New contemporary art installation lined up for Lindisfarne Castle

Paul Rooney’s Song (After Nature) is inspired by Holy Island’s distinctive sounds and will be on show from March 1 until October 30 within the Upper Gallery.

The calls of the island’s grey seals, along with the cries of gulls, waves crashing on the shore and wind blowing across the open expanses have been ‘translated’ into a haunting cello composition.

To create the accompanying texts, Rooney invited nature writers via the New Writing North website to submit short pieces of copy for the project, while also taking inspiration from diverse sources, including Homer, Lana Del Rey, Britney Spears, Taylor Swift and Beyonce Knowles.

He also chose work by Laura Gledhill, a bookseller and aspiring writer based in Newcastle, Ian Kerr, who writes columns for the Holy Island online newsletter and poet Catlin Clarke.

Laura Knowles, experience and visitor programming manager at the National Trust, said: “Paul Rooney’s work is helping us tell the story of Lindisfarne Castle in a new and different way.

"The work, created especially for the castle, brings to life its story for visitors in a fresh and contemporary way.

"Paul Rooney is helping us tell the stories of the people who designed, lived in or shaped this place and the contributions they made to our history and heritage. We feel this work will help shine a spotlight on its history, its characters and the role it plays for us today.”

Song (After Nature) is delivered by the National Trust through Trust New Art and supported using public funding by Arts Council England.