Between Islands – The Year of Young People 2018
As part of this special project, funded by Event Scotland, An Lanntair will be handing over the venue to young people to deliver their very own arts festival called Las! / Ignite! this October.
In addition the Between Islands initiative is to offer students from the Western and Northern Isles an inter-island placement, giving them the chance to learn in a different – but not unfamiliar – environment, whilst receiving a week of one to one tuition and advice in their chosen field of study.
The Western Isles placement will focus on textiles and design, and will offer four students from Orkney and/or Shetland the opportunity to visit Lewis to explore the manufacture, design and marketing success story of the Harris Tweed industry, whilst film or photography students from the Western Isles have applied for a week long residency in Shetland to undertake documenting the Islands on camera.
Student applications were invited earlier this year, and the successful Western Isles participants, Kate Macleod and Zoe Macinnes, will be travelling to Shetland in June, where they will spend a week making a short film about the area.
Four textile students will be travelling to Lewis in July. Rebecca Baxter, Rhea Kay, Helen Laurenson, and Megan Smith will be taking a look at the success of the Harris Tweed industry, and examples of the work produced by both sets of students will be featured at Las! Ignite!, An Lanntair’s Year of Young People festival this October.
Partners include Shetland Arts (through Mareel Arts Centre in Lerwick) and a network of fashion designers and producers in the Western Isles, with the work produced showcased at the Young People’s Creative Industries Symposium during the Las!/Ignite! festival week. Full support/mentoring will be given to students throughout their placements, and accommodation and travel costs provided.