TIFTON—A multimedia event opening May 11 titled “Stone and Story” explores the literary trail of Merlin the Magician and King Arthur at the Gallery of the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Georgia Museum of Agriculture (GMA).
A collaboration between the Gallery and ABAC’s School of Arts and Sciences, the tantalizing exhibit combines photos, the written word, and a documentary film. A “Cookies and Cokes” reception will accompany the 5 p.m. opening.
A small group of ABAC writers and filmmakers led by ABAC Professor Tom Grant and cheered on by ABAC Curator Polly Huff embarked on an international adventure in the summer of 2021. The group visited sites in England and Wales, collecting stories, documenting each stop with photographs, and filming a documentary.
“Visual arts, stunning drone photography, exceptional writing, and award-winning filmmaking are woven together to present this event,” Huff said. “The stories and photographs will be on display in the GMA Gallery, and the documentary will be shown publicly for the first time at the exhibit’s opening, and then again daily for the duration of the exhibition.”
The filmmakers walked the spooky moors of Cornwall, climbed into Merlin’s cave below Tintagel Castle, and shared the summer solstice with the druids at Stonehenge. In search of the mystical site of Avalon, they spent the night on the slopes of Glastonbury Tor, hiked the mountains of Wales, and boated to a remote island off the coast.
To discover the world of Merlin, they traveled to his birthplace in Carmarthen as well as the mountain where he supposedly freed the red dragon that now flies on the Welsh flag. They interviewed Oxford professors as well as business owners and writers who see the story of Merlin and Arthur as a tale rooted in the distant past yet still unfolding today.
As author Paul Broadhurst told the crew, “The landscape is alive.”
What is fact and what is legend? Visitors to the exhibit will have the opportunity to follow the trail for themselves, as the photographs and stories will be arranged in the order in which they appear on the actual trail.
One of the members of the group, ABAC lecturer for the School of Arts & Sciences Kaci West, has written an accompanying piece, which will be given to each exhibit visitor as a keepsake.
ABAC student Charley Lollis from Perry worked with Grant, West, and Huff on this undertaking as her Capstone Project and her senior internship. She was also a part of the group which traveled the trail, and after being certified overseas as a drone pilot, took many of the photos included in this exhibition.
“Stone & Story” will remain on display at the GMA Gallery until Dec. 11. Admission to this special multi-media event is free on opening night. After May 11, it will be included in the GMA’s daily admission for the remainder of its running time.
A website dedicated to this exhibition, an interactive ArcGIS map of the trail with photos of each stop, and a landing page for the documentary (viewable after its world premiere on May 11), can all be found at www.stoneandstory.org.
For questions about “Stone & Story” or future exhibitions, interested persons can contact Huff at phuff@abac.edu.
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