Credit

The sun still shines on fishes: community strength in Torry

Janine Elizabeth Ewen

Aberdeen

Story
In July, I attended an arts-based socially-distanced ‘sensory sea-sound walk’ to explore the acoustic environment. The focus of the walk was to relish the aesthetic pleasures of listening, noticing sounds that we fail to pay attention to, different volumes of sounds, sound events and sound textures within the industrial urban landscape. The walk took a route from the River Dee, past Torry and through the left side of Aberdeen harbour. I experienced a visual, sensory and therapeutic stimulus beyond sound. The group gathered at the end to reflect on the walk, sharing personal stories and a sense of belonging in place.

Vision
This mural on a fish factory gave me the perception of the Torry community—keeping oneself above the dark shadows. The sun still shines on fishes, giving them a needed spotlight. Torry has a long-standing social stigma attached to its deprivation, poverty and crime. It shows why dark spots of Torry’s history should not be swept aside.