ARTS of LOCHABER A new feature with Ilona Munro Lawson Hello. A huge thanks to Iain for giving the arts in Lochaber a platform. Arts? It’s a challenging word at times. Some people see it as a highbrow luxury, others as an essential part of being human. I came to Lochaber in 1998. It was a surprise to me as I had always been a city girl: Perth, Aberdeen, Novosibirsk (!) and finally six years in London. That said, there was always a deep connection to Kinlochleven, as my grampa, Dougie Lawson and his family lived there. Summer holidays and wild New Years were annual highlights. How does a city girl, who studied Russian and Theatre end up in Kinlochleven? Well, there was a small matter of a taste of life with Eden Court when their incredible outreach arts education programme started in 1996. I didn’t get a full-time job with them until 1999, but I did get a job as a performer with Highland Mysteryworld, in Ballachulish – remember that tourist attraction? I had family and I had work, but what kept me here? It certainly wasn’t the wages. And while the scenery is world class, the weather isn’t. It was community. People here often talk about the “old days” and when they do, they invariably mention ceilidhs, bands, drama competitions and house parties with singing and dancing. The Highlands prides itself on
hospitality and entertaining banter. Perhaps they are the best diversions from rain and midgees. Listening to a Highland voice telling a long joke is a unique pleasure. We know that arts, culture, creative industries – call it what you will, are crucial yet are often called to justify their existence. At the time of writing, we are emerging from lockdown, having been sustained by the arts and by community: food banks, neighbourly kindness, costumed visits of good cheer not to mention our voracious appetite for books, radio, music, television and film plus
an astonishing engagement with online “live” theatre and dance classes. So let’s celebrate our creative communities: the school bands, the sole trading artists, the drama club leaders, the musicians, the photographers, the show organisers, the crafters and let’s whoop for everyone who volunteers and goes unpaid to make things happen. However you define community and however you define the arts, culture and love are at the heart of every thriving village, city and country. As we look from Lockdown in Lochaber to the future, “thriving” seems a great ambition for all.
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