Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Welcomes New Artists in Residence

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is delighted to announce that this year’s Artists in Residence programme is now under way, following the recent appointments of, Writer in Residence, Rody Gorman, Musician in Residence, Allan Henderson and Visual Artists in Residence, Dr Gill Russell and Dr Norman Shaw.

The posts, funded by the Scottish Arts Council and Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, with in-kind support from the Royal Scottish Academy of Art (RSA) in Edinburgh, represent an holistic approach to arts development at the College, through bringing the three disciplines together and creating the opportunity for ‘cross art form’ collaborations within an immersed, language rich, new media environment.

The artist’s residency programme has its origins in Sabhal Mòr’s earliest days, when a Writer in Residence programme was first instigated by the founding Trustees in recognition of the important role which they believed the arts had to play in the revival and regeneration of the language and culture.

Many of the Scotland’s leading Gaelic writers have subsequently brought their work and influence to bear on these important residencies. Chief amongst them was the hugely influential international poet, Sorley Maclean, whose work informed and inspired successive generations of writers, poets and artists throughout the world, including the great Irish, Noble Prize Winning writer, Seumas Heaney, who attended a special event at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig during his visit to Hallaig on Raasay, the setting one of Maclean’s great epic poems.

Some of Scotland’s most influential contemporary Gaelic poets and writers, including Aonghas MacNeacail, Angus Peter Campbell and Alasdair Campbell (Alasdair a' Bhocsair) amongst others, have also featured amongst the list of names of former Writers in Residence at Sabhal Mòr, who have gone on to contribute significantly to the canon of Scottish literature.

The post of Musician in Residence was established a number of years ago, when Piper, Iain MacDonald of Glenuig took up the position and more recently the Scottish Arts Council agreed to support a Visual Artist in Residence post, thereby consolidating what has become a joint Artists  in Residence Programme at the College.

SMO Director of Development, Donnie Munro said: “Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is delighted to receive the support of the Scottish Arts Council and the RSA for this innovative residency programme.   While the central position occupied by writers, musicians and singers, within the wider context of the language and the culture, has long been understood, the role of the visual arts and our visual culture has perhaps been less well recognised. For that reason, it is particularly gratifying that the SAC and the Trustees of SMO have made provision for the tentative development of a visual arts footprint within the cultural life of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, influenced and informed by the language, culture and environment of the Gael.”

Last year’s visual arts residency was split between two distinguished artists, the young, Gaelic speaking Scottish painter, Eòghann Mac Colla, whose work was nominated for a major European Prize and the internationally renowned artist, Kate Whiteford, RSA. Both artists have subsequently held hugely successful exhibitions at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh, featuring work from their residency.

The current posts run for a year.