Projects Index

Tuath

Based at 11 Fàsach, in Glendale, with James Oliver, exploring ‘island is land, is land in relation’

Feeling wor(l)ds

Feeling wor(l)ds is a project exploring how we might attend to the intimacies of place through being in correspondence with others.

From Plockton to Portree: a boat project

From Plockton to Portree is a boat project with Malcolm Mackenzie bringing people together to explore stories and relationships with the sea.

Nowhere Art Club

Nowhere Art Club is an art and dance club led by Molly Danter and Skye’s 11-17-year-olds. Molly is a dancer, artist and storyteller from Edinbane working with ATLAS and Seall this year as an artist in residence.

Seed Stewardship

At different times of the year, ATLAS organises seed exchange events that connect to local heritage and global land sovereignty - through the sharing of seeds and the telling of stories.

Tobar an Dualchais Residency

An annual residency supported by a fee and production budget, inviting artists to undertake a period of public research in the Tobar an Dualchais collections. Open to visual and sound artists with an interest in oral history, archives and sound, this residency aims to foster meaningful engagement with Gaelic culture and heritage, and to build critical and imaginative responses to the complexities of Scottish history and cultural identity.

CLIMAVORE: On Tidal Zones

CLIMAVORE is a long-term project led by artists Cooking Sections, that includes a variety of site-responsive projects across the world. Exploring how to eat as humans change climate, CLIMAVORE explores forms of eating that respond to man-induced environmental transformations.

Editions

ATLAS Arts works with a range of artists and makers each year to create a series of limited edition artworks, available for sale in our shop. Sale proceeds support the next round of artist editions, and, from 2021, sales of new editions are shared with a charity or organisation of the artists' choice.

A/am/ams

“When a met e, tha sgith was blue…”

Art in Schools

The Art in Schools project, funded by the Creative Scotland Youth Arts Access fund, will see five local artists connecting with local schools across the Skye and Lochalsh area to facilitate creativity and fun together, with a focus on child-led learning.

Other events and collaborations

One off events, open days and collaborations such as film screenings, talks, workshops, community meals, and book making days that run alongside our programme.

The School of Plural Futures

The School of Plural Futures began in February 2021 and runs throughout the year. Along with artist Emmie McLuskey, eight contributors across Skye and Lochalsh are building this alternative school to speak about the reality and potential of life in Skye and Lochalsh.

Samhla

In 2022, Lauren Gault was invited by ATLAS and Tuath - a cultural project exploring land and place relations with James Oliver, at 11 Fàsach, Glendale - to visit the former croft at Fàsach and to think about the question: “If the land could speak and you were listening, what would you say back?”

A Commonplace Book of ATLAS

This book has been created as a marker of a moment in time, compiled over several years, it charts the first eight years of our practice. Edited by Emma Nicolson and Gayle Meikle, the book brings together over 25 contributions containing beautiful illustrations, documentation and rich reflections. It is a history and book to hold dear, and a grounding for ATLAS’s present and future.

Dàn Fianais

Dàn Fianais or Protest Poem is a film-portrait of Skye and Lochalsh and some of its inhabitants – human and otherwise, by artist Andrew Black. It was made with over sixty people with connections to Skye and Lochalsh – sharing the past and imagining the future – and commissioned in partnership with Skye Climate Action.The film was made throughout the last year of the COVID pandemic, during an unfolding climate crisis, and at a point where the effects of capitalism and imperialism are being reckoned with globally. The film reflects on ways of being here that might feel lost though still within the reach of living memory – as well as those that endure – to suggest multiple possible ways forward.

What can we learn about love from lichen?

Guided Walks and Hosted Occasion: A Project by Isabel Lewis, Commissioned by Art Night and ATLAS Arts as part of #ArtNight2021

Lunchtime Talks

Only available in English for now

Join us on Tuesday lunchtimes throughout February and March for a new series of online artist talks, bringing together a range of artists and speakers reflecting on the history, heritage and reality of life in the Highlands and Islands.

First There is a Mountain

Only available in English for now

ATLAS Arts is one of twenty-five coastal arts organisations around the UK to feature First There is a Mountain by Katie Paterson. It involves the creation of a set of ‘buckets and spades’ in the form of world mountains, from which the public will build mountains of sand across the UK coastline and play out the world’s natural geography against a series of tidal times. Each pail is a scale model of five of earth’s mountains: Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa), Mount Shasta (N. America), Mount Fuji (Asia), Stromboli (Europe), and Uluru (Oceania), nested together in a set.

SCREEN-IT

Only available in English for now

SCREEN-IT is ATLAS’ film and moving image programme. Throughout the winter season, ATLAS screens artists’ moving-image monthly: encouraging a dialogue and discussion about the role of artists film and the themes explored through each film selection.

Women of Skye

Only available in English for now

ATLAS Arts hosted a series of events in 2018 that focus on women. This included participating in Scalarama 2018 to celebrate everything F-rated as part of our Screen-It programme, from the first women filmmaker, Alice Guy-Blaché, to Scotland’s pioneering, Margaret Tait.

