Tobar an Dualchais – Creative Connections – Online: beginning 05 October 2026

This online course will run over four days:
• Monday 9.30 – 3.00
• Tuesday 9.30 – 3.00
• Wednesday 9.30 – 12.30
• Thursday 10.00 – 11.30

In collaboration with Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, we are delighted to be hosting the ‘Creative Connections’ short course for its seventh year.

This online short course, will be led by Dr Mairi McFadyen and Raghnaid Sandilands, and is for creative people (visual artists, writers, musicians, budding-folklorists and creative educators) who want to learn more about the Tobar an Dualchais resource, why the material was collected and by whom, and how and why it is of value today.

This year 5 bursary places are being offered by Scottish Artists Union (SAU) thanks to funding from Scottish Union Learning. The places are offered to SAU members from or who are based in the Gàidhealtachd/Highlands and Islands. (Contact Emily Nicholl for detail on how to apply).

Participants will be introduced to the archives that supply the Tobar an Dualchais website, including the School of Scottish Studies Archive, the Canna Collection & BBC Radio nan Gàidheal. They will also be introduced to some of the many important tradition-bearers whose recordings populate the site. Tutors will look at how the recordings can be used to explore local creativity, cultural ecology, and environmental awareness as well as much more.

The course will be in English but will discuss themes intrinsically linked to Gaelic.

Sessions will include:

• The role of local archives in the global climate crisis, with Mairi McFadyen
• Creative community engagement and the archives, with Raghnaid Sandilands
• Aiteal (A Glimpse) – the living world and language in the archives with Raghnaid Sandiland

The course will emphasise creative engagement. Participants will be encouraged to think about their own creative responses to the material and will be given the tools and inspiration required to begin exploring possibilities for their own work – whether a community-based project, artwork, piece of writing, or musical performance.

If you have any questions or would like to know more about the course, please email Floraidh Forrest at:  . You can also follow us on Facebook  and Instagram for regular updates and insights into the online resource.

Examples from Tobar an Dualchais:

• Mary Morrison recorded by John Lorne Campbell in 1950 singing the pìobaireachd song, ‘A Cholla Mo Rùin’.
• Annie Arnott recorded by Calum Iain MacLean in 1953 singing a strathspey ‘Falbhaidh Mise ’s Padra Mòr’.
• Angus MacLellan reciting ‘Duan na Ceàrdaich’ in 1949 for John Lorne Campbell.

Information for Scottish Artist Union Members: 

SAU members should contact by 16th September at latest with their name, SAU membership number and to confirm that they are from or are based in the Gàidhealtachd. Bursary places will be drawn by a lottery on the 17th September and everyone who applied will be notified then. The bursary places are not open to members currently enrolled as full time students. SAU Learning offers bursaries like these especially with those who may not otherwise be able to afford the course financially in mind, and members are welcome to make their own decision whether to apply or to book themselves on to the course.