Bealach; Gateway to the Hebrides, Creative Place Award winners 2015 to commission New Artworks for Lewis and Harris.
The Bealach team is excited to announce two new artist commissions. Bealach is a Lewis and Harris based creative project celebrating the art and culture of the Outer Hebrides. Bealach is funded through Creative Scotland’s Creative Place Awards 2015, led by An Lanntair with projects to be delivered over 2015-2017.
New artist commissions will see the implementation of specific and innovative creative projects in Lewis and Harris. An open call to artists asked that they submit applications responding to the theme of ‘Bealach’ the Gaelic word meaning passage or gateway. Following a strong response and high calibre of submissions two artist proposals were selected.
Commission winners Philippa Thomas and Hector MacInnes said; “We’re really looking forward to finally telling the story of the Slighe Sìoman and the Hebridean Cable Transit Company, which has fascinated us ever since we first visited Lewis. We spent a part of 2012 working in Lochs, and were intrigued by how accessibility and transportation can change and rebalance the culture of an area. We hope that learning about the Slighe Sìoman will encourage people to think about Stornoway’s place in Lewis, and the Outer Isles’ place in the world.”
A second commission was also awarded to Lewis based artist Jon Macleod. His project is entitled ‘Deiseal’ the Gaelic word meaning “sun wise” or direction of the sun. Using solargraph photography and long-exposure the artist will record the path of the sun, across the landscape of Lewis and Harris from the Winter Solstice, shortest day of the year Dec 2015; to the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year June 2016. The imagery will reflect this circular nature both in format and content.
Both projects are due to be exhibited in An Lanntair’s Galleries in the autumn of 2016.
Project Curator Catherine Maclean said: “We are delighted to announce the first commissions for Bealach. This is such an exciting project for Lewis and Harris and a great opportunity to promote, celebrate and support the artistic community of Lewis and Harris.”
Philip Deverell, Director, Strategy, Creative Scotland said: “It is exciting to see the imaginative and high quality programme of work in and around Stornoway, and we are pleased to have supported it through a Creative Place Award. These commissions celebrate and offer a fresh and creative perspective of the area’s unique natural landscape, language, culture and heritage.”
About Bealach:
Bealach is a transformational project that represents Stornoway as the gateway and passage into the Gaelic culture, creative communities and landscape of the Outer Hebrides. Bealach is a two year initiative supported by Creative Scotland’s Creative Place Award and led by An Lanntair which is commissioning cultural projects across Lewis and Harris. Check out the project blog to find out more about what’s happening – https://lewisharriscreativeplace.wordpress.com/ or contact Creative Place Awards Coordinator Catherine Maclean at: Catherine@lanntair.com
About Creative Scotland:
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland on behalf of everyone who lives, works or visits here. We enable people and organisations to work in and experience the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland by helping others to develop great ideas and bring them to life. We distribute funding provided by the Scottish Government and the National Lottery. For further information about Creative Scotland please visit www.creativescotland.com. Follow us @creativescots and www.facebook.com/CreativeScotland
Notes to Editor:
• For more information on Bealach and other upcoming projects and events please visit: http://lanntair.com or contact Project Curator Catherine Maclean at catherine@lanntair.com
• For More information on An Lanntair please contact Head of Marketing Kathryn Lamont Smith at kathryn@lanntair.com or visit www.lanntair.com