Film images of Merkinch mums and their children will feature in a special outdoor event to be held at the Kessock Court North flats on Saturday 13th November (changed from 6th) – weather permitting!

For the past couple of months the women from the Escape Group have been working with artist Gavin Lockhart, from Northern Sutherland, to produce their own mini films of life in their own homes and in the Merkinch neighbourhood.

These films and images will be projected onto the outside of the flats which are boarded up and soon to be demolished. The idea to use this as the backdrop came from Escape group member Violet Reed and the group have taken up the idea. Another member, Maggie Healy, has undertaken to make a cross stitch picture of the flats to be filmed and projected onto the flats.

The various short films will be accompanied by a soundtrack of all the No 1 singles since the flats were built in 1968.

When asked how they get on with Gavin, the response comes that “he just blends in with all the women” and they “have a good laugh”.  The mums indicate that they have gained confidence in the use of the digital video cameras, and have enjoyed looking at the children in a different way. For his part Gavin is delighted at the all the suggestions made by the mums and by their enthusiasm.

Lisa Innes, for instance, has made a film of herself carrying baby and buggy up several flights of stairs to her flat. This follows the theme of the film made by Gavin and the Escape group at the end of last year in the Merkinch Community Centre. This transformed the intricate movements required to negotiate the twin doors with a buggy into a dance piece.

Jennifer Lornie has come up with the idea for the film event, “Changing Faces”. This reflects the strange but intimate images created by the children faces being projected onto their mothers’ faces. It also reflects the changing face of Merkinch, as represented in a way by the demolition of these single occupancy flats, which were associated with a good deal of rowdyism. “The police were always there” says Violet, which sets the group off on an idea to incorporate a police car into the film.

Meanwhile Gavin has also been working with the artists at the Corbett Centre, filming their artwork in progress. He has now completed a 10 minute film which has a professionally composed piece of music. This will be presented to the participants, the staff, friends, families and others at the end of October.

In a third strand to this 3 month residency, Gavin has also been working with Bruce Crichton, IT worker at the mp33 youth project on Grant Street, to involve the young people in developing a new website, using state-of-the-art technology (Dreamweaver MX web and Realviz Stitcher). This provides a virtual 3D representation of the centre and allows for all sorts of imaginative links to useful information for the young people.

This project is one of seven in the Highlands funded through the Scottish Arts Council’s scheme to promote inclusion through public art and also by the Social Inclusion Partnerships. The project is managed by the Highland Council Arts Officers in the recently combined Community Learning and Leisure Service.