White Wood Forum will meet near the end of May in Huntly, Aberdeenshire
CAMPAIGNERS, academics and artists will gather in Huntly this month [26-27 May] to discuss the environmental challenges facing the future of humanity.
The ‘White Wood Forum’, taking place in Aberdeenshire, will explore how art and the environment can be forces for peace and justice.
The White Wood forest, planted over the winter of 2014 to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the bloody first world war, is part of a project to encourage environmental sustainability and cooperation in opposition to conflict and destruction.
The May festival, promoted through the Deveron Arts group, will welcome a wide range of speakers to discuss political and social issues.
Those attending include: Satish Kumar, a peace and environmental activist; Loïc Fel, philosopher and arts activist; Tim Ingold, chair of social anthropology at the university of Aberdeen; Robin McAlpine, director of Common Weal; and Caroline Wendling, a White Wood artist.
Wendling, from Lorraine in France, was behind the original development of the White Wood forest as a landmark for peace – inspired by the 7000 Oaks project of Joseph Beuys in Germany.
Describing the event, organisers added: “By bringing together people from arts, anthropology, ecology, politics, peacemaking and locality, The White Wood Forum will ask how we can foster a culture of complexity, an art and a community that impacts the future, to the benefit of generations to come.”
The festival will also include a ceilidh and gala day.
Tickets (priced between £10 and £35) as well as travel and accommodation information is available online.
Picuture courtesy of Deveron Arts.