Fox St.
Broomielaw
Crow Rd.
Elmbank St.
Blackfauld
Bull Wood
walkshop is a name we’ve coined for an activity somewhere between a walk and a workshop, and including elements of both. As part of wild city | fiadh bhaile poet Ken Cockburn and artist Kate McAllan will share walkshops with young people and community groups, exploring our sense of place and experiences of wildness. The walkshops take place on the southside of Glasgow, with partners including the hidden gardens, Romano Lav and Shawlands Academy.
In the walkshops we will explore with young people their perception of ‘wildness in the city’ by way of walking, writing and drawing. We’ll look at examples of existing Glasgow place-names drawing on elements of nature and landscape – the ‘wee knowe’ of Govan, the ‘orchard farm’ of Gartnavel – and compose new place-names from our experience of walking. We’ll also collect words for what we see – birds, trees, flowers, insects and so on – in the various languages spoken by the walkers.
From these we’ll devise new place-names and create a manifesto for wildness, exploring that term from every perspective. We’ll also sketch maps for walks, real and imaginary, using the words we’ve collected in the course of a walk, the real names we’ve discovered or remembered, and the new names we’ve coined.
wild city | fiadh bhaile will culminate in a book which maps wildness – participants’ will help suggest future walks and ways in which the city can be transformed through an awareness of wild nature.
