Monday July 29th 2024
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
A red letter day awaits for Borderers as part of an ongoing £25m River Tweed revitalisation masterplan.
Connecting Threads is the cultural strand of the project Destination Tweed, which is being delivered by the Tweed Forum alongside partners such as Scottish Borders, Northumberland and Dumfries and Galloway councils.
The aim is to unite to deliver significant economic, environmental, educational and social benefits to the south of Scotland and North Northumberland.
As part of the Connecting Threads section artists Robbie Coleman and Jo Hodges have been exploring the pathways around the River Tweed between Innerleithen and Kelso, as part of their ongoing artist residency.
Inspired by the chance discovery of an empty envelope on a footpath by the Tweed, the duo have initiated the ‘Lost Letters’ project.
The artists are now inviting local people to contribute to the project, which will culminate in ‘Babe’, an exhibition of lost letters to go on display at a yet to be identified venue in Galashiels this September.
The letters can be long or short, to anybody or anything, factual or fantastical, funny or heart-rendingly tragic, handwritten or typed.
There are no rules but one: every letter must be addressed to ‘Babe’, the name on the letter discovered on that riverside walk.
Robbie said: “From April to October this year we’re exploring the pathways of the middle section of the River Tweed.
“Our research area is ‘walking’ – how we encounter the world on foot. We are excited to be given this opportunity to look deeply into something most of us take for granted and are keen to share and shape our investigations with the people that we meet on the way.
“On one of our recent walks by the river we found an intriguing object – an old, weathered envelope. It was empty, with one word written in faded blue biro on the front: ‘Babe’.
“The envelope fascinated us. What message was in it, we wondered: a marriage proposal, a goodbye, tragic news or a love letter? And what was so special about that path by the river? Who was ‘Babe’?”
At the exhibition people will enjoy the illicit thrill of opening a series of envelopes and reading the personal messages.
To contribute send your letters to ‘Babe’ by September 1 via email to kerry@sup.org.uk or by post to: Connecting Threads, Studio 1, Lindean Mill, Galashiels, TD1 3PE.
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