Celebrating the return of the Golden Shears world sheep shearing championships to the Royal Highland Show in 2023, the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) is launching a public art campaign across Scotland, called Flock to the Show.
It will feature more than 30 specially designed sheep sculptures, forming a free discovery trail for local people and visitors of all ages, enabling the public to explore and learn about Scotland’s long history of sheep farming, as well as the challenges faced by the sector in 2022.
Each sculpture will be sponsored by local businesses, community groups and education organisations and will form four trails across rural and urban locations between April and May 2023. They will be decorated by local artists to also raise awareness of emerging Scottish talent.
If all the sculptures are visited, various prizes will be on offer, including tickets to the 2023 Royal Highland Show and the opportunity to present a prize at the event.
The ‘flock’ will return to the Show during the Golden Shears in June 2023, which will be the only opportunity to see the sculptures together in one place. Following the event, the sculptures will be auctioned off in a special event to raise funds for the RHASS Bicentennial Fund, designed to fund projects in the rural sector.
RHASS chairman, Jim Warnock, commented: “This exciting project will go a long way to raising awareness of Scotland’s long history with sheep farming and engaging the public with it in a fun, interactive way, as well as highlighting the issues facing farmers today.
“As a charity, the funds raised from the auction of the completed sculptures will contribute to the work of RHASS and its charitable remit, which includes support of other essential charities like the Royal Highland Education Trust and RSABI.”
