A Lantern in the West

IAN STEPHEN reflects on the strengths and weaknesses of the Stornoway art centre

SO IT’S 25 years on and three founding figures of An Lanntair are lined up to give their thoughts on this birthday occasion. And they are all thoughtful as well as justifiably proud. There is mention of a fourth figure – Robbie Neish, who is no longer with us, but his timeless Lantern logo is projected to remind us of a clear original concept.

Malcolm Maclean, coming from a background of artist-led initiatives like the Peacock Gallery in Aberdeen, made it clear that the idea behind the gallery had three aspects from the start. One was to showcase local artists, building on the large body of work and the large audience for the annual open exhibition.

An Lanntair in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis

Before the An Lanntair project this was hung in the difficult space of the town hall. So they would open up a professional space to present work from abroad as well as home. Then they’d explore the export potential of sending out work with an island identity to the wider world.

Sam Maynard told the story of Ali Farka Toure, the late great African bluesman, crossing on the Suilven, praying all the time because crossing salt water was a very strange thing to do. He was absolutely right in that of course, but since then, a chain of musicians and singers, representing many countries and styles, has made the crossing.

Andy Bruce was reflective and analytical. I had the feeling his eye was to the future and I’m going to try to take a lead from that. First I’ll tell you a bit more about the opening night then I’m going to take you on a quick tour of post-party conversations. But the fact that so many people wanted to talk about An Lanntair, what the present organisation is doing right and what’s seen as work still to be done, is a success in itself.

Roddy Murray, Director of An Lanntair since its inception, put on a different hat. It wasn’t a party hat. It was an introduction to Peter Capaldi and a lead into a live chat show. We used to look to Malky’s exhibition concepts; Sam’s images on the posters; the quirky architecture of Andy’s Christmas cards and then the bone dry wit of the director’s letters.

Those in the know would look again at the VHS of Local Hero and yes, there was our man as one of the boys in the band. But memorabilia of art school bands, showed, amongst others, Messrs Capaldi and Murray and their drummer who now seems to be a millionaire chat show host in the States.

That all went on a bit long for an audience with empty stomachs but we were beginning to hit a special seam of conversation, as Roddy posed the questions that got under the skin of the actor/director. Which was now most important to Capaldi and why? This produced a proper short story of dashed hope and humane redemption, in a sway from Glasgow to Hollywood. The man at the gates of a huge breakthrough tips the driver of the limo who is taking him to a meeting. But the driver has been instructed to wait. He knows it’s not going to last long. When he drives the deflated Capaldi away from the bright lights, he gives him the tip back.

Peter Capaldi in The Loop

The evening went on into food and raffles and auctions and music. The building was opened up by lifting the moveable screens that separate the bar and restaurant areas from the theatre-cinema space. But the dancing never happened.

Face the West were in a 3 piece format so you never quite got the oomph that would have been needed to get it all moving. There was not a cent short of their commitment, as always, and the tunes were lively and the playing full-on. This was an audience that had been behaving for a long time and people just wanted to chat.

They’re still chatting. Now I’m working with the centre this year, developing a multi-partner project and I’m not in a hurry to bite a hand that’s feeding me. But it’s my turn to don another cap and this duty is to be fair to the felt views of people in and out of the organisation.

I spoke later that night to a person who was involved in the transition to the new building and the need to build an audience for a different scale of space. She noted how many of the original staff are still with the centre. She saw this as something positive, the loyalty it inspired. How the project got under your skin, how it was now central to the town.

Some days later I asked someone who’s bum is on the seat of nearly every event and nearly every film. He was passionate. He said, much though it was a huge part of his life, there were serious issues. He felt that an Arts Centre which has such a proportion of public money should be putting on at least some films which were not mainstream.

Ian Stephen on stage

Some big commercial films also only had a small audience so there should be some old classics and space for international films and more arthouse cinema. He made the analogy with Sabhal Mor in Skye, with a vibrant film-scene. These things could be built-up. Links with the film-club for programming input had all fallen through. Room for any input seemed to have fallen through.

When it came to theatre, he also felt a huge assett was being underused. I suggested that there was some bad luck involved as well as perhaps a lack of experience of the contemporary Scots theatre world. It was a bit unfortunate that strong links with the Traverse were pursued when that organisation was pretty well marking time in terms of energy and innovation.

Different from the days when innovative productions of Norman Malcolm Macdonald’s Japanese Noh plays in Gaelic were mounted first. At that time there was also strong energy in locally produced theatre. Companies like Point Players, Broad Bay drama group and Stornoway Thespians were attempting adventurous projects on shoestring budgets and goodwill.

