Atlantic Islands Festival

10 Jun 2009 in Argyll & the Islands, Festival

A Ground-breaking New Arts Festival

NORMAN BISSELL introduces a new festival on the island of Luing

ORGANISING a new Arts Festival in Argyll in the middle of the worst recession in years might not seem like the brightest of ideas, but that’s exactly what I’ve been doing since last year. It’s either a bold move or just plain daft at a time when other Festivals in Argyll have decided not to run this year, but the Atlantic Islands Festival on the Isle of Luing (4-11 July 2009) is a wee bit different.

For a start it’s got not only great sessions by traditional musicians, writers and visual artists but affable scientists talking about the geology, botany and ornithology of the Islands as well. It’s also got a boat trip to Holy Isle, an Atlantic Food Showcase, Tai Chi/Chi Gung, and a Slate Sculpture competition along with a programme of Children’s Workshops in Gaelic song and drama.

Mark Sheridan and Norman Bissell

What connects all of this is a conviction that the natural elements of the Atlantic Islands are to be explored, celebrated and expressed creatively in as many ways as possible, and that’s where the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics comes in. The Centre is offering short courses in what it’s all about as part of its Summer School.

The Festival already has strong roots on the island, since it follows two previous successful weekend events in 2005 and 2007 which led to the publication of a pamphlet, Two Days on Luing by Essence Press, and an Open an Island box of poems, photos, talks and artwork which was funded by Scottish Natural Heritage.

It’s also a launching pad for the longer term project of the Isle of Luing Community Trust to build an Atlantic Islands Centre on Luing which will showcase the natural and human heritage of all the islands and provide an arts centre and café/restaurant for the community. The Trust is supporting the Festival and has already received development funding for the Centre from the Big Lottery Fund and Argyll and the Islands LEADER.

On the first weekend of the Festival I will be leading a discussion with other island contributors about how the sea linked the Atlantic Islands for centuries and how today their common interest in the natural environment and creative communities can do so again. The film director Andy Crabb from Kerrera will also show and discuss his film Argyll’s Atlantic Islands, which he made for the Nàdair Trust and which features an array of successful environmental and heritage projects pioneered by the people of Argyll’s islands.

Cullipool Ponds

Each day of the Festival will start with a grounding session of Tai Chi/Chi Gung above the Cullipool shore (weather permitting), led by the artist and designer Steve Pardue, who will also be offering workshops on Blogging Your Art on the internet and putting photographs, artwork and writing by participants on the Festival and geopoetics websites.

Indeed, one of the strong features of the event is its encouragement of festival-goers to be creatively involved, whether it’s learning the art of storytelling with Patsy Dyer, theatre skills with theatre director and lecturer Marion Sheridan, Celtic Artwork with designer Cheryl Galbraith, making outdoor slate sculptures, or coming up with ideas for a geotrail and slate sculpture gardens around Cullipool village.

An extensive series of children’s workshops in Gaelic song by leading singer and folklorist Margaret Bennett, and in drama by experienced teachers Zora King and Marion Sheridan, will lead to evening performances as part of the main ceilidhs. These and the other workshops are designed to leave a lasting legacy of creative skills amongst the islanders and others who take part.

Margaret Bennett will also perform songs in Gaelic and English, and will speak about their origins amongst the people of the islands. She is rightly renowned as a writer of classic books on the customs and folklore of Scotland and on the Scottish diaspora in Canada, and her work was hailed by Hamish Henderson, who once wrote “Margaret embodies the spirit of Scotland”.

She will be accompanied by the composer and musician Mark Sheridan, some of whose work, such as The Flight of the Arctic Tern and When They Lay Bare has featured at Celtic Connections. His new Atlantic Islands Suite, based on some of my Isle of Luing poems, will be premiered on at the Festival, and will include parts for Margaret Bennett and fiddlers Aidan O’Rourke and Lori Watson. Mark and I will also be taking the Suite to the Belladrum Festival in August.

Aidan O’Rourke, who was brought up on Seil, is widely regarded as one of Scotland’s finest traditional fiddlers of the younger generation. He’ll be performing a new set which has been especially put together for the Festival.

Mark Sheridan and Norman Bissell

No stranger to Luing audiences will be Jacqui McDonald who will talk and sing about her journey to Luing. Jacqui has worked with legends of the folk world like The Spinners, Pete Seeger, Gordon Lightfoot, Mississippi John Hurt and others too numerous to mention, and always receives an enthusiastic welcome from the Luing community.

The Island Writers’ Night on will feature the Ross of Mull poet and storyteller Jan Sutch Pickard, author of Out of Iona and Between High and Low Water; later in the week Lewis-based writer and musician Peter Urpeth, who is Hi-Arts Writing Development Coordinator and author of the novel Far Inland, will offer one-to-one workshops with writers.

Other writers giving talks include Anne Scott, who will speak about the Louis McNeice poem ‘Out of Time’, and Jamie Whittle, who will talk about the influence of geopoetics on his book White River, which tells of his journey on foot and canoe along the River Findhorn.

An exhibition of Atlantic Islands photographs by the Oban artist Richard Childs will be on show in Cullipool Hall throughout the Festival, and teacher and artist Bill Taylor will give an illustrated talk about the visual arts and geopoetics as well as outlining initial ideas for a geotrail and slate sculpture gardens in Cullipool.

A slate sculpture competition above the Cullipool shore will be a first anywhere in the world, and should attract a large audience and lots of participants as should a boat trip to Eileach an Naoimh, Holy Isle, and an Atlantic Food Showcase which offers local seafood, home baking and a whisky tasting of island malts presented by Oban Distillery.

All in all it’s a Festival that’s breaking new ground and that we’re hoping will be well supported. You can find out more about the full programme of events and how to book them on the website (see link below). We will even arrange reasonably priced accommodation for you on Luing!