Culture Round-up for April
Welcome to The Scots Curator’s new monthly round-up, pulling together interesting news, stories and events from across Scottish culture and the arts. Think of it as a monthly magpie’s nest of cultural treasures you might have missed. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to The Scots Curator to support our work and receive future updates (it’s free!)
‘Carry Them With Us’ by Brìghde Chaimbeul
Brìghde Chaimbeul’s mesmerising new album, ‘Carry Them With Us’, brings a bold, experimental edge to the traditional sound of the smallpipes. Praised by reviewers as an ‘exciting, sometimes bewitching set of tunes’, the result is an album rich in storytelling, which feels both rooted and modern.
The next generation of Young Makars
The Scottish Poetry Library is seeking submissions to its talent development scheme for poetry writers aged 16-25. ‘We are looking for poets and poetry that are unique, imaginative and bold’ say the organisers, ‘a lot like Scotland itself.’ The project accepts entries in English, Scots and Gaelic.
Tartan exhibition at V&A Dundee
The highly-anticipated Tartan exhibition has opened its doors at V&A Dundee, presenting what it calls ‘a radical look at a revolutionary textile’. ‘Tartan is a textile, a pattern, a cultural phenomenon, a byword for all things Scottish,’ say the organisers. ‘Traditional and rebellious, adored and derided, tartan is a pattern of endless contradiction.’ The exhibition is open until January 2024.
Modern Scots exhibition at Perth Art Gallery
Perth Art Gallery has opened its Modern Scots exhibition, telling the story of influential modern Scottish artists and their contribution to 20th and 21st century art. The exhibition aims to demonstrate how Scottish artists took inspiration from the nation’s past, as well from the contemporary art movements of Europe. Perth is also about to host the Soutar Festival of Words, celebrating the Scots language.
Fifty-year anniversary of a ground-breaking play
This month marks the fifty-year anniversary of The Cheviot, the Stag & the Black, Black Oil, a ground-breaking play first performed in 1973 which examined profound questions around the history of the Highlands and Islands. We covered it here on The Scots Curator. BBC Radio Scotland also marked the anniversary with a thought-provoking retrospective.
A fresh look at MacDiarmid
Author Alexander Linklater has announced an upcoming biography of the ‘most contentious and politically influential poet of the 20th century’, Hugh MacDiarmid. A statement from the publisher reads: ‘Antagonist tells the story of how an eccentric outsider, Christopher Murray Grieve, invented an alias in order to become the ultimate contrarian. Itself the life’s work of author Alexander Linklater, the life behind Hugh MacDiarmid requires a rethinking of biographical form to unravel a mystery of personality and national identity.’