St. Oran Chapel has incredible acoustics and draws singers and musicians to perform within its 12th century walls. Many just drop by and sing spontaneously, without ceremony, like visitor Caroline Weatherby who spoke to us about her love of Iona and her Irish roots. Caroline sang “Mo Dhia, Mo Ghrà’sa” an Irish prayer, My God, My Love. A lovely gift.Read more

A welcome interruption to filming came in the form of two visitors to the chapel who asked if we would mind them singing, as we worked. They broke into a haunting rendition of a Shetlandic boat song, a “stormy sea song” as they described it, sung in Norn. Norn was a 6th century Scandinavian language spoken in Shetland up until the 18th/19th Century. A serendipitous moment having this sung alongside the 6th century bell.Read more

Re-Soundings We’ve started work on a new project, Re-Soundings. Funded by Creative Scotland, we are carrying out a 12 week period of research and development of new work for exhibition at An Lanntair, Stornoway and in two site specific locations on Lewis and Iona in May 2016. The new works of sound, film and sculpture will explore the role of the bell as a symbol of secular and non-secular time within the landscapes of Lewis and Iona and within theRead more