The Scottish Sculpture Workshop in Aberdeenshire is launching a community radio station for both locals and listeners from across the globe.
The artist’s institution in Lumsden, which in 2019 celebrated its 40th anniversary, attracts creatives from around the world to the rural village where they can carry out their work.
Its new temporary Lumsden Live radio station will be available for locals to tune in on 87.9FM in and around the village, or the website www.lumsden.live from anywhere on Earth.
Broadcasting from 8am to 10pm daily, it will run from May 18 to May 22, and will bring together “programmes and contributors from next door to across the globe, exploring why and how people are joining together to take action in their communities”.
The shows will include discussions between artists and activists, community takeover shows and live discussions and debates with local groups.
The Lumsden community has been invited to join for socially distanced listening and refreshments outside the Scottish Sculpture Workshop on May 22.
A new opportunity
Angela Main, an artist and local resident, is part of the Lumsden Live programming team.
She hopes the radio station will provide a “more gentle” alternative to internet discussions.
She said: “The community radio struck a chord with me in its potential to be far-reaching whilst retaining a level of intimacy within the local community.
“Sound and radio has become increasingly important to me over the last year, feeling a sense of overload within the online space.
“Here, I was excited by the opportunity to create a more gentle way of sharing, exchanging and vocalising, as well as providing a sense of ownership over the words and sounds that were being spoken.”
Europe-wide project
Lumsden Live will be part of the Europe-wide “Be Part” arts programme, and will link the Scottish Sculpture Workshop with other arts organisations on the continent.
Sam Trotman, director of the Scottish Sculpture Workshop, said: “The pandemic has highlighted a lack of support for small rural communities and as such people have and continue to come together and support each other.
“Through the BE PART programme we have seen how this is also taking place in cities and towns across Europe and believe it is important to learn with other communities who are also faced by lack of care and support from above and see how we can work together in solidarity.
“I hope that through the Lumsden Live community radio we are able to find connections, affinities and ways of working that can create a more collective, fair and caring future together.”