Stage 14 // Frómista – Carrión de los Condes [18,8 Km]
We finish this second week, almost half way to Santiago, with a short and nice walk between two beautiful villages, crossing fields of cereal and some tiny villages in our way.
All this region can seem a bit monotonous sometimes, but if we have a look at the details, like this Romanesque church of Santiago in Carrión (image), we won’t be dissapointed.
Besides that, as contemporary archaeologists, is very interesting to see hundreds of details, from old shops to public buildings or other agricultural infraestructures that articulate the landscape.
14:00 GMT // ‘Process(ion)’* for PilgrimCHAT
Denise & Eòghann Mac Colla
Last year and the art of walking and drawing. Applied some dérive to our context, into the heathen lands of Ayrshire becoming an access point to capture ‘place’ but also enabled reflection and understanding of said place to deeper levels. Nature came to the fore, social history uncovered, pace lengthened, timbre altered. Time to think. It has shaped the time in ways none of us could ever imagine, we have and continue to live. ‘Process(ion)’ mapping land, sea, space in real time. The map is ritual, procession, movement, timbre and punctuation. Perhaps it’s a road map to the next place?
Could we correlate the drawing and walking with the emotional and spiritual, by walking in the footsteps of those who lived at Cèide, Beul Deirg or Fionn Lacan by walking the sacred mountain of Craogh Patrick in County Mayo. Has it been a holy mountain for that long. Predating nation states, provinces, Empire, connection goes back a long way in the human cycle. Reformation destroyed many elements here, the power of the book and fear of the word, still shakes us. Who would have thought the space global pandemic made, would enable a reconnecting in deeper ways. Hearing nature, awakening an acknowledgement of where many traditions came from and how they were shaped to where we are, signposting another route, can we make it to the summit?
We logged into Worldometer every day, way ahead of Whitehall. Then online Mass in Ayrshire and Mayo became a regular activity. We liked hearing the priests in their local accents share news and welcome everyone, coupled with message, repetition and the stations. It provided some meter in our days and time. This fed conversations as we surveyed the parks, made field trips on the farm. Following celestials, traversing the hedges. Chasing cows, crossing the hare run. Denise said let’s walk Croagh Padruig, the sacred mountain, could we map that trip to the west?
There was a signpost telling us to go. In a time when some governments believe freedom of movement is not important, even a Right and within the Covid-19 Pandemic that restricted many of those freedoms we hold so dear Process(ion) was born. It will be walked, breathed, felt, heard, lived, drawn, painted and filmed. The whole piece recorded in real time on 23rd & 24th October 2021, come rain hail or shine. There will boats, there will be cows.
*All made possible by the beautiful generosity of artists, musicians, friends and family, who kindly sponsored me and with support from the Festival Chat Committee | Ceud mìle taing dhuibh.
FULL VIDEO
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