Julie Fowlis ann an Làr an Righ

Bho colbh Sùil Eile anns an Daily Record

Airson aon diog bha mi cinnteach gun robh Julie Fowlis a' priobadh rium bhon àrd-ùrlar a-raoir.

Ach às dèidh dhi òran a gabhail, dh'aidich an sàr-sheinneadair gur e na rosgan fuadain aice a bh' air a sùil a steigeadh sìos.

Och uill, chan e na sùilean ach an ceòl ioghantach a tha a' tighinn bho bilean.

Tha e duilich cèilidh Gàidhealach a chruthachadh am meadhan Lunnainn ach 's e sin a rinn Fowlis agus an còmhlan aice.

I fhein an lòn-dubh, 's i a' gabhail  òran MacArtaine mu ghràin-chinnidh anns na Staitean.

Is i an Eala Bhàn cuideachd, ann an geal, nuair a ghabh i òran Dhòmhnaill Ruaidh Chorùna aig comharrachadh blàr an Somme. Dh'fhag i rudeigin nam shùil an latha sin.

Mach à sin, thàinig iarratas dhi fhèin is Donnchadh Siosalach pìos ciùil a chruthachadh airson call na h-Iolaire a comharrachadh aig deireadh na bliadhna seo.

Mar a dhearbh Fowlis, anns an Fhraing agus Lunnainn, tha guth aice a tha airidh air le faireachdainn a chuireas gaol agus bròn nad chridhe anns an aon diog.



Translation
For a second I was sure Julie Fowlis was winking at me from the stage last night.
But after finishing a song, the incredible singer admitted her false eyelashes had stuck her eye shut.
Oh well, it's not the eyes but the lips and the incredible music that comes from them.
It's hard to create a Gaelic ceilidh in the middle of London but that is what Fowlis and her band achieved.
She is the blackbird, as she sings McCartney's song about racism in the States.
She is White Swan too, all in white, when she sang Domhnall Corruna's song at the commemoration of the battle of the Somme. She left something in my eye that day.
Out of that came a commission for her and Duncan Chisholm to create a piece of music to commemorate the loss of the Iolaire at the end of this year.
As Fowlis proved, in France and in London, she has a voice that is worthy of it, with emotions that put love and sorrow in your heart in same second.

Sùil Eile air an Lanntair

Mo colbh Sùil Eile bhon an Daily Record

Ma tha ealain-lann ann am baile Steòrnabhaigh airson adhbhar sam bith, 's ann airson cultar a bheartachadh.

Gabh ris neo diùlt e, tha creideamh làidir Pròstanach, agus glèidheach na Sàbaid, mar phàirt dhen dìleab sin.

Le bhith a' fosgladh air Latha na Sàbaid, tha An Lanntair air a dhol an sàs ann an iomairt airson na freumhan sin a losgadh.

Nam b' e 's gur e gnìomhachas coimearsealta a bhiodh ann, chanainn lean air adhart.

Ach seo a' phrìomh bhuidheann ealain phoblach. Tha seo na teachdaireachd làidir dhan choimhearsnachd.

A' cleachadh fiolm mar an ionnsramaid, a' sgròbadh lotan eachdraidheil a' bhaile, tha sin na shamhail cuideachd.

Tha sin mar a tha e, ach a' dèanamh lethsgeul gu bheil seallaidhean de Star Wars mar phàirt de ghluasad co-ionnanachd agus iomadachd, mar a bha stiùiriche a' ghailearaidh a' cumail a-mach, uill tha sin suarach.Tha sin a' dèanamh magadh air iomairtean chòraichean mion-sluaigh, agus an obair ealain san robh an gailearaidh an sàs.

Nas miosa, tha e mar fhianais gu bheil tuigse air na tha an lùib curaidh ealain ann am mion-chultar air a chall.

Cò am mion-sluagh an seo, agus carson tha An Lanntair an sàs ann an mùthchadh cultar?

Translation: 

If there is an art gallery in Stornoway for any reason, it is to enrich the surrounding culture.

Love it or loath it, a strong Protestant belief, and Sabbath observance, is part of that inheritance.

By opening on Sunday, An Lanntair art gallery has involved itself in the campaign to burn these roots.

If it were a commercial operation, I’d say go ahead.

But this is the prime public arts organisation. This is a strong message to the community.

Using a film showing as the instrument, picking at historic scars in the town, that is highly symbolic too.

That’s as it is, but to make the excuse that screening Star Wars is part of a movement for equality and diversity, as the gallery director maintained, is risible.

It mocks real campaigns for minority rights, and other artistic work the gallery is involved in.

Worse than that, it demonstrates that an understanding of what is involved in curating art in a minority culture has been lost.

Who is in the minority here, and why is An Lanntair involved in strangling a culture?