Creative celebration on Tiree comes through collaboration
An ambitious project aiming to celebrate stories, heritage, culture and the Gaelic language on the Isle of Tiree aims to launch at the end of the month.
Tìr Ìseal nan Òran (Tiree: low land of song) is an island-wide creative project, taking place as part of Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022.
At the heart of the project are seven stories from the island’s history, tradition and mythology, which will be explored within their physical and historical contexts to inspire new creative work.
Local artists, young people, the wider Tiree community and an international audience will all be invited to take part in exploring and retelling these stories through a mixture of traditional music and song, film and photography, theatre and writing, and Gaelic and English.
This collaborative project has been developed by the Friends of the Argyll Papers, Tiree & Coll Gaelic Partnership, Tiree School and musicians, a filmmaker and heritage professionals on the island.
Dr John Holliday, chairman of the Tiree & Coll Gaelic Partnership, welcomed the start of the project, saying: ‘Tìr Ìseal nan Òran weaves the island’s rich oral traditions and the music and song for which it is famous with the treasures of the Inveraray Castle archives.
'It is going to be some collaboration, and I can’t wait to see and hear what it produces.'
Some of the highlights look forward to are:
Jack Lockhart (Screen Argyll), a filmmaker resident on Tiree, will create an animated to film of James Turnbull’s 18th century full-colour illustrated plan of Tiree, held as part of the Argyll Papers at Inveraray Castle.
Local island-born, Gaelic speaking musicians – Ian Smith (Trail West) and Angus MacPhail (Skipinnish) – will create new music and song inspired by the stories, promoting the culture and language of their island.
Tiree’s young people will be mentored through a series of creative workshops to reflect on the stories in their physical and historical contexts and create written responses in English and Gaelic.
The Tiree diaspora will be invited to create textile pieces inspired by the stories. These pieces, with the reflections of their creators, will be sewn together into a ‘Tiree Tapestry’.
Exhibitions, workshops and presentations will contextualise the stories and introduce the original archive documents and artefacts which underpin them. These will be
The survey of Tiree drawn by James Turnbull, surveyor, in 1768/9. The original plan, measuring 2260 mm x 1539 mm, will link the Tìr Ìseal nan Òran stories, physically and historically.
delivered in person, with additional digital content available internationally.
A trail leaflet will feature Turnbull’s illustrated plan of Tiree and the stories in their physical locations on the island, providing a sustainable resource for future visitors.
The new creative work – writing, tapestry, film, music and imagery – will be drawn together in a public multi-media theatre performance, delivered with Tiree School students on Thursday 16 June. The young people will participate in a dramatic interpretation of the stories which will include music and song in Gaelic and English.
Additional performance will be offered workshops and opportunities to local audiences and visitors as part of Fèis Thiriodh – a week-long festival of traditional culture – and Tiree Music Festival in July 2022.
A dedicated website www.tiriseal.co.uk (due to launch at the end of February) will provide a platform on which to share the new writing, music, song and film created in response to the stories, enabling the wider Scottish and international audience to follow and engage with the project.
Tìr Ìseal nan Òran has been supported by the Year of Stories 2022 Community Stories Fund. This fund is being delivered in partnership between VisitScotland and Museums Galleries Scotland with support from National Lottery Heritage Fund thanks to National Lottery players.
It is supported by Argyll Estates, Historic Environment Support Fund, the National Lottery through Creative Scotland, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Argyll and Bute Council Supporting Communities Fund, Clan Campbell Education Foundation, Inc., CHARTS Argyll and Isles, Tiree Community Windfall Fund, Pamela Campbell Bickford, Martha McKinnon and Elizabeth Kraus.