Comharradh is an audio-visual installation which is the result of a sustained engagement with the peat bogs and moorlands of the Isle of Lewis. At heart, it is an ode to the moor; to its component parts, peat, water, sea, and sky; to the wide open spaces that create the sense of what is commonly known as ‘landscape’; and to the local language and poetry which attempt to represent it.


Through the eyes of big business, the peat lands of Lewis are seen as desolate and unworthy of preservation. This idea of desolation has legitimised calls for mass development from energy companies who are trying to build upon and dig up the moor in order to construct wind turbines. Building upon peat deprives it of the water that sustains it, releasing tonnes of the carbon stored in its structure.


Rich cultural forms are created through the centuries long relationship between people and place. If the peat disappears, carbon, poetry, culture, and language will be lost. 


These prints have been created by using the waterways of the island – the very body of the moor – as the camera itself.

Sound by Annie Needham

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