Contemporary Memorial: Staffin Community Trust

Only available in English for now

ATLAS Arts is working with the Staffin Community Trust (Urras An Taobh Sear) to produce a series of pilot commissions with a view to creating a contemporary memorial to acknowledge the nineteenth-century crofters’ land struggle in the Staffin area. A central aim of the commissions is for the artists to contribute to the awareness and understanding of the local community of the potentially positive impacts and benefits of a commissioned public artwork/contemporary memorial.

Ragadawn (An t-Eilean Sgitheanach, 57.5º T)

ATLAS Arts has been working with Caroline Bergvall since 2016 on Ragadawn, a sunrise vocal performance to be performed outdoors from the last hours of night until the very early morning. A multisensory composition for two voices (spoken and sung), multiple languages and electronic frequencies to accompany and celebrate the rising of day.

Eglantine

Only available in English for now

Eglantine, 2016, is the debut feature film by Glasgow-based artist Margaret Salmon. Installed in Dunvegan Castle, Eglantine, is a beautiful meditative and enchanting account of a young girl’s real and fantastical adventure in a remote forest one evening.

Còig Sgiathan / Five Wings

Only available in English for now

ATLAS Arts has collaborated with local walking groups and artists to curate a series of walks around the Isle of Skye and Lochalsh.

A Work for the North Atlantic

Only available in English for now

A Work for the North Atlantic is a year-long programme which encompasses; an installation of Bethan Huws’ film Singing for the Sea at the Skye Sailing Club in partnership with London-based art organisation, Artangel, a new artwork commission by visual artist, composer and musician, Richard Skelton, and schools’ workshops in collaboration with Aldeburgh Music’s international singing project, Friday Afternoons.

Ceumannan / Footsteps

Only available in English for now

Ceumann / Footsteps, commissioned by ATLAS Arts, brings together contemporary sound artist Jason Singh with Skye-based Gaelic musician Anne Martin in an intercultural exchange exploring the artists’ personal biographies which took them on a journey to North India to develop their ideas and connect with local musicans. Drawing from parallels in the landscapes, storytelling of the Isle of Skye and Northern India and the complementary harmonic traditions of Gaelic and Indian Raga they have co-created new musical compositions.

Early Warning Signs

Only available in English for now

Early Warning Signs aims to allow the four rotating ‘climate change’ signs Ellie produced for the festival to continue to promote their cause long into the future.

Cultural Crofting Playing Cards

Dualachas Chroitearachd Cairt-Chluiche | Cultural Crofting is the development of a project that began in 2014 when ATLAS worked with Craigard Day Centre in North Uist and Sharon on a project called Life on the Land to explore the unique heritage and culture of crofting.

ATLAS Arts Café

Only available in English for now

ATLAS Arts Café was a broadcast project on community radio station Cuillin FM. A monthly programme of talks, interviews and discussions with local, national and international artists – ATLAS Arts Café was produced and presented by ATLAS, with occasional guest producers and interviewers.

An Ataireachd Ard / Celestial Radio

Only available in English for now

A radio station on board a glittering, mirror-tiled yacht Celestial Radio transmits light and sound, broadcasting over the airwaves on 87.7FM. A flickering sequence: on, off, on, off, a vibrating movement like the patterns of a wave form or a blinking signal, the moment you begin to listen and make the journey the work starts to exist.

The Call of Mist

Only available in English for now

The Call of Mist was originally made in 1998 in memory of the artist’s mother, with the version ATLAS have installed, the 2012 Redux edition. Shot across many locations in the Isle of Skye, The Call of Mist is a vivid reflection on loss, memory and media and was originally commissioned and broadcast by BBC TV in the late 90’s. The re-edited 2012 Redux version of the short-film incorporates additional images that were removed from the television version, recovering Akomfrah’s original conception.

Land Line Five Walks In Skye

Only available in English for now

Land Line was a series of five walks over five days that offered a unique chance to explore our relationship with the landscape. Led by Skye-based artist Caroline Dear, each featured a specially invited collaborator and encouraged observation and conversation.

NEO NEO Extreme Past

Only available in English for now

NEO NEO Extreme Past, was an offsite ATLAS project. An exhibition featuring artists In the Shadow of the Hand, Niall Macdonald, Sophie Morrish, Bobby Niven and Hanna Tuulikki, the project built on a curatorial relationship between Emma Nicolson, ATLAS Director and artist/curator Gayle Meikle.

Atelier

Only available in English for now

Atelier Skye was a three-day charrette (an intensive participatory group that engages a common enquiry) wherein a group of artists, curators, academic researchers and members of the local community worked with six common research ‘objects’ located in the north of the Isle of Skye (Trotternish, Waternish and Duirinish).

Travelling the Archive

Only available in English for now

Travelling the Archive was a long-term project with artist Nicky Bird aimed at reimagining a time and place in Kyleakin’s past, for future audiences and current residents. Bird sought to share and make accessible the 1960s heritage of the close community of Kyleakin in the Isle of Skye, through a series of 35mm slide images taken during this period by seasonal visitor Miss Joan Wilcock.

