Fragments of the Tay

Fragments of the Tay Sculptural Artworks

Fragments of the Tay was an experimental series of art workshops celebrating our deep and meaningful connections with the River Tay and the surrounding landscape.

Pitlochry Festival Theatre commissioned Artists Susie Johnston and Susie Dalton to work with participants from Perth and Kinross communities in May and June 2023 in a series of workshops which involved artistic activity to make sculptures and structures from a diverse range of objects and things found near the Tay –  bits of pottery, wood, wool, wire, litter and glass. Participants brought their own personal connections, memories, stories, and ways of knowing the River Tay into the creative process.

The project was delivered in partnership with The Scottish Crannog Centre, Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust and Birnam Arts Centre.

Artworks are installed in three different locations:

The Scottish Crannog Centre

Cairn sculpture

Comprising terracotta-made, porcelain-cast and found objects amassed in a cairn shape. Predominantly brown/red terracotta clay makes, with porcelain cast replicas of charred crannog wood and Neolithic mace head interspersed throughout (white with earthy tones), alongside some found objects from the Tay.

Birnam Arts Centre

String of handmade beads

Over 110 handmade glazed porcelain beads, decorated with oxides in blues, red-brown, pink-orange, and grey strung together.

Pitlochry Festival Theatre

Porcelain tiles

More than 80 handmade porcelain tile impressions of plants and flowers glazed and placed amidst the rocks and greenery in the Explorers Garden.

If you would like to see the artworks in the Explorers Garden, please contact the box office on 01796 484626 or come into the Theatre when you visit to ask for free entry.