Contouring: a slow micro navigation of 300 m to 500 m duration in Holyrood Park

Alison Lloyd
Contouring: a slow micro navigation of 300 m to 500 m duration in Holyrood Park 

Saturday 17th August, 2pm – 3pm. Meet at Travelling Gallery, Holyrood Park, Queen’s Drive car park (back of Holyrood Palace)
Suitable for people with constrained walking. 
As part of Edinburgh Art Festival join artist Alison Lloyd and explore two unique walks, no more than 500 metres. Each route will endeavour to connect our immediate experiences of Holyrood Park with a detailed map of the area. 
Contouring is a technical term more usually associated with navigating in mountainous or upland moorland areas.  It is a type of route finding that enables the walker to remain at the same height by following a contour to navigate a safe ‘path’ through the landscape when the terrain is rough or the weather conditions hazardous. 
Alison says: The term ‘contouring’ has become a way of walking slowly to concentrate on my immediate surroundings.  It is my personal synonym for walking in the landscape, combined with a philosophical approach that prioritises the experience of being in the landscape over climbing up the slopes as quickly as possible to reach the summits.
Alison Lloyd is a walking artist with experience across a range of contemporary art disciplines. Since 2010 she has led Contemporary Art of Walking, organising contemporary art and walking experiences.
The event will be accompanied by a reading by Alec Finlay and participants will also have the chance to explore his exhibition in Travelling Gallery entitled, Day of Access. 
Alec Finlay is declaring a national Day of Access. Encouraging estates to open their gates and allow admission to their tracks for people who can no longer climb the hills, Day of Access is for everyone who experiences constraints on access while enhancing the experience of anyone who enjoys wild land.
Documentation from the pilot Day of Access will be exhibited in the Travelling Gallery alongside work by Finlay and his invited collaborators.  The artworks engage disabled and able-bodied people by giving accounts of disabilities and how these influence relationships with the landscape both positively and negatively.