DIG 2025: GUIR! Gaelic Arts (Scotland)

Part of Tramway's Dance International Glasgow festival, 9 - 24 May

GUIR!, Glasgow Life's Gaelic Arts incubator programme, has been supporting artists to develop new Gaelic work across disciplines since 2018. See work in development from the three 2025 artists - Calum Ferguson, Mischa Macpherson and Lisa Robertson.

ACCESS
This event is open to anyone. There will be Gaelic to English translation via headsets.

More about the projects, in the artists' own words:

Calum Ferguson

The aim of the project is to create a series of works in response to the Vatersay Land Raids. The Vatersay Raiders, (including my great-great grandfather) were imprisoned in 1908 for occupying the Isle of Vatersay, landless people seeking a life outside deprivation, taken to court by one of the wealthiest landowners in Scotland. Later released after public outcry, a pivotal moment in land reform in Scotland. The project will include a period of extensive research, interviewing folklorists on Barra and historical records with the end goal being to create works which could include immersive installations and sculptural pieces celebrating the influence of the raiders on Vatersay and beyond.

Mischa Macpherson

Coming from a place where the land and sea are woven into every aspect of life, on the Isle of Lewis, when I first came to the city, I struggled to find the same connection to nature. But over the years, I noticed the beauty right here on my doorstep—bumblebees drifting between wildflowers, the scent of wild garlic in spring, the steady flow of the River Kelvin, and the quiet glow of the moon over high-rise buildings. These moments of nature are no less significant just because they exist in an urban setting. And in-fact may be even more important.

During GUIR I hope to celebrate wild places within Glasgow’s city centre by composing new Gaelic songs and music inspired by these places hidden within the urban landscape and by reflecting natures through movement and contemporary dance, improvising and responding to the music and themes that emerge, I will explore a visual interpretation of the compositions and deepen the connection between music, place, and storytelling.

Lisa Robertson

My idea is to create a collection of musical tracks which explore intersectional stories of strength in the face of suppression within a Gaelic speaking context including suppression of women, threats from the climate crisis, the Gaelic cultural/ linguistic crisis and rural depopulation with a particular focus on my local home area in Morvern. I want to embed my music in my natural environment, manifesting that deep connection with nature so central to the traditional Gaelic worldview, as well as honouring the oral tradition and containing the legacy of my local area’s culture. Mairi Macleod was forced off her home in Morven, disconnected from her land, in one of the earliest and most brutal clearances. She had no choice but to move to the city – working with Galway Dance this project will also look at the physical movement from rural to urban, and how we traverse that in contemporary Scotland when we have choices. during the residency, with additional talks and panels involving a guest speaker.

Header photo - Mischa MacPherson