13 June

Elsa McTaggart : Capturing the Light

The third child of Gaelic speaking Kintyre crofters, William McTaggart RSA became one of Scotland’s most celebrated artists through sheer determination and hard work. What is his legacy a century on, for his country and his family?

In Capturing the Light, Isle of Lewis singer-songwriter Elsa McTaggart tells the story of her great grandfather’s extraordinary life and talent, and how it shaped her own identity and creativity.

Produced by Hebridean arts company sruth-mara (creators of Precious Cargo, Move-Gluasad and Soil and Soul), in association with An Lanntair, this visually striking new theatre show is written and performed by Elsa McTaggart and directed by Laura Cameron-Lewis, with production design by Robbie Thomson. 

Following its debut at An Lanntair, Capturing the Light will transfer to the Edinburgh Fringe. The show will be part of this year’s Made in Scotland showcase, which promotes a small selection of new Scottish work to international audiences. You can reed more about it here @sruth-mara & Elsa McTaggart 

Aghaidh Ris An Achadh : Facing the Field – Fraser MacBeath

4 April – 16 May 2026

Fraser MacBeath is an audiovisual artist, composer and field recordist from the Isle of Lewis. He won the RSA Benno Schotz Prize for the most promising work by a Scottish artist under 35 at the Royal Scottish Academy 197th Annual Exhibition. His practice looks in part to continue the legacy of 20th-century field recordists who documented rural Scottish culture, while using the material to create contemporary artworks that reflect modern realities. His work often marries traditional elements with contemporary audiovisual technology. Creating narratives which weave past and present, evoking reflections on memory, sense of place, cultural identity, and the relationship between tradition and modernity.

This work examines cultural change and depopulation in his home in the Outer Hebrides.

The work asks whether small cultures can still be shaped collectively. The past is not finished but something we are responsible for continuing, and the installation explores how that inheritance sits within a contemporary context. Without collective action, culture risks becoming thin, fragmented, or lost.