Review by Northings
An Lanntair Opening
7 Oct 2005 in Outer Hebrides, Visual Arts & Crafts
An Lanntair, Stornoway, 30 September 2005
Wallpaper
THE NEW AN LANNTAIR has been a long time coming, though, on first impressions, it’s definitely been worth waiting for!
It’s the people who make the places, to paraphrase a line from one of the speeches at the opening of the smart and very contemporary new arts centre. And for me, despite the fabulous setting, it was certainly the atmosphere and the many interesting people that I met that made my evening, along with the artwork on show.
My first glimpse of the arts centre was from the boat as it is situated right on the seafront by the ferry terminal. The building blends in very well with its surroundings and creates a real juxtaposition with its predecessor, the old Town Hall, which is very grand but looks like it is of the dour Victorian variety.
The connections to the past are ever present in Stornoway and, on an island surrounded by the sea, you cannot help but be aware of its connections to foreign lands and to its Nordic ancestry.
The design on the outside of the new building has an almost nautical feel to it. Painted in a soft red and pristine white with black trimmings and slatted wooden panelling like the decking of a boat, the building’s circular tower juts up and reminded me of the funnel of a ship.
It was totally fitting for a town with a strong history of seafaring, and coming off the boat we were enveloped with the pong from a shellfish processing works.
The Sail Loft Project was entirely in keeping with Stornoway’s sea-faring past and made links on many levels with its history and international connections
On entering the arts centre we were met with a warm, inviting atmosphere, as young local musicians in the foyer played an eclectic mix of music, including Celtic/traditional, tangos and music that reminded me of sitting on the terrace of a Parisian café.
It gave our introduction to An Lanntair a cosmopolitan flavour as well as rooting it in a sense of place, and set the atmosphere buzzing as everybody (probably about 200 people) piled in and helped themselves to glasses of wine.
I have to confess that having never been to Lewis before, my impressions of Stornoway from afar were of a place that was somewhat parochial. I haven’t seen much of the programme yet and it’s early days, but by the end of the evening I felt almost proud that an arts centre in the furthest flung reaches of the Western Isles could have the potential to be considered along with cultural centres in any city in Scotland.
It says a lot that the Traverse Theatre have chosen to premiere their play “I Was A Beautiful Day” at An Lanntair, and how appropriate that it is written by Lewis-born playwright, author and BAFTA award winner Iain Finlay MacLeod.
On the ground floor the opening exhibition for An Lanntair, the Sail Loft Project, was entirely in keeping with Stornoway’s sea-faring past and made links on many levels with its history and international connections. The artists were both indigenous and from much further afield, including Creative Scotland award winner Ian Stephen from Ness on Lewis (who also curated the exhibition), and Moira MacLean, from the Lochs area of Lewis. Appropriately enough, the other two artists were from Scandinavia, Mikko Paakkhola from Finland and Carina Finn from Sweden.
It is not my intention to analyse the content of the art works in detail, but it is hard for me not to mention how much I liked the Sail Loft Project exhibition. It is based on stories from the people who lived (and perhaps worked?) in the old building in Stornoway called the Sail Loft which – as readers of this Journal will know – is currently being renovated – another connection to the town’s history and the regeneration that is happening there.
Unfortunately for those not in the know (although this may have been an aesthetic decision) the pieces did not have any labelling beside them. A lot of the time I could guess the maker, but occasionally I did not always know for sure which piece was by which artist. I confess my ignorance!!
In particular I liked the two big paintings that looked abstract although they could have been seascapes with their foaming spray which was painted with Baltic mud and created a real feeling of expansiveness – even freedom and excitement.
I liked how they had been hung opposite each other at far ends of the gallery as if they were speaking to each other like sister paintings: one bright, like the reflection of the midday blue sky, the other darker and more brooding in deep, moody greens. Appropriately they had been constructed out of bolts of sail cloth which had been stretched over frames perhaps bringing the tales of an old sailor into the very fabric of the paintings.
Alongside the paintings was a photo essay containing images of windswept hair and billowing clothing that reminded me of my journey to the island on the boat, and shadowy pictures of old galleons in full sail, like memories of a time gone by.
