Week 3_Seminar, Friday Lunch and Workshop
The last week was intense as I could only
spend three days of that week in Huntly. I attended the seminar ‘Living the
Land’ where I came across many artists working in rural areas of Scotland in
diverse fields. I was able to learn a bit more about the activities of Creative
Scotland and how they support the artists. In many areas architects, landscape
architects and artists work together in projects for children’s benefits. I
have had useful conversations with many participants, though not directly
related to my PhD research, gave me an exposure to art works based on the land
we are living in for which as a landscape architecture student I do have
interest.
I cooked traditional Bangladeshi meal for
lunch on the last Friday of my residency where my husband Sheik Rana, a song
writer by profession shared his song writing journey in Lunch talk accompanied
with some Bangla music played by him. Followed by the lunch I conducted the
workshop on designing the Brander gardens with members of Deveron Arts and also
some locals. We identified the landscape elements which are liked by the users,
not so liked (or needed improvement) and then brainstormed how the garden can
be improved. This workshop was an attempt to find out the positive aspects of
the landscape which the local community could utilize for creating a better
community space.
What I achieved and what I did not achieve
These three weeks exposed myself to new
information related to artist practices in UK , how my research is related to
so many disciplines and how I can improve in my approached to future research
based on that. At the same time I made some progress in my core research work.
It would have been really helpful if I could have acted more local and gathered
some information on children’s experiences in Huntly.
Things worth considering
Such
an opportunity is desired by any PhD student to make progress on research.
However, it would be more beneficial to both the parties if there would be more
time for preparation and also setting the expectation before getting in there.
I did not get the opportunity to talk to the children, as the teachers were
having a busy time before the school holydays which might have been possible if
we could have contacted them earlier.
Having
a definite achievable goal would help the researcher to make the most of those
three weeks. However, one needs to be flexible enough to receive new
information and also adapt to the new situation. And the most important thing
is to enjoy and not be overwhelmed with expectations.
My
heartfelt apologies for the delay in sending the report and also not being able
to complete the peace flag.
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