The George Bain Project
Saturday 17th March sees the opening of an exciting exhibition of Celtic art at An Talla Solais, Ullapool's own arts centre. On display will be some of the intricate design work of George Bain, known as the father of modern Celtic design, who recorded the complex patterns of ancient Celtic and Pictish art and produced the definitive guidebook to their construction.
The exhibition is curated by Groam House Museum, located on the Black Isle, who hold the national collection of his work. Ullapool will show a new selection of artwork together with items exhibited in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Iona. What makes this exhibition really special is that, in the spirit of George Bain (who was so keen to promote modern interpretations of Celtic design that he even set up a 'Celtic school of art' in Drumnadrochit), part of the work on display has been made by the local community.
In order to show this new work to its best advantage, one room of the arts centre will be turned into a sitting room, featuring beautiful furniture by retired local teacher David Young. Some of the other features of the room will be a fireplace filled with Celtic-themed tiles made by local school children. There will be Celtic 'cava lamps' on display and textile wall-hangings, cushions, clothing, tea cosies and - as the advertisers say - much, much more - all made by this community with the help of local artists Allison Weightman and Jan Kilpatrick.
One of the more quirky exhibits will be the Ullapool News itself; after all, no sitting room is complete without a copy of the Ullapool News lying on the coffee table! The textile copy of the Ullapool News will be a replica of this week's special Celtic-themed edition, with embroidered title lettering and other stitched embellishments throughout. Thank you Ullapool News team for getting into the Celtic spirit!
The exhibition is open each day from Saturday 17th March until Sunday 16th April, 10.00 am - 4.00 pm. Entry is free, so come along and enjoy this collaboration between the Celts - ancient and modern.
To find out more about the life and work of George Bain, have a look at Groam House Museum on the Black Isle, which houses the national collection of his work.
visit http://www.groamhouse.org.uk for more details.
Please click on an image to see the full picture.