From Grasslands to Grasslands
ArtMovesFife is a collaborative artwork and social practice initiated in 2023 by artists Kate Downie and Gillian McFarland. It centres around collective journeys on foot, by bicycle, by bus, boat or train. Whilst the movement started in Fife, they have now taken the concept across the central belt, with plans for an international project in development!
These local journeys have become the test bed for discussion, ideas and art-making for positive environmental change through creative engagement. They place local artists at the centre of their communities as drivers for environmental improvement, in turn opening up new routes for walks, climate discussion and art actions involving the wider community. Making art means committing to making a mark, shaping a form, and becoming empowered to shape the future both collectively and individually.
On Thursday 20th August, Kate led the first Urban Artmove, starting from her Edinburgh Art Festival Exhibition at The Scottish Gallery, Grasslands, and ending at The Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, where their exhibition Grasslands is also running. Tommy Zyw joined the walk, and documented the journey below:
Kate asked the assembled crowd to listen to the city, the buses, the birdsong and the rumble of industry, and to translate in our sketchbooks, the undefinable.
I joined Kate Downie and Gillian McFarlane for the first Urban ArtMoves tour. Our group of 20 met at The Scottish Gallery before heading through Edinburgh’s New Town, guided by the two artists who encouraged us to look again at the ground beneath our feet. On Great King Street we stopped and paused to discover that beauty that can be found in the most ordinary places, from cracks in pavements to in between worn stone steps.
After an immersive experience in George V Park, where we were invited to translate the sounds of the city into our sketchbooks using swift charcoal marks, Kate led us through the old railway tunnel at Cannonmills. There, we stopped to examine a bank of grasses and discovered an astonishing eight species growing in this urban environment. These included Cirsicum Valgare, Rubus Fruticusus and Calamagrostis. The diversity of grasses and plants, even within the city, was a reminder of how much life can thrive in overlooked spaces.
After wiggling through the tranquillity of Rocheid Path, we dropped Fife grasses into the Water of Leith, in a small ritual offering to the river gods, before continuing to the Royal Botanic Garden. Outside, we created cyanotypes on the garden benches, with the falling rain adding to the unexpected texture of each image!
At the Royal Botanic Garden we were given a special introduction to their Grasslands exhibition by curator Amy Porteous. Featuring international grassland research with beautifully crafted vernacular objects and photography by Rebecca Marr, the exhibition runs until January 2027. Our Urban ArtMove walk combined art history, walking, artist-led observation and hands-on making, offering a different way of encountering both the natural and urban environment of the city. To join the ArtMovesFife mailing list, please visit their website here.
