at the beginning of the residency i was interested in trying to link with cape breton in some way though an artist exchange with a school . i had been thinking about ideas of migration of birds and emigration to cape breton / nova scotia . through contacts made in Canada from a visit last year i was able to get possible contacts in cape breton .. we put out some information to teachers in the area and i had a reply from a teacher whose ancestors were on the ship the Hector one of the first boats to take imigrants from this area. she is an arts teacher in the area working in different schools and an exchange with sutherland is also of personal interest to her . she is interested in working with Sydney elementary school in Sydney Cape Breton http://www.cbv.ns.ca/elemweb/sriver/

the children in this area have been working with birds (drawing and making ) and i hope to photograph these birds and create postcards. the children will then send them to Cape Breton. i hope this will provide a positive link for the future and create further links and exchanges between the two areas. as a result of the workshops we will have over 60 birds. 64 people left Handa and although some did not emigrate , it will make a good link to this.