nva presents THE STORR at Trotternish, Isle of Skye from August 8th - September 17th 2005 with pick up points at Portree and Staffin, tickets £25 (concessions apply).

Every night at midnight, nva, Scotland's acclaimed environmental arts company and creators of The Path the legendary millennium event in Glen Lyon, will be taking an audience of around 200 on an extraordinary journey through the wild northern landforms of the Isle of Skye, to walk up to the iconic Old Man of Storr and the high cliffs above Coire Faion. 

Enigmatic installations will illuminate the massed pinnacles and buttresses, tracing the longest single landslip in the UK, while powerful soundscapes drift down from the ridges above.

Equipped with headlamps, guides and walking sticks, the audience takes a three and half kilometre, at times strenuous, walk which will take up to two hours to complete. They will witness one of Europe's most dramatic and inspiring landscapes at night, whilst nva create an immense landscape work, lowing among the unique geological features.  A specially developed new 'Hansel and Gretel' reflective light network will create a path through the beautifully lit rock formations. Contemporary sounds from the Norwegian composer Geir Jenssen, based in Tromso, and the voice of Skye's legendary poet, Sorley MacLean, along with live song
will drift down from the mountainside, creating an intense and personal experience for each walker.

The Storr promises to be not only a tough physical test, it will also inspire those who come to consider the way they feel about the landscape, see things that they have never seen in it before and question how we read landscapes in the light of our own experience and that of our shared cultural memory.

"What we call a mountain is in fact a collaboration of the physical forms of the world with the imagination of humans - a mountain of the mind. they continue to exist over and beyond human perceptions of them. But, they are also products of human perception; they have been imagined into existence down the centuries."  Robert Mcfarlane, Mountains of the Mind.

Since 2001, nva's renowned artistic director Angus Farquhar has worked with a wide range of creative collaborators and public bodies to bring unprecedented public access to one of the most protected natural landscapes in the UK. In 3 years nva have developed one of the lightest portable lighting systems in existence, which guarantees the lowest possible environmental impact and power consumption (a remarkable 90% reduction on conventional outdoor event energy requirements). This prototype could change the way many outdoor events are managed in future.

The core team includes:

• Digger Nutter and Vicky Payton,<slight> strong new conceptual design team with one foot firmly on the ground; designing all visual elements and prototyping new lighting systems.
• David Bryant, working with nva for 12 years, much respected international lighting designer, specialising in outdoor environments and events. Awarded 'Pioneer of the Nation 2003' by Her Majesty the Queen, he has battled through major cancer and promised that he would "  fight to live on and make his way back onto the Storr, which he did (in 6 inches of snow!) in January after two years of continuous treatment.
• Jo Hunt, leading environmental consultant who has steered the project through a full environmental impact survey as part of a gargantuan two year planning process
• Geir Jenssen of Biosphere, based in Tromso in the northernmost part of Norway, the internationally renowned electronic composer with Biosphere.
• Paul Mounsey, a Scottish composer and producer for film, TV and CD, who has been living for the past 15 years in Brazil and has just returned to Skye.
• Ruari Cormack is one of the most sought after sound artists/designers in the UK.
• Anne Martin is a traditional Gaelic singer based in Kilmuir on the north of Skye. 
• Dr Graham Tydeman, gynaecologist by profession, inventor by instinct, designing moving lights for the forest section.

Funders and sponsors budget- £1,000,000 over four years development are Big Lottery Fund, EventScotland, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Fresh Futures, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Heritage Lottery Fund, The Highland Council, Highland 2007, NESTA, Leader+ (WISL), Leader+ (North Highlands), Scottish Arts Council, Scottish Arts Council Lottery Fund, Scottish Executive, Skye & Lochalsh Enterprise, PRS Foundation, Dunard Fund,  Petzl head torches

For further information on how to book tickets, accommodation and travel links, please visit www.nva.org.uk