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Culture Collective open call for creative practitioners

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CLICK HERE FOR AN APPLICATION PACK

A new community-focused collaboration between three of Skye’s cultural organisations is creating four new jobs for the area that will help shape the future of local cultural life. 

SEALL is one of 26 national organisations to be part of the Cultural Collective, a £6million nationwide initiative enabling creative practitioners, organisations and communities to come together and create a positive difference towards recovery from Covid-19. 

At local level, SEALL will collaborate with ATLAS Arts and Fèisean nan Gàidheal, to work together with individuals, communities, businesses and organisations across Skye, Raasay and Lochalsh to develop a range of ways to use culture as a powerful tool for creating strong and healthy communities for the future.  

Still in its early stages, the programme will involve six projects, which will be community-led and include the provision of employment opportunities. 

SEALL and Atlas arts are looking for three professional creative practitioners (two performing artists and one visual artist) to join Scottish singer-songwriter, composer and essayist Karine Polwart; playwright Lesley Wilson; and Ratagan-based costume designer and performer Hannah Myers, to take the initiative forward. 

Marie Lewis, SEALL creative director, said: “The successful applicants will work with communities and learn together with a view to establishing a far-reaching culture collective with social change at its heart.” 

“We are now at the stage of calling out for suitable candidates who are happy with an open brief and understand that we are creating new ways of working. The right practitioner must be open and listen to the people they are working with so that it is a true collaboration. They should not have set ideas about objectives or outcomes at this stage. The beauty of the Culture Collective is that we have time for meaningful engagement and development of the project..” 

This month Ruari Gordon from Portree took up the post of project producer. He will co-ordinate the local programme. He said: “I’m delighted to be part of the team working on the Culture Collective project here in Skye, Raasay and Lochalsh. The Culture Collective offers opportunities for communities and groups to work with artists to reimagine and reinvigorate their relationship with arts and culture. 

“As SEALL’s co-ordinator for the project, I’ll be working closely with these practitioners and communities to find new ways of working together, with a view to addressing some of the issues communities, artists and arts organisations have been faced with as a result of the pandemic. 

“I hope that over the coming months the Culture Collective project will shine a light on how arts organisations can better tailor themselves to meet the needs of the communities they serve, as well as breathing some much-needed life back into the sector.” 

The posts, which are fixed term until 30 September 2022, are being advertised in this week’s West Highland Free Press and on Radio Skye.

An application pack is available from HERE.

For further details on the Atlas Arts call-out, visit their website HERE.

Teenagers invited to hang-out with Molly

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SEALL has teamed-up with Atlas Arts to provide a weekly safe space for teenagers to hang out and be creative together.

Molly Scott Danter, who is a dancer, artist and storyteller originally from Edinbane, will be leading an art and dance club for Skye’s 14-17-year-olds.

In line with the Scottish Government’s Covid-19 guidance and legislation, the hang-outs will take place after school from Tuesday, 23 March online and, when permissible, in a range of venues in Portree: outdoors, at the Oyster Table in Bayfield, under canvas, on walks and in large indoor spaces. Molly will lead the weekly hang-out where teenagers can get together safely to create, make and converse.

Molly said: “You don’t need to have an interest in art, dance or music to take part. This is a creative space to hang out and chat. We’ll be meeting first online and then, when possible and safe to do so, meeting together in person in and around Portree in the weeks and months ahead.

“This club is a space to experiment, to make things up, to pretend and reinvent. We might use movement, writing, collage, dance parties, drawing and bookmaking, but it’s up to you. You decide what you’re interested in making, doing and talking about and, together, we’ll try and make it happen.”

Sessions take place every Tuesday after school and the first meeting is online via Zoom at 5pm. Anyone living on Skye or Raasay from the age group is invited to attend and find out more. During this initial meet-up, participants will be able to decide together on times and content of future hang-outs.

Molly, who is 25, found her love for dance when she joined SkyeDance while she was a pupil at Portree High School. After leaving school, she studied dance at London Contemporary Dance School, including a semester at Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance. After graduating Molly worked with Scottish Dance Theatre first as an apprentice dancer then for a short time as guest dancer. Since then, she has worked as a freelance dancer, maker and teacher in the UK and Europe.

