‘Which Way to Ailsa Craig?’ is an explorative film which seeks to move towards a contemporary understanding of folklore through exploring how we write our own lived material to help us to make sense of the world around us. Set in the Scottish West-Coast town of Girvan, the project follows a failed attempt to visit the island of Ailsa Craig, in turn documenting a playful journey of personal discovery. Narrated by the voices of Girvan’s community, the film contrasts layered subjectivities in relation to place to explore themes of humour, oral-history, storytelling, insight and intuition.

A film made by Phoebe Crawford in collaboration with Keir Richardson.

‘Which Way to Ailsa Craig?’ was screened in Glasgow at The Deep End Venue, Govanhill on the 28th July, and then subsequently in Girvan at the Community Garden on the 5th August 2023.

Phoebe Crawford is an emerging curator, visual-artist, musician and researcher from Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, now living and working in Glasgow. Situated between artistic and anthropological ways of working, her practice is rooted in discovering ways to subvert dominant modes of knowledge production through conflating processes of art-making with nuanced, every-day encounters. With a passion for socially engaged art and community, Phoebe’s research is centred on understanding the value of personal discovery and lived material, and through this continues to explore themes of insight, memory, humour and intuition in her work.