Women of the Hill

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.

Guiding the audience across the threshold, Hanna’s trio of female performers took the viewer on a song-journey through three worlds: Past, Present and Otherworld. Conceived as a contemporary rite, ​‘Women of the Hill’ summoned the young woman interred at the site; the women who ground grain, spun yarn and watched over the hearth; and the female deities – Bride and Cailleach – who, according to myth, do battle each year at the meeting of the seasons.

As part of this commission Hanna worked alongside Skye-based artist, Caroline Dear, to create bespoke costumes and props that complimented the site’s history and story. For further information, please see here.

Women of the Hill was commissioned by ATLAS Arts, developed in collaboration and performed by Nerea Bello, Lucy Duncombe and Hanna Tuulikki, with Caroline Dear (costume and props), Amy Porteous (studio assistant), Daniel Warren (film), Pete Smith (sound for film), Laurence Winram (photography), Martin Wildgoose and George Kozikowski (archaeologists). With additional support from CCA, Glasgow.

The commission was funded by Creative Scotland with additional support from CCA, Glasgow, and the Theatre, Performance and Television Studies Department, University of Glasgow. Initial research was supported by a Creative Scotland Artist Bursary for Tuulikki’s investigation into Mnemonic Topographies: the land encoded in the song, the lore embedded in the land.