The Hidden Place

Ingleby Gallery

2010-08-15T14:50:00.002+01:00

The image shows a detail from The Hidden Place by Thomas A Clark:
a unique site-specific wall painting at Ingleby Gallery from 29th July
to 25th September 2010, also realised as a three-colour screenprint.

Ingleby Gallery, 15 Calton Road, Edinburgh EH8 8DL
www.inglebygallery.com
info@inglebygallery.com

The Hidden Place at Ingleby Gallery

2010-07-29T18:15:00.003+01:00

A site specific wall drawing is currently on show at Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, and continuing until 25 September 2010. From their website:

"The Hidden Place is an alternative map of Scotland. Place names tell of old cultures, of history, geography, industry, religion and myth. Scottish place names have their origin in several languages; Gaelic, Pictish, Norse, English, French, Latin and Scots. In The Hidden Place over 100 place names are replaced by phrases revealing the original meaning of these names. Each place becomes a piece of condensed folk poetry, revealing the riches of the past with a quiet lyricism; bay of the bent grass, place of pebbles, slope of brightness. The Hidden Place is one long poem about the land and its people."

The Hidden Place has also been release as a limited edition three-colour screenprint - for more details, look here.

Lochan nam Breac

2009-06-15T13:35:00.005+01:00

the little loch of the trout
you have never been there
whenever you think of it
circles spread on clear water

Thomas A Clark

The Book of Deer

2009-05-18T16:39:00.008+01:00

The Book of Deer is not about deer. It is a 10th century illuminated manuscript of the gospels with additional material on the early Celtic church. Its principal interest is that it contains the earliest surviving Gaelic literature in Scotland. The manuscript was discovered in Old Deer, Aberdeenshire, hence the name.

Thomas A Clark, May 2009

photograph by Dominic Greyer

On the Ardnamurchan peninsula...

2009-05-04T15:59:00.011+01:00

On the Ardnamurchan peninsula, rivers, streams and burns are often accompanied by road signs giving their names in Gaelic. While pointing to the presence and importance of water, this practice beautifully illustrates how place is particularised, marked and preserved by language.

'Abhainn Glac na h-Eaglais' is the 'Stream of the Hollow of the Church' and 'Allt Torr na Moine' is 'Burn of the Peat Mound'.

Thomas A Clark, May 2009

Project History

2009-03-12T21:26:00.003Z

The Hidden Place was originally organised with the assistance of platform projects in Newcastle upon Tyne. From March 2009, this blog has become the new home for all information about the project.

The first sign, at Falkland, was installed in November 2008. More news will be posted here soon.

Be Involved

2009-03-12T21:04:00.003Z

You are invited to take part in the project and acquire a road sign giving the meaning of your local place name. If you would like more information about this, or about the project, do contact Alex by email: hiddenplaceproject [at] yahoo.co.uk

We look forward to hearing from you.

Welcome

2009-03-11T17:45:00.000Z

This project, initiated by Thomas A Clark, reflects on the meanings of Scottish place-names. Tom proposes making a place-name sign for hamlets, villages, towns and cities in Scotland.

We have made a sign for Falkland, and it is sited at the Falkland Centre for Stewardship. Appropriately, Falkland can also be interpreted as ‘The Hidden Place’, from which we have developed the whole project philosophy: a search for hidden meaning, and the revelation of it in a straightforward place-name sign.

Do follow this blog for updates on the project.

The Hidden Place

2009-03-11T17:42:00.001Z

Places are often hidden behind their names. We see a name on the map or drive past a road sign and think we know the place. Of course, real knowledge is a slower process. Yet hidden within each name is a sense, the original meaning of the name, which may offer a clue to a place’s particular identity. To know the meaning of a name is to begin to reveal the uniqueness of a place.

door of the forest
slope of watching
burn of the birches

The Hidden Place is a project initiated by the poet Thomas A Clark, supported by Falkland Centre for Stewardship. Its aim is to install road signs throughout Scotland, giving the meaning of the local place name.

loch of the showers
place of splinters
fort of the two oars

Place names are repositories of local stories. They tell of old cultures, history, geography, industry, religion and myth. Scottish names have their origin in several languages; Gaelic, Pictish, Norse, English, French, Latin and Scots. Each name is a piece of condensed folk poetry.

blue cairn
corrie of the snows
green lochan

It changes our perception of a place to learn that Glasgow is a green hollow, Greenock a sunny hill, that Milngavie is a windmill, or that Pollockshaws is a little pool in the woods.

height of the fire
meadow of the yellow cattle
place of the cave

By the simple intervention of the road sign, The Hidden Place will make these meanings accessible to everyone who passes by. It will change perceptions of the map of Scotland. The Hidden Place will eventually amount to one long poem about the land and its people.

isle of the offering
church of the arrows
house of the fold

Thomas A Clark, 2008