An Cuan Sgith is a two year visual arts exchange project between young people from Bùnsgoil Shlèite, Skye and Bùnsgoil Baile a’Mhanaich, Benbecula. The pupils worked with professional artists Julie Brook, Kate Macdonald and Kath MacLeod (Arts Development Officer SMO) through the medium of Gaelic, led by Lasair Ealain and supported by Sabhal Mòr Ostaig.
The aim of the project is to inspire and empower young people to draw their own environment, working with professional artists to encourage their individual forms of expression and a greater understanding of where they live.
After a series of drawing and painting workshops in their own landscapes the children from Bùnsgoil Shlèite visited the pupils in Benbecula for 3 days enabling the children to work together with the artists in different sites, share evening activities through Gaelic and make new friends. At the end of the visit the Balivanich pupils made the ferry journey across to Skye over An Cuan Sgìth (The Little Minch) drawing on the ferry with the Skye pupils and their teachers.
Subsequently each group learnt how to create compositions of specific areas of their landscape based on a number of their sketchbook drawings, enabling the children to collaborate and work together on large scale charcoal drawings.
The sketchbooks, framed A1 drawings, large scale charcoal compositions and a film of the project will form the exhibitions that express their artistic and physical journey, in Taigh Chearsabhagh, North Uist and Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Skye in 2018.
The project has been funded by Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Western Isles Council, Young Films, Lasair Ealain.