ATLAS Arts - Bàta Brèagha/Bonnie Boat

On the 10 September 2011 Skye based arts organisation ATLAS Arts presented their first ever major public event on the island: Bàta Brèagha/Bonnie Boat.

In an ambitious programme of events that combined a radio broadcast, pop up exhibitions, workshops, craft, walks and music, the centrepiece was Celestial Radio – a sailing boat created by artists Zoë Walker and Neil Bromwich, covered in over 60,000 mirrored tiles.

Based in the picturesque Portree Bay, the Celeste broadcast songs and stories throughout the day via local radio station Cuillin FM and members of the public were invited to listen on portable radios from the banks of the bay. Walker and Bromwich worked closely with the local community to put together the broadcast - local poet Maoilios Caimbeul produced a script narrated by island residents and the music was created by Skye based musicians Leighton Jones and Hector MacInnes of Dead Man’s Waltz. You can listen to some excerpts from The Celestial Skye soundscape below.

Other events taking place on the day included: a Fish Exchange where artist Deirdre Nelson encouraged people to knit fish to be sold at auction to raise money for the RNLI; film screenings from Dorothy Cross, Céline Duval and Victoria Claire Bernie; performaces from the Isle of Skye Pipe Band and SkyeDance on Portree Pier; and a concert including the Portree High School band The Outsiders.

“It was wonderful to see a steady stream of visitors and residents flocking to the pier in Portree to see Celestial Radio and tune into the broadcast throughout the day. 

Bàta Brèagha/Bonnie Boat is a project rooted in the history and people of Skye and we couldn't have done it without them. In total around 130 local folk contributed to the project and it was wonderful to showcase local talent as well exceptional work from international artists.” - Emma Nicolson, Director of ATLAS Arts

More About ATLAS Arts

ATLAS was established in 2010 to generate innovative and ambitious visual arts projects in Skye and Lochalsh. Its aim is to provide a new platform for the creation of projects, which are not fixed by, or to, a permanent gallery space. The emphasis is on high quality, contemporary projects, incorporating educational work and involvement from the community in variety of forms - placing work within a local, national and international context.

ATLAS’s first project was Scale, an exhibition in the grounds of Clan Donald in summer 2010. The project aimed to provide local artists with an opportunity to create a new piece of work and encourage them to be adventurous in their approach to making the work. Seven Skye based artists created new site specific sculptures and the exhibition had a well attended public programme of talks, events and workshops.

(From L - R: Steven McKenzie, Curator of Scale, talks about the project; Jessica Ramm - Spitheagan nan Speur; Julie Brook - 2 Rising Lines II.)

For more info on ATLAS Arts and to find out about future projects visit the ATLAS Arts website.

ATLAS Arts has received investment from Creative Scotland and is supported by Hi-Arts.

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