Sharing Ceilidh | Morwenna Kearsley

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An Island Darkroom Sharing Ceilidh is an opportunity to hear from an exciting guest speaker, and to exchange ideas and inspirations in an intimate group instigated by a particular contribution requested by our guest artist..

For this event we are delighted to be hosting Glasgow-based darkroom photographer and researcher, Morwenna Kearsley. Morwenna will give a presentation on her practice, followed by an open, informal discussion for which participants have been invited to contribute in a particular way:

For her Sharing Ceilidh, Morwenna has asked participants to please bring along an evocative object; this could be a personal belonging, a found artefact or something from nature. Please make sure it is small enough to sit in the palm of a hand or slide into a pocket. Don't worry at all if you don't want to do this, just bring yourself! During the Sharing Ceilidh, which will take place mostly in a darkened environment, Morwenna will invite you to share the story of this object - its relationship to you and why you brought it - as she illuminates it with a torch. Morwenna is interested in you, the object and the ways in which darkness might be altering or enhancing how we access our memories together. This is an exploratory session, no information that is shared will be used in Morwenna's research outputs.

MORWENNA KEARSLEY
Morwenna Kearsley is a visual artist and researcher based in Glasgow. Primarily working with photography, text and moving image, her research positions the interior of the camera and the darkroom as interconnected, revelatory spaces where darkness and the occasional presence of light is the fundamental, transformational force. She is currently a PhD candidate at the Centre for the Sciences of Place and Memory at the University of Stirling, where she is researching the role of darkness in the construction of memories and photographs. She has worked as a lecturer in photography at The Glasgow School of Art and at Cumbria University and is a longstanding tutor for Stills School (Edinburgh). Recent exhibitions include APPARATUS, StrangeField (2024), Perilous, Glasgow Project Rooms (2022), Faux Posters, Ester Krumbachová Retrospective, Czech Republic (2021), Ambit: Photographies from Scotland, Stills, Edinburgh (2019). She was selected for Plat(t)form, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland (2025) and has undertaken many residencies including at Cove Park (Scotland), Perth Museum (Scotland) and Fondazione Fotografia, Modena (Italy).

All are welcome — creative practitioners, friends, and inquisitive minds. Come help us welcome Morwenna to the island, and to celebrate the ideas and curiosities that shape us.

This event is supported by Creative Scotland.

This exhibition is a part of the Season of Photography 2026 -  a celebration of photography in Scotland running from 1 September – 20 December 2026