Gaelic Arts

§iainte miiatii 0d lth

‘LEARNING GAELIC WAS LIKE STEPPING THROUGH A LOOKING GLASS‘

Electronic music, debates on sexual identity and live rock television in the Year of Highland Culture Gaelic is still a force to be reckoned with.

oes Scotland still ha\e a cohesi\ e national

identit_\'.’ 1n the late IUths. when Runrig's

(iaelic drumheat pulsed through the charts. \Vildcat staged amhitious promenade pieces and we all hated 'l‘hatcher. 'Scottishness' l'elt tangihle. 'l‘hese da} s. our mainstream is diluted at hcst. ls there reall} am'thing distincthel} Scottish ahout 'l‘he l"i';ttcllis'.’

l‘oui' )ears ago. the l-.\ecuti\e named 3t)()7 Year ot

llighland ('ultui‘e and programmed a series ol e\eiits aiming to showcase merfihing that phrase encompasses. lnthahh. man} ol' the e\ents centre around (iaelic culture. the higgest ol‘ which is 5'1 Kilt/ii: .-l liiirii/ii'iiii ()pi'ru (pictured). a massi\e—si_‘ale multimedia project. to take place on the island in .lune.

\Vhile c)nical (‘entral Belt—ei's tend to regard (iaelic as an anachronistic joke. recent censuses ha\e shown that oxer lll‘i ol‘ Scotland's (iaelic speakers more than lll.ll()ll people them are under 44. The estahlishment ot.-\n l.ochi'an as a permanent hase lor (iaelic arts in (ilasgow has generated e\citing theatre and concerts tor this emergent. )ounger. urhan audience contemporar} culture and (iaelic tradition hoth growing in stature. not empt) modernisation l'oi‘ its own sake.

ill-\(i 'l‘heatrc's ill/It’l‘t'w .\'u l, III (rile/tr tlL‘\ lst'tl \\ illl three prolessional actors and si\ women under 35 secs _\oung (ilasgow—hased. (iaelic—speaking women

suh\erting the oral stor_\telling tradition to assert their

own identities within the culture. as their coiil'essional monologues e\plorc what it's like to he a woman in a culture that has historicall) repressed lemale se\ualit_\.

()ne ol' the participants. 23—}ear-old .\lairi ('amphell.

58 THE LIST '-

ll\L‘ lli (ilasgow. .'\llllt)\l (ill‘i (ll.

who has spulx'L‘ll (iaelic since hirth although hrought tip in (ilasgow. sa_\s. "There hasn't heen anything like this hel'oi'e. .r\nd it it raises e_\‘ehrows well. that's a good thingf .\lairi l‘eels it‘s important that these e\'ents happen to change popular perceptions ol (iaelic speakers. 'lt's important to show that jtist hecause we speak (iaelic. it doesn’t mean we conl'oi'm to that hagpipcs and tartan cliche.‘

.v\nna Roe. ol' ('iaelic electronica act .\'ad Aislingean. agrees: ‘\\'hen I first learned (iaelic. it was like stepping through a looking glass. There was this huge new world that was unlike the twee ‘llecland‘ stereot}pe.’ “Some of the edgiest pop music in Britain comes otit ol' the \\'elsh-laiiguage underground scene and it l‘eels like the same thing is happening in (iaelicf sa_\s her handmate Tim .-\rmstrong. originally from Seattle. "There is so much treetlom to create in a minorit) -language mental spacef

.\'ad Aislingean are one ot‘ the acts featured on Rapal. the new music programme which launches on Thu l8 .lan on BB(' 2. Rapal has rttn as a radio show on BBC‘ Radio nan (iaidheal tor the years and l‘eatures li\‘e sets trom 'l'he Needles and Attic Lights running alongside e\periments in contempoi'ai‘} (iaelic music.

What the Year ol' Highland ('tilture seems to indicate is a cultural identit} sure ot itsell‘ even when in flux. l’erhaps non-(iaels could learn something trom that.

www.anlochran.co.uk contains information on all Gaelic events happening in Glasgow. Nad Aislingean’s music can be heard at www.myspace.com/nadaislingean

PRiOMH THACHARTASAN

The undouhted highlight of the Highland Year of Culture is St Kilda: a European Opera. a multi- arttorm performance on the summer solstice featuring film and aerial hallet off the cliffs. The opera Wlll he hroadcast in Scotland. Austria. Belgium. France and Germany tl-lighlands and Islands. June. \‘.’\.‘~/\.I‘./.(}ltgéiOllC -arts.com st-kilda the-

Is a Gaelic Vagina I‘vlo/io/ogues possible? In There’s No V In Gaelic. playwright Seonag Monk. actors Cathy Ann lvlacPhee. Kathleen Maclnnes and Margaret Bennet. along with six young Gaelic— speaking women who have never acted helore. offer a series of meditations; on contemporary lemale Caelic lite iCiti/ens' Theatre. Glasgow. Thu 25—Sat 2? Jam. Back tip north again, Visionary Skye arts huh An Tuireann on Skye is starting the year with Thar Chriochan. the search for a Gaelic- speaking resident artist and an

exhi'pition from young Caithness sculptor Alan Begg l'\.'.".'.'\.'.’.£i.'llilllCEtllll.()l‘§j.tll<l_ Glasg(>\.'./'s Celtic Connections proves the pull cl traditional Scottish music every January. This year. (‘iaelic culture .53 particularly well represented Julie Fowlis ipicttiredi. one of the most exciting yeiing \’()(I£illf3ii§ to emerge recently is expected to play sold out perioiritances. as are Na h- Oganaich. the cult folk group from the 19/053. whose event has been organised by An l ocliran i\‘J‘sxx'xr:elticcoiiirectionscomi.

It you like your Gaelic music a little more experimental. Rapal launches on BBC? at i'pm on lhti .Jan 18. with a live set from Crash My Model Car ipictiiredi and an exploration of what happens when you cross (.‘iaelic poetry with heathoxuig ‘\.'v’\'/\‘.’.l)l)(i.(2().th iapali

Crash My ' Model Car