Multiple times:
31 May — 1 June 2025
Free but ticketed
We are really pleased to share that the next School of Plural Futures will be hosted and programmed by group members Ciorstaidh Chaimbeul and Sebastian Taylor. Ciorstaidh and Sebastian’s interests in Gaelic as a living, evolving force, thinking about how music can preserve dialect and the language of the land, has led them to create a programme across two days that includes a workshop, performances and discussion alongside artist/musicians Grace Stewart-Skinner and Esyllt Angharad Lewis.
Saturday the 31st May 2025
10am – 2pm Sound Workshop at Ardvasar Hall, Sleat
Lunch provided
Join us at 10am on the 31st of May for a workshop exploring language remixing and response at the Ardvasar Community Hall. Led by artist Grace Stewart-Skinner, participants will learn how Grace works with Auchie, the local dialect of Scotts spoken in Avoch, and have a chance to develop their own methods for responding to written and oral archives. In the afternoon, participants will be invited to respond to a work recorded by artist Esyllt Angharad Lewis for the session. We encourage participants to bring along tools to respond to Gaelic and Welsh prompts. Tools can include instruments, cameras, paints, etc. Some materials such as pens, paper, and audio recorders will be provided.
Free, limited spaces
Sunday the 1st of June 2025
4 – 6pm Performances at An Crùbh, Sleat
Cake, coffee and tea provided
On Sunday the 1st of June, we move to An Crùbh for a chance to catch a live performance and the Skye debut of Grace’s new album, Auchies Spikkin’ Auchie. If you were unable to participate in the workshop on the previous day, we will be playing a recording of the performance Loch Up Yw Mothers by Esyllt. Grace will also be joined with a support by Ciorstaidh Chaimbeul and Sebastian Taylor in the form of a new soundscape interweaving legends of the Water Horse, the accordion, and spoken word.
Free, Everyone Welcome
Grace Stewart-Skinner
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Grace Stewart-Skinner is a Highland grown clàrsach player and composer who has been surrounded by Traditional Scottish music her whole life. She enjoys experimenting with the clàrsach by incorporating a myriad of techniques and effects to create mesmeric soundscapes and melodies. Grace’s knowledge and sensitivity to the tradition shines through her practice, resulting in Trad compositions with a contemporary twist.
Grace’s debut album Auchies Spikkin’ Auchie paints an ethnomusicological postcard of her home Black Isle village, Avoch. Intertwining field recordings of locals with her original compositions, Grace has created a celebration of the rich cultural and lingual heritage of the village. Through this project she is shining the spotlight on one of Scotland’s many local dialects, Avochie, which are rapidly being diluted and fading into the past, in a way which is both educational and a joy to listen to.
Find out more about the project here: https://gracestewartskinner.co.uk/auchies-spikkin-auchie/f/auchies-spikkin-auchie---kistack
Esyllt Angharad Lewis
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Esyllt Angharad Lewis is an artist and translator from Swansea. Her work across performance, drawing, printmaking and writing plays with iterations and tensions of bilingualism. Loch Up Yw Mothers is a spoken word performance with saxophone interference from Amie Huckstep, exploring the language of consumption and the consumption of language. @esylltesylit
Ciorstaidh Chaimbeul
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Ciorstaidh Chaimbeul is a musician from Lochalsh in the Scottish Highlands currently based in Copenhagen. Ciorstaidh’s music is largely influenced by her Gaelic roots as well as her classical training. She is a graduate in Accordion from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and is currently completing her Masters Degree at the Royal Danish Academy of Music.
https://www.cchaimbeul.com/
Sebastian Taylor
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Sebastian is an independent producer and artist whose work pushes towards a softer world for research. Professionally, they co-direct OVER / AT, a CIC supporting trans and nonbinary musicians in Scotland, with Rufus Isabel Elliot. In their art practice they work with sound, poetry, and performance to build a speculative queer lexicon. Previously, they have worked with artists such as CAConrad and Lauren Gault and organisations like the New Museum and ATLAS Arts.
