Arts and Culture
Artists at Bamff
For over a decade Bamff has held host to many notable artists, musicians and writers who have often used the estate and house as core components inspiring their work.
These include – Vedran Smailovic, Young Fathers, Christine Kydd, James Cheung, Aisha Zia and Nicholas Lezard.
Residing at Bamff are folk singer Sophie Ramsay and her partner, the composer/pianist Dave Maric. Sophie has taken over responsibilities at Bamff for the rewilding project.
Dave (the creator this website) also assists on the project whilst working on sound and visual media inspired by the location and developing a food project in the walled garden.
Brother to Sophie, and also regularly working at Bamff, is the acclaimed artist George Finlay Ramsay who is planning to create future residency at the abandoned Burnishead.
Residencies at Bamff
Landscaping With Beavers – June 2019/March 2020
In June 2019 the first rewilding related workshop residency took place at Bamff which brought together artists and academics and focussed primarily on beaver activities.
Led by Jamie Lorimer and David Overend, this workshop gathered geographers and artists who share an interest in the landscaping practices of animals in order to explore:
- How do beavers sense and make landscapes?
- What do beavers and their humans tell us about the arts of multispecies collaboration, such as the turn to nature in water management?
- What might be gained from combining the fieldwork practices of artists and geographers?
Over three days at Bamff they learnt about the beavers and their habits, and participated in a set of planned experiments in landscaping with beavers culminating in performances and installations.
Jamie and David returned with another group in March 2020 to continue their research into beaver activity and experiences.
Future plans
– include the development of existing structures dotted around the estate to be used as spaces for a whole variety of future events – placing rewilding at the centre of activities and providing the local community, artists and visitors with educational as well as inspirational impetus. The old garage at Bamff has already been transformed into an art space. The abandoned Burnishead will become an artist’s residency and the walled garden will eventually evolve into a venue for hosting future events relating to permaculture and more. Bamff House itself will continue to host artists and provide a space for performances as well as for film making.