Harpland Uist is a live performance show featuring harps, interviews and electronica. Composed by Graham, it follows threads of migration into and out of Scotland. It takes ancient Highland tunes from the time of the Clearances, composes a complete new work around them, interspersed with interviews from recent migrants into Scotland.
The show started touring in autumn 2023, continued in spring/summer 2024 and will continue into summer 2025. The new album, UIST, was released on NXN (part of Naxos) and mixed by Real World’s Tim Oliver and is available from your standard online streaming and physical album retailers – https://lnk.fuga.com/fitkinwall_uist
The show features Ruth Wall on three harps while Graham manipulates sound from stage and there is a specially commissioned and choreographed light installation from artist Peter Freeman.
Migration is not a new phenomenon. Since homo sapiens came out of Africa between 60,000 and 100,000 years ago, humans have populated the planet at an increasing rate. There are now over 8 billion of us and we move around a lot. Migration can be motivated by many different triggers – geological and geographic changes were key to starting the movement of people north from Africa as was climate change. And climate change is causing migration once more. There are forced migrations such as refugees from war or cross-Atlantic slavery. There are more voluntary migrations such as Europeans to America from the late 19th century onwards, or the colonisation of Australia. Then there is the recruitment of workers from abroad such as the supply of Turkish workers to West Germany in the 1960s, the use of Asian workers in the building of Gulf States’ infrastructure or the UK’s use of Commonwealth labour to fulfil new and vacant positions in England. And so on….
Ruth’s Scottish background has driven this album. The enforced eviction and subsequent migration of farmers and crofters from the highlands, as part of ‘the clearances’ which benefited wealthy Southern sheep farmers, provides the central focus. Each interview focused on a separate aspect of migration, ‘M’ from Ukraine talked of her son, ‘F’ from Iran of his journey to get to Scotland, ‘B’ from Germany about her integration into the Highlands, ‘M’ from Latvia about the unusual Russian-Ukrainian-Latvian culture within her own family. Here is a section from an interview with Lewis from Newfoundland –
The dates for summer 2025 are –
4 July 2025 Theatre Royal, Bath
8 July 2025 Spitalfields Festival, London
9 July 2025 Bristol Beacon, Bristol
10 July 2025 The Courtyard, Hereford
11 July 2025 Victoria Hall, Settle
17 July 2025 Trevow, Helston
Here are some of the previous UK dates from 2023 and 2024 –
16 November 2023 Turner Sims, Southampton
17 November 2023 RWCMD, Cardiff
21 November 2023 Surrey University, Guildford
29 November 2023 Tung Auditorium, Liverpool
30 November 2023 Pound Arts Centre, Corsham
01 December 2023 Assembly Rooms, Ludlow
02 December 2023 AMATA, Falmouth University
05 May 2024 Ashburton Arts
15 May 2024 Howard Assembly Room, Leeds
17 May 2024 Tolbooth, Stirling
18 May 2024 Queens Hall, Edinburgh
19 May 2024 Eden Court, Inverness
23 May 2024 Shetland Arts, Shetland
28 May 2024 NCEM, York
29 May 2024 The Stables, Wavendon
05 June 2024 Lakeside Arts, Nottingham
11 June 2024 The Haymarket, Anvil Arts, Basingstoke
17 October 2024 Waterside Arts, Sale, Manchester
22 October 2024 Sound Festival, Aberdeen
25 October 2024 West Church, Thurso
31 October 2024 Great Hall, Lancaster
30 November 2024 The Lighthouse, Poole
And here is a link to the Guardian review of the show
