ABZ/SVG
SARA STROUD
UK & NORWAY
As part of the NATUR Project Sara Stroud had begun a series of residencies exploring how the people of Aberdeen and Stavanger had experienced the rise and fall of the Energy economy in each city. Intending to make a film that interviewed people with the same job in Scotland and Norway the intention was to create a portrait of Oil and Gas through the eyes of those that have lived through the impacts of an industry that indelibly changed each place. However, following the closure of Norway’s ports and airports on 16th March 2020 and the ‘moment of national emergency’ declared in the UK on the 24th of March 2020 as the magnitude of the global Coronavirus pandemic unraveled. Unable return to Norway or leave the house the team came up with a new project to capture a new archive of the two cities.
RESIDENCY
Sara visited the city of Stavanger in December 2019. Twinned with Aberdeen Sara aimed to explore the financial differences and the impact the oil industry has had in each city. This ongoing exploration would lay the grounds for a new artwork inspired by this connection and comparisons. Below is an excerpt from Sara’s initial investigation:
There are few more miserable places in winter than the North Sea: cold, dark and infinite greyness. A hostile mass of water that should you be submerged in it for more than 5 minutes, will probably freeze you to death. This may be an urban myth but if you dip your toes in, it does give you an ice cream headache. FACT. I’ve grown up with apprehension around the cold dark swell that stretches from Aberdeen to Stavanger. But the sea - both what’s in it and under - has underpinned the economy of the NE of Scotland for years. And it’s done the same for SW Norway too. From the triple-kirks of the Granite City to Stavangers Frue Kulturkirke, the common thread of history is woven into both cities. To me, the oil industry is a mystery. I don’t really know what people do, or what their jobs entail. It’s not part of my life directly but it is part of the infrastructure of Aberdeen and the heart of the UK Oil Industry.
So stepping off the plane on my first visit to Stavanger last month was both exciting and, in a strange way, familiar. Naturally I bumped into someone I knew at the airport - an ex student called Greg who was making a corporate video in Bergen. And going into the city drew other parallels with Aberdeen too; rapid property development and lots of unsold houses. But while the similarities are striking: Stavanger rain smells the same. Norway is lush and green. The sky is grey like Aberdeen. The women sparkle in December and around every corner is a Nu Art mural, a bar that sells cocktails or great coffee. Stavanger felt like home. Except for one difference. I felt it when I went to the Oil museum. It was a strange feeling, as I watched the lottery counter reveal how much wealth the Norwegians have made from their Pension Fund. The way Norway has managed the wealth from the sea couldn’t be more removed if you tried. While the United Kingdom has frittered its income, Norway has invested it over the decades, to the extent it now has a fund worth in excess of $1tn. For a country with a population of 5.3m that’s a significant piggy bank. I felt like a poor relative with a lottery ticket that was never going to have the right numbers.
So everyone in Norway’s happy right?
Well, the short answer is no. Oil is now perceived as “dirty” money and children no longer want to work in the sector. Applications to study engineering are down; politicians are under pressure on when to call time on oil exploration and extraction. In short, Norwegians are planning ahead; a very different situation from Britain where Westminster doesn’t really know what’s going on in the next few months, let alone 20 or 30 years from now. I’d like to think we might learn something from the Norwegians but I don’t think anyone in Westminster cares. And that is a sad state of affairs.
THE PROJECT
Following the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19 Sara’s residency drawn to an abrupt halt and in response to the rapidly changing reality Sara adapted the project in order to collect voices of the people of Aberdeen and Stavanger and their experience of each city’s reaction to an event of unprecedented impact. She invited members of the public to collaborate in the creation of a new film, with a selection of the films submitted by people in Aberdeen and Stavanger featuring in a new documentary of the two communities on either side of the North Sea. The films focused on experiences from these communities and sought to give a platform to serve as an important reminder of a time when we all had to come together.
SUPPORTED BY
Sara Stroud
Sara is a Scottish film maker with over 15 years experience in making short and corporate films. Winner of two Channel 4 talent schemes Sara enjoys collaborating with others and thinking of interesting ways to blend digital media and share stories. She graduated from Edinburgh College of Art as they were installing the first suite of PC’s. She travelled and worked abroad widely in her 20’s and did a lot of weird and wonderful jobs including building willow sculptures in Luxembourg and life modelling in Sydney. Sara returned to London in the hope of getting a sensible job and completed her Masters in Digital animation. By this time in education you couldn’t escape technology and every room silently buzzed. The sensible job still didn’t come and instead she found herself working on commissions for digital animation while also running a small business at Portobello market. Sara loved living in London but always missed the East coast, friends and family and it was family that took her home and she returned to settle down and went on to have 2 beautiful girls. The sensible job finally came in the form of teaching TV production at North East Scotland College. She is a constant collaborator and educator always interested in partnering on creative work, film commissions or learning projects.