There isn’t much of a difference between writing and map-making. You can tell a story by mapping a place and map a place by telling a story.
Last year I launched a project via National Collective for people to send me their stories; to send me their reasons, their hopes and their dreams for an independent Scotland. I didn’t know any of these people, of course, and they didn’t know me, but they were kind enough to contribute. I asked them not to send me the facts and figures but simply to say what they feel about independence. I think it’s a more human and more worthwhile debate that way.
And so, over the space of a few weeks I got to work scribbling these statements down into a big map of Scotland. I had never drawn using words before but I wanted to create something that really showed a nation talking to itself, something to which anyone could contribute and which was a public creation as opposed to just being a creation of my own.
Below is a film of the result. Thank you all who contributed, and to the wonderful singer Alyth McCormack for kindly letting me use her song, ‘The Vices Set’.
Colourful poster prints of Imagining Scotland will be made available soon. You can leave us a note of interest by getting in touch here.
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Contact us if you think you have had a great idea for a project that could help us win the campaign for an independent Scotland.
