Hulabhaig at Baile na Cille church, Uig, Isle of Lewis.

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Hulabhaig (not) at Baile na Cille!

As you may know Baile na Cille church recently changed ownership, and in trying to progress with Hulabhaig's mission to explore its potential as a contemporary arts venue I invited local artists, including renown RSA academicians, curators and members of the Uig community to help me form a group to manage future events at Baile na Cille church that would help the new owners to develop the church into an artist led art space for the benefit of the local community and island wide artists.

Sadly, our proposals and ambitions as a group didn’t seem to fit comfortably with the new owners future plans for the building, who have now set up their own ‘steering group’ which will manage events at Baile na Cille church.

In an attempt to progress on my own with ‘Hulabhaig at Baile na Cille church’ I continued to discuss ideas and present proposals to the new owners, but unfortunately, over the last few months, I have felt that Hulabhaig’s vision to focus on artists and to encourage the creation of new work is now unlikely to be attained by working under the new ‘steering group’, so a parting of ways has been becoming more and more inevitable.

I feel I’ve achieved what I initially set out to do, which was to show that the church did have a future as a place for art. I also believe the new owners aims are still to see it utilised as an arts venue but, sadly I guess their own commercial needs will somehow take priority over the needs of artists and the community.

It is sad that this type of project is so difficult to get up and running and then is almost impossible to be sustainably maintained despite all the support I have had from artists across the islands and beyond, but ultimately it needs money to keep curatorial control and when public funds are not an easy option, relying on private sources will inevitably lead to conflicts of interest and the watering down of ideals.

Despite this I do wish them all the best in their new venture.