The Arts - Na h-Ealain

The distinctive concentric and inter twining patterns created by the Celtic craftsmen were displayed in their jewellery, and their carved stonework, as well as finding their way into the wonderful manuscripts of the time, such as the Book of Kells and other religious writings. While the artefacts in museum collections mostly exhibit this Celtic heritage now, the Hebrides still maintains a thriving artistic community. Numerous painters, photographers and other artists have exhibited their work in An Lanntair, the independent art gallery in Stornoway and there is a strong tradition of music making and drama. Proiseact Naiseanta na h- Ealain Gaidhlig (The National Arts Project) has made an important contribution to the promotion of the Gaelic arts at local, national and international levels and continues to stimulate and bring together a wide range of artists and musicians.

A number of community organised arts festivals (fesian) take place throughout the islands where the emphasis is largely upon the provision of tuition, largely in Gaelic, in a range of artistic skills, from the traditional singing, bagpipes, clarsach (small harp), fiddle, tin whistle and accordion, to guitar and electronic keyboards. Many local youngsters attend these festivals in the summer months as well as performing at the competitive local and national Mod events, which are held each year.

With the increasing emphasis placed upon economic and political similarity between nations, both local people and visitors are coming to appreciate more and more the value of maintaining distinctive regional and minority cultures. In this respect, the Gaelic and Norse heritage of the Outer Hebrides is becoming a resource contributing to the creation of real employment opportunities, community confidence and a pride in a unique cultural identity.

Literature - Litreachas

Both English and Gaelic literature is created by writers in these islands, indeed it sometime seems that every village has its own bard (poet), but while many more books are now being published in Gaelic, only a few of those are available in English translations. This wealth of local material, both poetry and prose, fiction and non fiction, may at times appear to be overshadowed by the amount of writing in English by visitors to the islands, for it seems to have been the custom for several generations that every visitor to the Hebrides should publish a book!

A number of foremost writers in Scotland today are either living in the Outer Hebrides (such as John Murray, Finlay Macleod, Norman Macdonald and Angus Peter Campbell) or have island connections (Ian Crichton Smith, Derick Thomson and Donald Macaulay). These authors write mostly in their native Gaelic, but some have also written in English or have been published in translation and are well worth exploring for their views on these islands. While the modern forms of storytelling, and creative drama are still flourishing among newer island writers, there are also opportunities being created for radio and television script writing and technical literature, both in Gaelic and English. A new found cultural confidence throughout the Outer Hebrides has led to the creation of a number of exciting multi media projects, combining an arts exhibition, dramatic presentation and the publication of a companion book and these events promise great future potential.