Event 8 / Nine Whales, Tiree

Join award-winning, internationally acclaimed poet, Taylor Strickland, and Gaelic singer of the hit television series Outlander, Gillebrìde MacMillan, for the public debut of Nine Whales, Tiree.

Late summer in 2018 saw mass whale strandings across the western shores of the Hebrides, with the beaches of Tiree becoming a final resting place for nine of these immense mammals. The mystery of their demise is underscored by strange conflicts of emotion: presence clashing with absence, and the abiding continuum of the sea contrasting sharply with the mortality of such majestic beasts.

Seeking to present these opposing feelings, Nine Whales, Tiree captures the mood of the island following the strandings. Wildlife swarms around abandoned buildings, anonymous figures move in the distance—signs of life and decaying artifacts intertwine, posing questions about what our existence leaves behind. Crystalline, pure and striking, Olivia Booker’s cinematography allows the serenely powerful landscape of Tiree to speak for itself; poetry by Taylor Strickland gently communicates the islanders’ shared sense of community, history and place; and a brooding score by Fee Blumenthaler resonates with the timeless power of the ocean.

This film poem, directed by Olivia Booker, is a collaborative creation that combines the art of film-making with the art of poetry and translation to form a new medium. Taylor Strickland will provide a behind-the-scenes look into the collaborative process, and recite his original poem on which the film is based. Gillebrìde will then perform traditional Gaelic songs curated to suit the theme and location of Tiree. After the screening of the film, a Q+A will follow where the audience will have the opportunity to ask Taylor for a more in-depth perspective of how the film and poem were made, and his insights into the process of collaboration with Olivia Booker and the Tiree community.

Selected for numerous international film festivals, such as Bloomsday Film Festival (Ireland), and Raleigh Film and Art Festival (USA), Nine Whales, Tiree is a hypnotic meditation on place, culture and environment that speaks to our recent past as much as it does our future.

This short film contains poetry, spoken in Gaelic with English subtitles. Please note the event will take place in the cathedral crypt, which is an underground space and unfortunately only accessible by staircase. The stairs have handrails and there is seating available for the film.

Event 8

Free

Tue 17 September 2024
19:30 – 20:30
launch event with refreshments

Wed 18 – Sun 22 September 2024
10:00 – 16:00
film installation on display

BLACADER AISLE, Glasgow Cathedral
Castle Street
Glasgow G4 0QZ