In the Summer of 2016, at the southern tip of the Ross of Mull on the west-coast of Scotland, we, Rutger Emmelkamp and Miek Zwamborn set up Knockvologan Studies, a study place without walls. The area where we will work is called Tireragan, a Gaelic word for ‘land of angry waves’.
Knockvologan Studies is a place for collaborations. We intend to work with a wide range of people in close contact with the landscape. We will invite specialists and generalists, locals and faraway friends to work with us and build a multi-facetted understanding of the land that accommodates us.
Harnessing locally found and excavated materials and ideas, influenced by tidal movements, storms, eagles and seaweed, we will explore the inter-acions between the rugged coastal landscape and the creativity of people: the fisherman, the farmer, the poet, the scientist, the philosopher and the artist.
Through collaborations and an inter-disciplinary approach we are working towards a layered understanding of the elements that make up this land. We hope to contribute to a future scenario which proves to be resilient, sustainable and enriching for both nature and culture.
Seal bay, Knockvologan
under one of the very old mossy oak trees at Tireragan
Hanging rock, Erraid
a white Mink at Tinkers Hole, Erraid
fishing for Velvet swimming crab
Rutger looking at seals