In the gallery an old Lewis “wifie” stood looking bemused at a wood sculpture like a piece of an oar carved with language that looked like it could be of Scandinavian origin. Poetic words carved into pieces of stone like slate reminded us of people’s lives on this island: of how the sea is almost in their bones and of the rough feel of nets and the taste of salt.
Another very striking work involved pieces of old wallpaper which had been torn from the walls of decaying buildings and which the artist had been collecting over many years. The pieces were suspended from the ceiling in layers which created a very compelling and textural effect.
As the viewer moved across the breadth of the sculpture the ever changing patterns of relationship between the pieces of floral print drew me into a homely world of long ago where women knitted by the fireside and baked on open ranges and lit paraffin lamps to welcome their men home from the sea.
I loved the way that the pieces of wallpaper were remembered beyond the actual gallery space as they spilled into other areas of the arts centre in video projection and other sculptural forms and prints. Sometimes objects were built up in layers that burst like flowers and reminded me of sea anemones in full bloom; at other times the pieces of paper were torn to form shapes that made me think of the maps that a navigator might use.
Beyond the gallery and right by the main entrance was the box office and shop area filled with attractive gift items and locally made jewellery, along with a selection of books in English and Gaelic. These were mainly books about a wide range of art and design topics covering everything from environmental sculpture to hand painting on silk.
There were also books about the local area and some books for children beside the studio intended for art workshops. Indeed the whole of the following day was dedicated to children and families (in line with An Lanntair’s child friendly policy) and focussed on activities for them such as face painting, art workshops and live music with a local samba band to get everyone up and dancing.
Coming up the stairs to the café bar and restaurant area – what a great surprise to discover that the auditorium (which is a 230 seater) was open to view. This gave a lovely impression of spaciousness and openness and paradoxically also a feeling of intimacy and friendliness. At first I was a bit worried that there would be a lot of problems with noise spill from the bar during shows, but then I was told that the walls are, of course, retractable.
Likewise the seating for the auditorium is also retractable and during the opening night was folded back so that people were able to wander round the space and experience it fully. Apart from the auditorium’s obvious potential as a workshop and warm-up space for drama and dance, what a fantastic venue for a ceilidh!
Indeed I felt that the organisers of the opening had perhaps missed an opportunity here. It would have been fantastic to have had a band of the Salsa Celtica ilk to get everyone up and moving and using the space. However I’m probably being unrealistic about the financial implications of this – especially as this event was free!
There was some live music on the stage – three musicans playing guitar, mandolin and the old button box as well as Jewish harp. Unfortunately it was hard for them to hold their audience as most people oriented around the food and drink on the balcony so it sometimes felt like they were playing to an empty house.
The theatre space doubles as a cinema and during the opening there were a couple of short films shown – one of which traced the building of the arts centre from its foundations to its completion. The audience looking into the auditorium from the bar and restaurant made it pretty impossible to hear or see very much of these films or the speeches that were being made by officials, including director Roddy Murray and members of An Lanntair’s Board of Directors.
In some ways the lay out reminded me a little of an Elizabethan Theatre except that the “rabble” were all in the balcony scrabbling for drinks!! It all added to the atmosphere!
Later on in the evening we were treated to a delicious buffet with fresh prawns and salmon. Among the many interesting people I spoke to, I was fortunate to meet a group of artists who happened to have “inside information” and knew the code for the offices! Here we were (illicitly) able to actually sit down and eat in a relatively civilised manner with a great view looking out to sea and the lights of Stornoway at night.
I say civilised, but the place was teaming with children watching DVDs, running up and down the length of the open plan space, and being chaperoned by a member of An Lanntair’s staff who was doubling as a childminder for this crèche!!
It was not long before more people from the balcony found their way upstairs to the office and before we knew it there were probably about 20 more people drifting through and enjoying the party atmosphere! It all conspired to make the evening more colourful and by the end I had been invited by the artists to a barn-warming party in a few weeks time!
The barn had been built by a local sculptor on a croft in the Uig area of the island, which is apparently the district of Lewis that is the most scenic with beautiful stretches of white sandy beach. And so I’m definitely looking forward to revisiting the Outer Hebrides and no doubt An Lanntair again – very soon!! It’s definitely the people who make the places!
© Helen Slater, 2005
