ZenBends

Non-profit organisation the Ian MacKenzie Memorial Fund is supporting the campaign to keep Celtic & Scottish Studies in tact by putting out a mailing to alert friends of the SSS Archives to the current situation.

Income from the 2013 calendar (see below) will be used to launch a mobile exhibition of photographs from the archives, bringing images of Scotland’s heritage to the people of Scotland.

To see the recent motion raised in the Scottish Parliament, please go to:  SM4-05507

On FaceBook, check out: School of Scottish Studies Campaign/Iomairt Sgoil Eòlais na h-Alba

This year’s Ian MacKenzie Memorial Calendar is now available for order at www.sonasmultimedia.com; alternatively, you can phone  SONAS Multimedia on: 0131 446 0723 to reserve your copy.

The 2012 Wall Calendar Portraits of Scottish Life is now available from SONAS Multimedia at the low price of £5.99 (+P&P).  Alternatively, please contact talithamac@gmail.com to reserve a copy for collection. There is a limited supply so please be sure to put your order in now, to avoid disappointment. The perfect Christmas gift for Scots abroad.

The Ian MacKenzie Memorial Wall Calendar (see images below) is on sale now for only £4.99 from SONAS Multimedia.  Proceeds to the Ian MacKenzie Memorial Fund, supporting & promoting the School of Scottish Studies Archives.  Calendars will be on sale at the Memorial Exhibition & Concert on 12 December (see details below).

Order yours now by sending an e-mail to talithamac@gmail.com

An exhibition of Ian MacKenzie’s photographs will be on display on 12 December at the Columcille Centre, Edinburgh, 2 Newbattle Terrace, in Morningside, Edinburgh EH10 4RT.

That evening, there will be a gathering of family, friends and colleagues to celebrate his life in music, dance, poetry, anecdotes, homebaking and plenty of tea & coffee.

The exhibition will be open from 11 AM to 5 PM;  doors open again at 7 PM.  The concert is scheduled to run from 7.15-10.15 PM and all are welcome to attend.  Entry is free but space is limited so please get in touch if you plan to come along:  talithamac@gmail.com  Donations, as always, gratefully accepted.  There will be wall calendars (see below) & notecards for sale on the day, all proceeds to the Ian MacKenzie Memorial Fund, supporting and promoting the School of Scottish Studies Archives and the artistic legacy of Ian MacKenzie.

Performers on the bill include (in no particular order):

• Gary West (pipes)
• Patsy Seddon (Scottish harp, song)
• Talitha MacKenzie & James Ross (song, piano)
• Steve Byrne (song)
• Sedenka (a cappella vocal group)
• Kick the Cat (Appalachian Dancers)
• Iain Watt (clawhammer banjo)
• Margaret Bennett (song)
• James MacDonald Reid (pipes, Highland traditional dance)
• Allan MacDonald (pipes, song)
• Simon Chadwick (clàrsach)
• Students of the RSAMD

 Photos by Ian MacKenzie featured in the Ian MacKenzie Memorial Calendar 2011

It was a lifetime ambition of Ian MacKenzie’s to have his great-uncle Duncan MacKenzie’s bagpipes restored and played.  These pipes were shipped back from Buzancy after Duncan was killed in a WWI battle in 1918.

The restoration was undertaken last summer by Blue MacMurchie and they were finished on Duncan MacKenzie’s birthday.  An article about the restoration will be featured in the November issue of the Piping Times.  Gary West, head of Celtic & Scottish Studies (University of Edinburgh), will be playing the pipes at the first Ian MacKenzie Memorial Concert, Columcille Centre, Edinburgh, on 12 December (doors open 7.00 PM).  Proceeds from the Exhibition and Concert will support the School of Scottish Studies Archives, where Ian MacKenzie worked for almost 25 years.

An exhibition of his photographs will be on display in the hall from 11 AM-5 PM.  Tea, coffee & homebaking will be available.  Entrance is free but all donations to the Ian MacKenzie Memorial Fund will be gratefully received.  Although the display will only be there for one day, there will be a second exhibition at the Filmhouse (Lothian Road, Edinburgh), running from 19 December-16 January.  More details to follow.

Blue MacMurchie playing the newly-restored WWI bagpipes

We now have a date for the first Ian MacKenzie Memorial Event: an Exhibition & Concert will be held at Columcille Centre, Newbattle Terrace, Edinburgh on 12th December 2010.

If you would like to contribute anything to this event (e.g., read a poem, sing/play a piece of music, say a few words), please get in touch by writing to talithamac@gmail.com.

Over £1,100 have been donated so far and we hope to raise enough to fund a series of exhibitions to travel all over Scotland. Many thanks to all contributors–we are in the process of sending posters out so you should receive one before too long, if you haven’t already.

Thank you for your patience & your support.

A beautiful trio of Scottish images has been made into a poster and will be given to anyone who donates £20 or more to the Ian MacKenzie Memorial Fund. If you made an anonymous donation at the funeral and would like a copy of the poster, please get in touch to let us know: talithamac@googlemail.com

I have been hand delivering copies but hope to get a mailing out soon to those who are further afield. Many thanks to those who have given your support in so many ways.

We now have a dedicated bank account for the fund so cheques can be made payable to Ian MacKenzie Memorial Fund
and sent to:

33/12 Millar Crescent
Edinburgh EH10 5HQ

The total recieved so far is £1068, which will go toward producing a Photographic Exhibition and Memorial Concert in Edinburgh in September 2010. Watch this space for more details . . .

Many thanks,

Talitha MacKenzie
Director, Ian MacKenzie Memorial Fund

Rowan trees donated by Charlie & Rosie Hackett, Lindy Richardson and Colin Gray were planted in memory of Ian MacKenzie on Friday 26 March, 2010. 4 traditional Scottish trees were planted 2 on each side of the stone steps in the Zoë Capernaros Memorial Herb Garden, behind the School of Scottish Studies Photo Archive, University of Edinburgh. Diagonally opposite, a Kashmiri rowan was planted, by John Turpin, with assistance by Talitha & Ross MacKenzie.

Over £1000 has been collected for the Ian MacKenzie Memorial Fund and a Memorial Exhibition & Concert is planned for September this year.

Photo by Sarah Bonner-Morgan

No Stopping

When a song
Stays frozen
On your lips,
Open your heart,
Let the silence rise
And pour out
Wrapping you in wings
And freedom to take
This flight into the greater
Silence where you belong.

Misha Feigin, 22 February 2010; photo by Ian MacKenzie