The themes of water and time are the focus of this year’s Beer & Berries festival at Hospitalfield.
Want to know more about ‘rain gardens’ and how to dowse for water?
Or perhaps you’re keen to discover the role of water in art, religion and history? Or maybe you just fancy listening to some ‘watery’ acoustic music?
Head along to this year’s Beer & Berries festival at Hospitalfield and you’ll be able to indulge your passion for all things water and time-driven, with artists, authors and experts coming together to celebrate the themes on August 5.
Taster sessions
Visitors will have the opportunity to try taster sessions in water dowsing with professional Grahame Gardner, learn about ‘rain garden’ planting and design with BBC Beechgrove TV presenter Kirsty Wilson, and get stuck into a film and writing workshop on the themes of water and time with artists Daniella Vlaz Gen and Rehana Zaman.
Rain-summoning music
Meanwhile, sound artist Bint Mbareh will talk about her research into rain-summoning music, before performing a ‘sound art composition’, and author and cultural anthropologist Professor Veronica Strang – who has just published a new book, Water Beings – will discuss the cultural significance of water deities and our changing relationship with water.
Veronica, who lives in Oxford and is affiliated to the university’s school of anthropology and museum ethnography, often works with environmental art groups as part of her research around water.
She’s hugely excited to be part of the festival at Hospitalfield.
“Being passionate about water and what it means to people, artists bring many important insights to our collaborations,” she reflects.
Water in art and religion
“Water is such an important theme in art and religion. Its beauty and centrality to human lives has been celebrated from the beginning of human history, in cave paintings, carvings, performance, and in myriad forms of art and material culture.
“The water beings that I will be talking about at the festival are a fascinating and extraordinary ‘family’ of objects and images.
“They show us how people personified and venerated water in diverse cultural contexts, and how they loved and sometimes feared this most vital element.”
Veronica says that what happens to these ‘water beings’ in different times and places is ‘very revealing’.
Relationship with water
“It tells us how and why many societies’ relationships with water changed, and became more adversarial and exploitative.
“My hope is that, as well as helping us to understand how humankind has created an environmental crisis, my research can suggest ways to recreate mutually reciprocal partnerships between ourselves and the non-human domain.’
Vertical farming
Also sharing insights into his research will be Derek Stewart, the director of the Advances Plant Growth Centre at the James Hutton Institute, who will speak about the climate positive benefits of vertical farming (where plants are grown on trays on top of each other indoors).
Rain gardens
And while Beechgrove Garden presenter and RBGE garden manager Kirsty Wilson will explain how rain gardens can be used to capture, filter and manager water-flow, as well as enhance biodiversity, those who sign up for dowsing sessions with Grahame Gardner will discover the skill can be used to uncover a wide range of items.
“Most people associate dowsing with finding water, yet it has a variety of uses in everyday life,” he explains.
“It can be used to find lost items and buried artefacts, test for food intolerances, identify geopathic stress areas, measure and locate imbalances in the body’s energy field, and much more.
“My introductory workshop will provide a grounding in the use of the pendulum, L-rods and other dowsing tools, and show you how to integrate the principles of dowsing into your life and work, enhancing your intuition and decision-making skills.”
Workshops
The festival will also feature watercolour painting workshops using dyes from Hospitalfield’s physic garden, writing classes and ‘watery acoustics’, as well as the first of a series of summer banquets, with visitors invited to dine outside in the grounds.
The menu, produced by head chef Elaine Chalmers, will be inspired by the region’s abundance of seasonal produce.
Lucy Byatt, director at Hospitalfield, describes Beer & Berries as a “perfect opportunity” to celebrate the rich food and drink culture across Angus and Tayside, especially at this time of year.
“The best thing about the festival is that you can have whatever experience works for you, whether just to come to eat and drink, or to enjoy a family day out trying everything from painting to song writing,” she says.
“Music fans can enjoy local bands programmed by Red Rock Music and those keen to learn more about the importance of water in our lives can enjoy our talks programme”
Water and time
So why were the themes of water and time chosen for this year’s festival?
“In 2023, the precious nature of water, whether to drink, grow with, wash or swim in, has become the focus of much of our attention,” says Lucy.
“As the summers grow warmer and drier with the impacts of climate change across the globe, we’re looking to remind ourselves of water’s extraordinary qualities, and our essential relationship to it.
“This year’s programme highlights the many ways water sustains us literally and creatively.
“Developed in partnership with FEAST Journal, we will be foraging, planting, talking and listening.
“There’s a mixture of hands-on activities for all ages and a talks programme that brings leading voices and thinkers to Hospitalfield to share their insights on everything from vertical farming to creating sound compositions with water.”
- For more information and to book, see hospitalfield.org.uk
