A project linking two artists thousands of miles apart will come to fruition next weekend with a marathon walk.
Deveron Projects, based in Huntly, has brought together Scottish painter Rachel Bride Ashton and May Murad, who lives in Gaza.
The year-long project culminates next weekend with two Slow Marathon events. The first is on Saturday following a route from Dufftown to Huntly via the White Wood.
The second will take place in Gaza, which is exactly one marathon in distance from north to south with walls at both ends.
For the last year, each artist has been exploring and documenting the route and landscapes of their respective events and have been in regular contact to share their ideas.
Sending videos of her route through the streets of Gaza, Miss Ashton said: “This project has challenged my practice as an artist.
“The subject is one I would not necessarily have chosen to paint – a foreign country and culture and seen only digitally and through the eyes of someone else.”
From Gaza Miss Murad painted images of the countryside around Huntly including the White Wood, an art project memorialising WWI pacifists which includes oak saplings grown from acorns collected near the WWI trenches.
She said: “It’s like a window on the world and I’m not the only one standing by this window.”
This year’s Scottish walk will see around 100 walkers heading out along the 26-mile route from Dufftown to Huntly on Saturday, April 21.
Meanwhile, in Gaza the event will of necessity involve fewer participants walking segments of the 26-mile route over a period of several days.
For full details of Slow Marathon 2018 in Scotland and to sign up visit: www.deveron-projects.com/events/slow-marathon-2017-event/