Half Life: Journey into the Neolithic
Kilmartin Glen, Argyll, 4 - 16 September 2007
Following the Storr Project that took place in 2005 on The Isle of Skye, HALF LIFE is a major new landscape work produced by NVA and the National Theatre of Scotland that is taking place in Kilmartin Valley during September 2007. As part of the project, interventions will be staged throughout the day and a theatrical performance will take place at night in one of Europe's most renowned prehistoric regions.
From 4000BC to 500BC, Kilmartin Glen operated as a unique burial and ceremonial complex, and the physical remains of this cultural landscape are employed as a backdrop to the HALF LIFE project. HALF LIFE starts by day, when audiences are invited to explore a series of atmospheric sites and installations based around known and rarely seen prehistoric landmarks, over a 150 sq mile area of stunning Highland landscape. Installations include previously unpromoted cup and ring marked stones carved 3000 to 4000 years ago and recently revealed bronze-age hill forts, chambered burial cairns and configurations of standing stones. As well as untouched locations, NVA's interventions will take on dense forestry plantations, which are manipulated to create intriguing new entrances and vistas around chosen sites, while new audio compositions enhance the smallest living sounds and micro acoustics of the natural environment. With walks and bike routes ranging from 15 minutes' to 3 hours' duration, an ideal visit might last 2 days for those who wish to take in the entire programme.
In the evening, an outdoor production will be staged in an atmospheric forest location at the entrance to Kilmartin Glen, centred around a circular set constructed from hundreds of felled logs. Seen through the eyes of a renowned archaeologist, HALF LIFE will explore the remarkable beliefs that focused the ritual activity in our earliest societies; beliefs that still echo through the present landscape.
Tickets: £20 / £12 (concessions)
Available from 6 June 2007.
For further info and to book online visit www.halflife.org.uk
To book by phone call Hub tickets on 0131 473 2056
Tickets will also be available from Kilmartin House Museum, Argyll, from Mid-August 2007.