St Kilda
Project Objectives
To tell the story of the “Republic of St. Kilda” and that of the thousand year old people and civilisation which disappeared forever in August 1930 with the evacuation of the “islands at the end of the world”.
The project, translated into four European languages, effectively underlined the poetic potential of the Gaelic language and helped a wider European audience to appreciate its richness.
To contribute to the restoration of the memory of Northern island cultures.
To bring together the concept of environment and contemporary creation: to forge a strong and symbolic link, beyond space and time, between Celtic cultural vestiges preserved in Kilda on the outer reaches of Europe with those found in Hallstatt, Austria - the cradle of Celtic civilisation and classed as a world heritage site - resulting in an original, staged form of “Lyrical and Musical land Art”.
To promote the integral use European choral traditions in a contemporary work. The chorus is at once a central, identifying feature of Bird Men and symbolically, Europe and a founding element of Lyric theatre.
To further explore new interactive communication technology as well as the notion of artistic ubiquity: the initial action has taken place on the island itself and was then relayed and connected to other places in Scotland and the mainland Europe. The work in its entirety has grown out of the simultaneous, pan-European transmission of this conjunction of music and theatre, a sort of poetic and musical ubiquity. High speed internet and satellite links have facilitated this process.
The St. Kilda project will bring together artists and designers from at least five countries and encourage a unique interdisciplinary exchange. Participating in the this project will be a combination of amateur and professional writers, librettists, composers, set designers, directors, opera and Gaelic singers, actors, story tellers, choreographers, musicians, dancers, filmmakers, cameramen and sound operators. In addition virtual image, voice and choral designers will work along with transmission experts. It is hoped that this meeting of creative people working together over an extended period of time to deliver an artistic project will serve as model for future collaborative laboratories and networks, as well as the “European Festival of Ubiquity” whose geographical locations would be the same as those of the Kilda project.
Following the initial performances, a permanent Legacy will be established in the Outer Hebrides, ensuring that as many people as possible will have access to the material generated during the project.
