Sensing the storied landscape: taste, touch and smell-scapes

• Main Authors: Wall, Gina, Morris, Gabriella
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Arctic; Lapland
• Online Access: http://radar.gsa.ac.uk/8544/; https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/8544/1/DSCF1504.JPG; https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/8544/2/DSCF1510.JPG; https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/8544/3/DSCF1525.JPG; https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/8544/4/DSCF1516.JPG; https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/8544/5/DSCF1530.JPG; https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/8544/6/DSCF1548.JPG; https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/8544/7/DSCF1543.JPG; https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/8544/8/DSCF1558.JPG; https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/8544/9/IMG_2303.JPG; https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/8544/10/DSCF1586.JPG; https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/8544/11/DSCF1585.JPG; https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/8544/12/DSCF1525.JPG; https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/8544/13/DSCF1579.JPG; https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/8544/14/DSCF1589.JPG; https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/8544/71/Experiencing_Shieling_Slides%20%238544.pdf; https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/8544/72/Cultures%20of%20the%20shieling%20%238544.pdf; https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/8544/73/Experiencing%20the%20Shieling%20%238544.pdf

A multi-sensory workshop on the Glasgow School of Art Highlands and Islands campus utilising immersive experiential learning to creatively engage students in the cultures and history of ancient farming systems in Scotland, specifically focusing on the process of transhumance. Drawing on experience design methodologies to design sense-scapes (landscapes of taste, smell and the imagination), we aimed to immerse participants in the materiality, smells, tastes, and sights of the past and present surroundings of the Altyre Campus. We engaged the participants via storytelling to create an imaginative visual journey through the past. Storytelling helped students better understand the context of what they were experiencing and learning. Hands-on activities, such as engaging with three designed smells, soil, meadow and sheiling and the creation of butter, provided physical connection to the past and aided in understanding the complexities of transhumance. The experiential workshop proved to be an effective method for deepening students' understanding of the natural world and the heritage of the land in Scotland, using both the auditory and physical senses to fully engage students in the learning process. The workshop was delivered as part of the shielin-bough collaboration with the University of Lapland, funded by the Scottish Government's Arctic Connections Fund.