As well as dance, Molly also works with text and film and often collaborates with other artists of these and other media. Especially interested in the relationship of self and other, empathy plays a large role in how Molly approaches making, leading and performing work.

Molly expects these highly sociable hang-outs to be led by the participants. She said: “The first part of this idea was to focus on identity and practices around who we are. I realise now that, at school, I was stuck in a relatively rigid environment which was very outcome and product orientated. I was not really learning but memorising and not thinking about the process.

“I really believe creativity can be used as a tool for different forms of expression: for emotional health and wellbeing; the way we see the world; and get a better insight into our relationships with others and with ourselves.

“It is such a complicated time to be a teenager at the moment. Many are suffering from being locked in and missing out on the usual teenage experiences. I hope these meetings will be a release for some of that pressure.”

Molly says the emphasis will be on fun: “With this project, we may be making things all the time, have dance parties, have fun and explore. This is all about who we are, what we can do and what we can achieve together, side by side.

“I hope participants will go away with a sense of empowerment and believing in infinite possibilities of who they can be, what they can do and what this world will be like with them in it.”

The club will run for 21 weeks initially with the possibility of a further extension.

Membership is free and includes an activity pack which will be sent out to participants after sign-up. To register or for an informal chat with Molly to find out more, email molly.thespace@gmail.com by Friday, 12 March.

The funding is part of a targeted fund from Creative Scotland’s Youth Arts Fund, organised by Dingwall-based Fèis Rois. This ambitious project will work across the nine Highland Council Community Planning Partnership areas to support the recovery of youth arts provision in the region as Covid-19 restrictions begin to lift.

New year, new chair

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Lindsay Dunbar has taken over as chair of the board of SEALL from Rosie MacDonald who held the post for the past four years.

Rosie has stepped down owing to increased family commitments.

Originally from Achiltibuie, Lindsay (pictured left) spent a few years in Glasgow before moving back north to Inverness. She has strong connections with Sabhal Mòr Ostaig and knows the Isle of Skye very well.

She said: “Because of my north west roots, I call myself a cultural crofter as I’m used to tending rural, community-led creative projects, whatever the season and whatever needs done.”

Rosie and her husband, whose family are from Tarskavaig, retired to Skye in 2014.

She said: “We joined SEALL as season ticket holders, with almost unlimited access to many fantastic concerts and theatrical events over the years.

“I really admired the aims of the charity, bringing excellent quality cultural events to a local rural community.  I felt the need to support SEALL and give something back in return and so I joined the board in December 2015 and was appointed as chair in 2017, a position from which I stood down in January 2021, due to increased family commitments.”

Rosie has overseen the changes in the charity over her term of office. She said: “SEALL has gradually changed over the years, increasing the range of its reach to include all of Skye, Raasay and Lochalsh.

“In November 2019 the founder and then creative director of Seall, Duncan MacInnes, retired after 28 years and was succeeded by Marie Lewis.

“SEALL now has a permanent staff of four, who are a really hardworking and driven team with great innovative ideas, keeping SEALL’s output fresh, interesting and exciting.

“I’ll miss being a part of it all but it’s time to go and make way for a new chair to govern the charity, together with the board of directors.”

Lindsay has over 15 years’ experience as a strategic leader, delivering cultural events and projects across Scotland. 

She has worked with the Touring Network and has conducted research on behalf of the British Council on Creative Hubs and also for Regional Screen Scotland.  She has also worked as a trainer and facilitator for many creative companies, Seall included.

Rosie added: “Lindsay’s impeccable skills, experience and connections within Scotland’s arts sector will be beneficial to SEALL, as we adapt to the aftermath of Covid restrictions and develop new ways forward.

“I envisage her fitting in effortlessly with the board of directors and the members of staff, reflecting their enthusiasm and passion for promoting cultural events in rural areas of Skye, Raasay and Lochalsh.  I wish her great success as chair and hope that our paths may cross again at a live SEALL event sometime in the not-too-distant future.

Lindsay will take up her new role in February. She said: “I’m looking forward to singing the praises of the organisation far and wide. I’m also interested in how we engage meaningfully with audiences, bringing arts and communities together to access high-quality performance or opportunities to participate.”

“There is already a great team in place, with an exciting vision, taking lead from the community.

“I’ll facilitate those discussions and support them every step of the way. SEALL has an exceptional reputation not only in Scotland but internationally as well, it’s an honour to work with the team, respecting the heritage and looking forward to the future.”