Broad Reach

Only available in English for now

Broad Reach was a two-year curatorial residency based between ATLAS Arts and Taigh Chearsabhagh in North Uist. The residency brought together ATLAS Director Emma Nicolson and Project Curator Gayle Meikle in a partnership allowing cross-island programming.

Women of the Hill

Only available in English for now

At sunset on Samhain ATLAS Arts presented Women of the Hill, a sell-out performance by artist and composer Hanna Tuulikki, created for the extraordinary archaeological site at High Pasture Cave, Kilbride, Glen Suardal, Isle of Skye.

Patterns of Flora / Mapping Seven Raasay Habitats

Only available in English for now

Patterns of Flora / Mapping Seven Raasay Habitats is an ATLAS Arts commission by Frances Priest in collaboration with botanist Stephen Bungard. Celebrating the diverse plant life of the Island of Raasay, Frances created a bespoke collection of ceramic artworks that are permanently sited within Raasay House, which the public is welcome to view and enjoy.

Ten Pieces

Only available in English for now

BBC’s Ten Pieces project seeks to foster an appreciation of classical music amongst children aged between seven and fourteen. The project hopes to encourage a new generation of children to study the music and be inspired by it in any creative way possible! Looking for a range of creative responses to the musical repertoire – which changes each year – from new music compositions, to theatre, to animation and film, Ten Pieces culminates at the BBC Proms, where pupils work is shared and exhibited.

Talking Art Series

Only available in English for now

Talking Art was a project that consisted of artists talks, presented as a monthly lecture programme in Portree. During 2012 and 2013, ATLAS worked with a diverse range of artists with varied artistic practices, inviting them to talk about their work. The series focused on artists’ personal approaches to how they work and their approach to making work in the public realm.

Are you LOCATIONALIZED

Only available in English for now

Are you LOCATIONALIZED by Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan was commissioned as a dual-sited, cross-island project between the Hebridean islands of Skye and North Uist. Are you LOCATIONALIZED was ATLAS’ contribution to the 2014 nationwide project GENERATION, a major exhibition programme which showcased some of the best and most significant artists to have emerged from Scotland over the preceding twenty-five years.

Temporary Spaces, Edible Places

Only available in English for now

During early summer 2014, Australian artist Keg de Souza was artist-in-residence between Kilmuir and Linicro. Drawing on her practice investigating spatial politics, Keg developed the project Temporary Spaces, Edible Places with pupils in Kilmuir Primary School.

Spincycle

Only available in English for now

Spincycle-Skye was a year-long multi-disciplinary project looking at culture through performance, music, visual arts and crafts. Drawing from a common theme of spin, ATLAS commissioned an array of artists to explore different projects inspired by all things that revolve, turn, rotate, mirror and repeat.

The Nation / Live-faith

Only available in English for now

The Nation / Live-Faith, a joint project between ATLAS and the National Galleries of Scotland, asked young people in Skye to explore the theme of faith using William Hole’s mural depiction of St Columba Addressing the Picts [on Skye], 597 AD (1895-1901) as their inspiration.

Colm Cille's Spiral

Only available in English for now

Colm Cille’s Spiral, a series of contemporary art and literature commissions and dialogues rethinking the legacy of sixth century Irish monk Colm Cille (St Columba). For this project, ATLAS worked with the Glasgow School of Art and others to produce Convocation, which fed into the wider Colm Cille’s Spiral programme.

Còmhlan Bheanntan / A Company of Mountains

Only available in English for now

Alec Finlay’s còmhlan bheanntan / a company of mountains was an ATLAS Arts commission that saw the artist produce a variety of poems, photos, essays and ​‘word-mntn’ drawings which took inspiration from Sorley Maclean’s poem Ceann Loch Aeoineart. This collaborative project saw Alec work with a number of other artists to select fourteen sites, or conspectuses, in the Isle of Skye from which to explore the mountains, history, culture and mythology of the island.

Fernweh

Only available in English for now

Fernweh was a project instigated by Huntly-based Deveron Arts, which ATLAS along with three other collaborators, explored notions of travel and remoteness. Fernweh sought to highlight the intricacies of travel and hospitality within community and socially engaged art, particularly in a rural context.

Belief

Only available in English for now

Belief by Thomson and Craighead is a documentary artwork exploring the notion of belief through information sourced online. Inspiration for the artwork stemmed from a piece of found-footage discussing the ‘faerie flag’ – an artifact steeped in mystery and myth, held at Dunvegan Castle in Skye.

Bàta Brèagha / ​Bonnie Boat

Only available in English for now

Bàta Brèagha /​ Bonnie Boat was a large-scale project with an ambitious programme of events combining traditional craft skills, music, pop-up exhibitions, radio broadcasts, walks and workshops.

SCALE

Only available in English for now

SCALE was guest curated by Steven McKenzie. McKenzie and ATLAS worked with seven artists from the Skye and Lochalsh area, commissioning them to produce the site-specific works. They were: James Adams, Daniel Bär, Zöe Birrell, Dana Macpherson, Julie Brook, Jessica Ramm, and Gill Russell. Each artist responded in a very different way, and worked with a variety of mediums, reflecting their individual practices.