In the beginning...

by Alexander Stevenson, 16 Jun 2009

The 12th June 1997 marked the end of a long and hard fought battle for the islanders of Eigg. For tens of centuries this tiny and unyielding landscape has supported small populations of Eiggach, and for almost as long (earliest remains indicate the Bronze Age) there have been Kings, Queens, and landlords who oppressed them (save a few progressive souls).

The earliest clans fought amongst themselves and Eigg’s entire population was twice wiped out entirely (save an old lady who could tell the tale). The English, of course, considered sheep more profitable than the Scotts and ruined many of the Small Isles creating bracken strangled moors, unfit for farming. With the sheep farming came evictions, the new owners using the stones of old tenant housing to build field walls. There were the odd couple of progressive owners at the beginning of the 20th century, but the last pair of these trinket collecting King-for-a-day types took it a step too far. Advertising for new islanders to create a thriving community, followed by insensible and whimsical behavior and constant threats of evictions drove someone (no-one will admit to the crime) to set fire to His-Nib’s antique Bentley Limousine, by the pier. Schellenberg (a name that a decade on still draws a grimace) was shortly afterwards driven away only to be replaced by a more illusive despot; the German artist Maruma. This con-man laid out a set of bizarre development plans, only for it to turn out that he had bought the Isle with money from questionable foreign sources and had passed it through doubtful companies and guises. The Isle and its mixed bag of inhabitants (from England, France and from other parts of Scotland- immigrants of the Schellenbergian era, and numbering only 50) bought their island, in partnership with the Highland Council and the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Whether it is true or not that Pavarotti put in a serious bid against the islanders is still a source of hilarity more than certainty.

The community that had fought and won now busied itself with becoming self sufficient with its own hydroelectric power, and other Eco accolades.

About two years ago I started looking into islands. Almost from nowhere I started dreaming about creating a residency on a small inhabited island that would examine how islanders relate to their contemporary and historical landscape. I imagined that island communities had a strong sense of identity and connection to their history and culture, and I imagined (naively) that most of them would have lived there since the year dot. I intended to question the relationships between the preservation of historical and cultural artifacts, and the commodification of these artifacts for tourism. I wanted to explore how personal and island-wide myths are affected, and if any new ones are created as a result. So I was intrigued to discover the Isle of Eigg in the Scottish Small Isles. An 87 strong population on a 3×5 mile stretch of land with forests, lochs, a plateau, a unique geological rock formation, and a largely immigrant population who had fought and won to own their own island just ten years ago. This recent history defined their identity then, and unsurprisingly they are still largely defined by it today.

Many of the islanders I have spoken to have said that it is about time that Eigg starts to create new accolades that define it, and I offered to create a project that would examine the Eiggach’s relationship to their broader history, to tourism debates that are ongoing, and to try to comprehend the way in which Eiggach relate to their historical and contemporary landscape.