Join us for a two-hour creative workshop and re-mapping of Calton Hill, linking memory, plants, and place.
A playful adaptation of a traditional foraging walk, this participatory workshop prompts you to activate your spatial memory and visual imagination as a technique to grow your knowledge of plants and living habitats. The event is inspired by the prose of German writer WG Sebald and the method of loci (a mnemonic device derived from locus, the Latin for place). You will collectively experiment with associating familiar routes with personal recollections as a way to identify plants in our shifting urban surroundings, accumulating a unique sense of place.
Thinking in terms of mycelial (fungal) webs, an experiential pattern will emerge, connecting personal anecdotes, cultural references, dreams, and wordplay with our shared environment. The Mnemonic Foraging Walk will hopefully raise questions about the urban landmarks we turn to for guidance and how plants might also anchor us to our city.
Hot drinks and foraged snacks will be provided in the City Observatory following the walk.
Access
This workshop involves 40-minute walk on Calton Hill. This will be at a gentle pace, with several stops for conversation along the way. The walk will be mostly on paths, with some steps involved. Toilet facilities available at Collective.
Find out more about access at Collective.
About the workshop leader/forager
Oona Dooley is a researcher, creative facilitator, and arts professional based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her interests include creatively documenting urban foraging practices and placing a range of historical and current perceptions of plants and fungi in dialogue. With an academic background in medieval art history, she often returns to the vibrant imagination, materiality, and mysticism of the Middle Ages, seeking refreshing perspectives and kinships across time. This has manifested in ongoing research on Scottish plant lore, which integrates fungi, lichens, mosses, and minerals, with uses ranging from practical to magical/miraculous. She has led walking tours, community art events, and zine-making workshops, working collaboratively with artists, storytellers, musicians, and gardeners.