Bonnie Boat
Bàta Brèagha / Bonnie Boat
A Year of Scotland’s Islands Flagship Event
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.
Creative Scotland has showcased ATLAS and the Bàta Brèagha/Bonnie Boat event on their website, read the feature in full here: http://www.creativescotland.com/showcase/visual-arts
“Atlas Arts are delighted with Bàta Brèagha/Bonnie Boat, our first major public event in the Isle of Skye. It was wonderful to see a steady stream of visitors and residents flocking to the pier in Portree to see Celestial Radio, the star attraction of the programme. Bàta Brèagha/Bonnie Boat is a project rooted in the history and people of Skye and we couldn’t have done it without them – around 130 local folk contributed to the project. It was wonderful to showcase local talent as well exceptional work from international artists. Later in the night we had a cèilidh with musicians Hector MacInnes and Leighton Jones of the Dead Man Waltz, Bramax and Portree High School band The Outsiders. Celestial Skye the soundscape will be available to download from October at www.atlasarts.org.uk. Thanks again to all who contributed and participated”. Emma Nicolson, ATLAS Director
You can follow ATLAS on Twitter @skyeatlas and on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/atlasartpeopleplace
