Laich o’ Moray Challenge
Sat, 8 March 2025 @ 14:30 - 15:00
Moray Way Artist in Residence, Stuart Mc Adam talks about his experience of challenge walking versus pilgrim walking.
Stuart McAdam, a Moray Way artist in residence, will be presenting his work as part of the Arts in Moray III project, which centres around a 50-mile walking route through the Laich of Moray. Originally designed by Bea Jefferson for the Long Distance Walking Association, the route was adapted as an entry event for the AIM project. Drawing inspiration from The Pilgrimages of Moray by H.B. Mackintosh (published in 1924), Stuart’s work explores the differences between challenge and pilgrim walking.
About Stuart Mc Adam
I’m an artist and teacher based in Aberdeen. I am interested in landscapes and places – how we use them, how we change them, what we leave behind, and what stories are contained in them. I do performances and actions, I make drawings and collages, and I make videos. I sometimes do some writing as well.
Arts In Moray (AIM)
Since June 2021, the Moray Way Association has been part of the Arts In Moray (AIM) Collective, which initially received funding from Creative Scotland’s Culture Collective programme. This national pilot programme aimed to establish a network of creative practitioners, organisations, and communities working together to make a positive difference locally and nationally in response to COVID-19.
The AIM collective, which includes Dance North Scotland, Moray Arts Development Engagement (M:ADE), Wildbird, and the Moray Way Association, has employed new and radical approaches to engaging a network of creative practitioners and communities within Moray through residency programmes that have supported artists from 2021 to 2025.
The Moray Way AIM III project also features the work of Hayley Anderson, Kate Cameron Reid, Jennifer Fraser Harris, and Alex Williamson. Each artist was asked to reimagine The Pilgrimages in Moray – A Guide to the County, a 1924 pocket guidebook featuring descriptions of walks across Moray. Discovered by the MWA Chair at Moray Waste Busters, this historic book was originally created to inspire both locals and visitors to explore the rich heritage of Moray. However, the author lamented the absence of illustrations, maps, and reference notes—elements that could have brought the book to life for a wider audience.
Each artist collaborated with a member of the Moray Way Association, walking the routes together. The artists then went on to refine or reimagine the routes, bringing them to life through their perspectives. Using creative and innovative approaches, they created contemporary interpretations of the walks that engaged new audiences while celebrating the stories of Moray.