Fàgail Hiort | 2020

’S e pròiseact ealain ionadail a tha seo, le luchd-ealain, sgrìobhadairean agus luchd-ciùil à Latharna agus às a’ Mhorbhairne, ’s e a’ comharrachadh 90 bliadhna o fhalmhachadh Hiort, agus ruigsinn nam bàtaichean falmhachaidh aig Loch Àlainn agus an Òban.

Chuir mi am pròiseact seo air bhonn agus bha mi nam riochdaire air, ag obair còmhla ri còig luchd-ealain eile - an dà chuid proifeiseanta agus neo-dhreuchdail - gus a thoirt gu buil.

Mar mhuinntir nan àitichean sin aig a bheil ùidh san eachdraidh ionadail againn agus anns na cuspairean co-cheangailte ri sgeulachd Hiort, bha sinn airson an ceann-bliadhna seo a chomharrachadh ann an dòigh chruthachail. B’ urrainn dhuinn, tro phròiseactan mar seo, rudeigin a thoirt air ais do dh’àitichean far a bheil sinn air mòran a chall; daoine, cànan is eile. Sa phròiseact seo, tha sinn ag èisteachd ris a’ mhac-talla agus a’ lorg nan snàithean eadar daoine, àite, sgeulachdan agus cuimhne, is sinn a’ cur ri ar fèin-aithne agus ar ceanglaichean ris an tìr, ri eachdraidh agus ri càch a chèile.

Chaidh a mhaoineachadh le Mhaoin Coimhearsnachd Tuathanas-gaoithe Carraig Gheal agus Maoin Coimhearsnachd Hydro Oighreachd Àrd Tòranais.

[Pìosan ealain: 1 & 5 le Katie Harris-NicLeòid; 2 le Sheila Quillin; 3 & 4 leam fhìn]

Leaving St. Kilda | 2020

This is a local art project by artists, writers and musicians from Lorne and Morvern, marking 90 years since the evacuation of St. Kilda, and the arrival of the evacuation boats at Lochaline and Oban.

I initiated and produced this project and worked with five other artists - both professional and non-professional - to bring it to fruition.

As people from these communities who have an interest in our local history and in the themes connected to the St. Kilda story, we wanted to mark this anniversary in a creative way. Community arts projects such as these can be acts of reclamation in landscapes which carry so much loss; of population, of language, and more. In this project, we are listening to the echoes and tracing the threads between people, place, stories and memory, reasserting our identity and our connections with landscape, history and each other.

It was generously funded by Carraig Gheal Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund and Ardtornish Estate Hydro Community Fund.

[Artworks: 1 & 5 by Katie Harris-MacLeod; 2 by Sheila Quillin; 3 & 4 by me]