Innes Watson (Almost) Live from Breakish Hall

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Watch anytime from January 18 – January 31

£5 Online

Almost live from Breakish Hall, this is a chance to see the premiere of Innes Watson’s new album Shhh I’m on the Phone which was livestreamed on 1 October 2020 to audiences from the stage of this charming little hall in the south of Skye.

Innes is accompanied by Glenelg musician Murdo ‘Yogi’ Cameron on rhythm guitar and they play the tunes and songs from the album, with a few more for good measure!

Tickets (£5, which includes the booking fee) are available to purchase now and the concert can be watched once at any time from your unique stream link between now and 31 January at 6pm.

This is an online pre-recorded event.

To get the very best from your audience experience, please read our information:

Understanding your tickets HERE

How to watch online HERE

GET TICKETS

Performing arts peer response forum

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An opportunity for those working in the performing arts sector in Skye and Lochalsh to prepare for the future

These have been difficult times for everyone and, as we struggle to positively respond to a global pandemic, it is hard for many to find a way forward towards a “new normal.”

Since the Coronavirus pandemic broke, opportunities for paid performance and professional development have all but disappeared for many artists, leaving them with a dramatic loss in income, isolation from their peers and little personal support.

Even the Government appeared to turn its back on the cultural sector when Rishi Sunak announced in October that artists should retrain and find employment elsewhere.

We know, however, that art is essential to the social and cultural survival of our communities, and, to a wider extent, to a country. Participation in cultural activities, whether as an artist or member of an audience, brings personal joy; is a significant contributing factor to our wellbeing; defies boundaries; and unites us under one unique cultural identity.

As a responsible cultural organisation in Scotland, SEALL will not advocate that performing artists should retrain for another career. We recognise the value of performance to our communities and visitors and the immense talents of our performers, which have been honed through years of hard practice and experience, should not be so readily dismissed.

We wish to help our performance artists in Skye and Lochalsh, or those with connections to the area, prepare for a healthy future in performing arts, whatever form that may take.

To this end, we have teamed up with the Social Enterprise Academy to deliver a free, fully-funded programme of peer support sessions to performers and freelancers: musicians; dancers; actors; storytellers; theatre makers; technicians and anyone else who works in the performing arts sector. The idea is to meet, share and exchange ideas with leaders and managers within rural performing arts.

This four-day online programme, which is delivered via Zoom and begins on Monday 25 January and takes place every second Monday thereafter, is an opportunity to connect with peers who are dealing with similar issues and to learn, share and collaborate to identify practical ways of assessing how to adapt to, and thrive in, that “new normal.”

With a focus on leadership, enterprise and personal development, the Social Enterprise Company delivers learning and development programmes for people and organisations to enable social change.

Download a brochure

Register for the forum

Social Enterprise Academy Website

A ‘hairy’ tale for Christmas with the National Theatre of Scotland

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GET YOUR RAPUNZEL TICKETS HERE

As a special treat for Christmas, the National Theatre of Scotland turn a Brothers Grimm story on its head to bring a delightful online performance of Rapunzel to SEALL digital audiences straight into your living room.

Rapunzel is a celebration of theatricality, music and storytelling. A chance to hear from every character in this well-known hairy tale, untangled and re-braided for this day and age. A chance to sit with the family and finally piece together the story of one lassie and her journey from isolation to taking her rightful place.

This is a very special online festive show filmed in the beautiful surrounds of Stirling Castle, created by a Christmas cracker writing team, featuring sparkling showtunes from Novasound and directed by Scottish Panto King Johnny McKnight. Also available will be a free, fun, festive activity pack for families to enjoy over the holiday period.

A National Theatre of Scotland production in partnership with Historic Environment Scotland

For further information, tickets and details how to watch visit the NTS website HERE.

Audio Described, BSL interpreted and Captioned versions of Rapunzel are available.

This digital version of Rapunzel is available on demand. You can watch it on the NTS website as many times as you like between 23 December 10am until 4 January midnight. Booking will close at 10pm on 4 January, so be sure to book before then and watch before the clock strikes 12.

This is a ticketed event and tickets are by way of donation to the National Theatre of Scotland. Please click on the link below for your tickets.

GET YOUR RAPUNZEL TICKETS HERE