We are seeking 5 responses to Gaelic content in our collections from the 1980s, in the following categories: song, visual art, craft, creative writing, & the creation of a new school playground game.
The National Library of Scotland has been looking back at the 1980s in a retrospective called ‘Back to the future: 1979-1989’. A decade of considerable change and transition, the 1980s also saw significant development with regard to Gaelic language in Scotland with the rise of community activism and increased demand for an infrastructure to support the language and culture of the Gael.
We would like to look again at this period by means of ‘format-flipping’ some of our Gaelic language and Gaelic culture publications and film archive footage from the 1980s. We recently used this approach by inviting people to creatively re-sit old exam papers — the results are on our Scottish school exams website.
There are five opportunities to bring ‘the Gaelic 1980s’ to life in this call for creative responses. A fund of up to £1,250 is available to support one creative response in each of the five categories.
In return for the grant, we would like a piece of writing, film, high-resolution images, recording, or similar which documents the completed work and which can be displayed on our website and in our publications.
Works should be exhibited or performed in a location which connects to the piece of finished work or the original prompt. Written and spoken / vocal works must be primarily in the Gaelic language, with an English translation supplied.
To apply for this creative call, please respond with a description of how you will respond to the particular prompt that you are interested in, how your work will bring ‘the Gaelic 1980s’ to new audiences, and how the funding will enable your work.
Applications should be in English and should feature a short CV. They will be judged on: Creative interpretation of the brief; How well the work will tell the story of Gaelic language and culture in the 80s; How useful the piece will be in engendering useful conversations about Gaelic language and culture today; The method of public display or performance.
Details of all of the prompts and the supporting documents and links to collections are at the following web link:
https://www.nls.uk/news/gaelic-1980s
Please submit your proposal to Graeme Hawley by email to g.hawley@nls.uk by Monday 24 February 2020. Decisions will be made by Friday 6 March 2020. Recordings, finished written works, and other evidence of completion must be completed by Friday 29 May 2020.
The funding for these artistic responses has been generously provided by Creative Scotland.
Location: All Scotland
For further information, please contact g.hawley@nls.uk (Graeme Hawley), or call 0131 623 3905, or visit https://www.nls.uk/news/gaelic-1980s
The deadline is Monday 24 February 2020 at 10:00.