Core Areas of Wild Land I & II

CAWL - Prìomh Sgìrean na Talmhainn Fiadhaich I & II

Digital pigment prints that detail the  42 ‘Core Wild Land Areas’ in Scotland as ascribed by the Scottsh Natural Heritage map published in 2014.

The SNH map, as with many others throughout history,  perhaps raises more questions than it answers by invigorating the debate as to how Scotland’s landscape should be managed and what values we actually ascribe to the concept of ‘wilderness’ itself.

The image was developed during a visual arts residency period at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on the Isle of Skye.

"What we perceive as “wilderness” in Scotland is as artificial as any cityscape. Mankind’s need for food turned what once were forests to barren hills and farmland, but visceral greed has been the primary influence for what followed in recent centuries."

The Bones of a Nation, Magnus Jamieson. Read more on Bella Caledonia