I thought then of the huge community effort involved in the mounting of Macdonald’s Portrona in a dodgy transit shed on No. 1 pier. With the exception of the second take of Kevin Macneil’s The Callanish Stoned, I don’t think Theatre Hebrides or other partners have yet hit again the strong note that will extend the local audience further.

I suggested that the music programme was strong, presenting a balanced spectrum of quality performances. Attendances seem healthy, making an amazing transition from a 50 seat to a 250 seat venue. There are loyalties – returning regulars and a highly successful partnership with the Hebridean Celtic Festival.

Aye, he said, but it’s mostly re-active. What about the commission that would push that fine baby grand piano? What about open rehearsals to develop new audiences. Demonstrations of an open access to public facilities. With the right safeguards of course. What about when that lady called Neen arranged the Jack Bruce concert in the Cabarfeidh hotel. Where was that audacity in the current programming? And a bit of nerve and flair.

Times are tight and you can’t blame people for playing safe. You need to get people through the door or there won’t be a project at all. But I’d look to stronger links between the themes in a visual arts programme and the performance events, perhaps film too. I don’t think the potential for joining up the sections of the project has been realised.

Except for the education side. Now we’ll jump to another conversation, on yesterday’s packed ferry. A couple were interested enough to think and talk while qeueing for the breakfast. They thought this was possibly the most successful aspect of the current project. Themes on exhibition often led into outreach workshops. That side was strong. So what was weak?

Now these are supporters, minded to be faithful, but they used some phrases which kept coming up in discussions with as wide a range of An Lanntair users as I could find in a week.

Their impression was that a certain distance between the staff and the public remained. That people who worked within the building had their heads down and were very difficult to engage with. That input was not really very welcome.

That got me thinking about the visual art end of the ship. The current show reveals an effort to integrate a theme through the whole building, including works in the bar and other spaces. Even if this process has not yet been extended very much to the programming of events, it seems to me essential.

In fact I thought the Alec Finlay nestbox pieces in the bar worked best in the whole space. The Donald Urquhart works which I remember seeing in the old building were just too cramped, hung in the foyer. I think the concept of carrying the lines out of the gallery was absolutely right but its execution needs a fresh approach. For me the whole building needs a thorough audit, in visual terms. There is a clutter still, evidence of a lack of clarity in policy as well as the daily grind of just keeping things going.

It’s a practical building and the theatre/cinema compromise works. The potentials for carrying different kinds of work through the space are huge, but it needs a fresh eye to do this. A recent education project made a tentative approach to a promenade performance and I think there is scope here.

Ali Farka Toure

Sadly the exterior of the building is not looking that great. The architecture is again a compromise to begin with, unlike the clarity of the concept and lines and execution of Reaich and Hall’s recent extension to The Pier Arts Centre. And now that some of the hoo-hah has been re-housed, the fine architecture in the Highland Printmakers’ Studio building in Bank Street in Inverness shines out. But a few things don’t help the present appearance of An Lanntair. These take the eye away for the tower itself, which is its strongest feature.

The light has been out in the strong simple public work installed at the Frances Street approach. If you choose a work that depends on an electrical connection then you have to be fair to the artist and to the public and maintain it. The silverish doors which conceal various technical necessities are your welcome from the seaward side. For a long time, they have been kept from orbit by an intervention of jury-rigged padlocks which is not very elegant. A forlorn sign is wind-blown beside it. Paintwork on stone or timber gets a hammering here but the maintenance schedule has to deal with that.

Small points add to considerable weight. But let’s say now, the vision of the three or four founders has given a great facility to the town. Over the years there are exhibitions and works of theatre and concerts and education projects of lasting importance. It’s difficult to imagine the town without An Lanntair. And a lot of the issues raised could be applied equally to any organisation once it reaches a certain size.

But at the end of the week I went to a packed library cafe to hear a programme of readings and music organised by Ryan Van Winkle, poet in residence at the Scottish Poetry Library. The programme was held together by Winkle’s wit and warmth and by fine songs. These ranged from a setting of a famous Yeats poem to excellent quirky blues delivered with the zap of a stand-up. One musician sprinted off to join the bluegrass brigade playing the Arts Centre.

Now you’ve got to hand it to the travelling players for the initiative to link their tour to an existing gig – and to the flexibility of the library staff for making it happen. Now could this be a way forward – An Lanntair’s programme seeking links with other appropriate venues? So there is space for work, across all the arts, that is a little less safe

© Ian Stephen, 2010

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