MAIM-SlÈ

“It brings a sudden flash of significant cultural history to light for these benighted times.” - Aonghas Phàdruig Caimbeul

Theatre Gu Leòr is delighted to announce Maim-Slè, a new collection of writing by Alasdair C. Whyte and original artwork by Alice NicBhatair, and the third and final strand of the acclaimed MAIM project.

Maim-Slè is a Gaelic phrase which means ‘torrent’, and as with the wider MAIM project, the book raises questions about culture, language and land, specifically on Mull and in the Highlands and Islands, but wth resonances for many marginalised places and communities throughout the world. Maim-Slè is available to buy online as of Friday 10th September.

After a sell-out run at the Tron Theatre in March 2020 with the theatre production strand of MAIM, covid-19 restrictions cut short planned three week nationwide tour. With theatres closed, Theatre Gu Leòr focused instead on how they could extend the life and reach of the project, while also supporting freelance artists who were facing a very challenging time.

First, they commissioned a new album by Ross Whyte and Alasdair C. Whyte, who perform and record together as Gaelic electronica duo WHɎTE. The album is also entitled MAIM and further develops the sonic landscape of the theatre production and features Gaelic song, instrumental pieces and spoken word. It was released in March 2021 to very positive reviews and is available now.

With support from Comhairle nan Leabhraichean (the Gaelic Books Council), Theatre Gu Leòr went on to commission Alasdair C. Whyte and Gaelic-speaking visual artist Alice NicBhatair to create a new book which includes extracts from scenes from the theatre production, as well as new poetry and prose in Gaelic and English. Whyte has described the collection as “challenging the morality and validity of 'rewilding', of depeopled estates and of large-scale timber production, which further obscure our already critically endangered rich linguistic and cultural heritage and, with it, our identity.” His writing is woven together with beautiful hand-drawn paintings and illustrations by Alice NicBhatair, who also acted as assistant designer on the theatre production of MAIM.

Printed using recycled paper and vegetable inks, in keeping with the ecological themes raised throughout the MAIM project, the book also features forewords by broadcaster Cathy MacDonald, who recently fronted BBC Alba’s documentary Trusadh Bàrdachd Ghàidhlig/Gaelic Poetry, and acclaimed writer Aonghas Phàdruig Caimbeul. Caimbeul writes of Maim-slè, “It brings a sudden flash of significant cultural history to light for these benighted times.”

Writing about the 2020 theatre production of MAIM, enowned Scotsman theatre critic and political writer Joyce MacMillan said, “Even before lockdown, there was something almost unbearably powerful about its sense of a civilisation running out of time – time to save the fragile marine environment of the Western Isles from ever-rising sea levels, time to save a million other global ecosystems under similar threat, and time to save those languages and cultures, now almost overwhelmed by an aggressive hyper-modernity, that contain almost all of humankind’s wisdom about how to live in a more sustainable way here on earth.”

Muireann Kelly, Artistic Director of Theatre Gu Leòr, said: “Throughout these challenging times, artists, such as all those involved in the MAIM project, have proven time and again both their creativity and resilience. We are proud to have been able to support them and to continue to explore the important questions that MAIM raises about the climate and cultural emergency facing us all.”

Alasdair C. Whyte said, “This book has given me the opportunity to publish not only my new writing for the theatre production but some of my other prose and poetry on the project’s main themes: language shift; the climate emergency; sustainability; self-determination; identity. I’m very grateful for the support I’ve received in bringing it to fruition, and particularly for the opportunity to work with artist and illustrator Alice NicBhatair, who has elevated the book with characteristically beautiful, perceptive and inspiring artwork.”

The book’s illustrator, Alice NicBhatair, said: “It has been a wonderful and unique experience as an artist to develop Maim-Slè across several genres. The ability to explore the project’s themes differently in each iteration has allowed for a depth of understanding which I would have otherwise not achieved.”

Images: Alice NicBhatair