Exhibition that captures the essence of change

Julia Chystiakova, one of the first Ukrainian refugees to come to Lewis.

An island artist has shared some of the background to an exhibition currently on show at An Lanntair which features a collection of his life’s work, depicting both the crofting community in which he was raised and the story of his own family within it.

Calum Angus MacKay, from Achmore in Lewis, who is also a prolific television director and cameraman, selected a number of paintings and black and white film images for the exhibition.

And he has now revealed that it will be the subject of a new book to be published by Acair at the Faclan book festival in October.

Calum Angus said that through his work he “has always been immersed in people’s lives, and in their wealth of stories” and the exhibition was an “opportunity to bring together a collection of over 30 years' work – much of it being viewed for the first time”.

Calum Angus in front of the artwork "Moine"

One piece of work is entitled ‘Moine’ (peat) and is a canvas with bitumen and oxide pigment which was soaked for a month in the peat bank in 2014 before being framed for display.

Another particular highlight is a black and white photo featuring his sister, Maggie, looking over the crofting landscape wearing an old fur coat which was something of a family heirloom.

“The mink fur coat is roughly 100 years old,” said Calum Angus. “It was originally sent home by my grandfather from Detriot, Michigan in the 20s.

"It came down through the family to my mother Effie, now modelled by my sister, Maggie, on the Achmore croft on which we were all raised.

His sister, Maggie, in a 100-year old mink fur coat which has stayed in the family

“This year has seen a wealth of immigration stories, on the back of many family’s tales of ships journeys, adventures and longing.”

As well as abstract paintings and new photographs, the exhibition also features personal documents and pictures that were left by his late parents, Effie and Donald John – and some of which Calum Angus himself had only discovered.

“To me, the inherent ordinariness of the material gathered is in some way part of the creative attraction,” he said. “A common denominator in so many households attempting to close a generational chapter.

“We weren’t the sort of family to keep shrines to our loved ones. Yet, it is important to extract some form of sense out of artefacts hidden in the far reaches of a drawer.”

Granny Shawbost and the ‘Nazi’ pram, 1931

He continued: “I did want to create a paper shrine. We will be the last generation who actually carry physical paper evidence such as photographs and documents of our parents and their families.”

The exhibition is a fascinating journey of the imagination, but also an historical record of the constant change in our communities, as told through the prism of one family’s story and through the knowing eye of a multi-talented artist.

The “Unnad - Indigenous” exhibition runs in An Lanntair’s main gallery till 24th August.