people watch a projection mapped artwork at Union Canal for Edinburgh's Hogmanaye

Seascape with WEC: Hogmanay Projection Mapping, Union Canal, Edinburgh

For Edinburgh's Hogmanay 2020, we collaborated with poet Kathleen Jamie to bring her piece Seascape with WEC to life on the Union Canal — part of Message from the Skies, a city-wide celebration of Scotland's Year of Coasts and Waters.

Jamie's writing was inspired by her experience witnessing wave energy converters (WECs) being tested off the coast of Orkney — machines designed to harness the power of the sea. Working alongside illustrator Thomas Moulson, we translated her reflections on the natural world, technology, and Scotland's relationship with its coastline into an animated projection that transformed the canal's banks into a living seascape.

Our Role
Video, Animation Production & Projection Mapping

A still from animation for stunning projection-mapped art installation at Union Canal for Edinburgh's Hogmanay, created by Bright Side Studios.

Scotland's coastline, reimagined on the canal

Message from the Skies brought together five of Scotland's most celebrated writers, each paired with designers and musicians to illuminate Edinburgh's landmarks and waterways through projection mapping. Our piece with Kathleen Jamie chose the Union Canal deliberately — water as both the canvas and the subject, the city's own waterway becoming an extension of the Scottish coastline she wrote about.

Produced by Edinburgh's Hogmanay in partnership with the Edinburgh International Book Festival and Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature, the project was a celebration of Scotland's literary and maritime heritage — seen by thousands of New Year's Eve visitors along the canal.