HI-TECH TALES, MAGIC CIRCLES AND A SENSE OF PLACE

04 July 2006

Visitors are free to choose their own walking routes and global-satellite-positioning tracks their progress around the bay. The area has been mapped as a series of “magiccircles” and when the visitor enters these circles the ipaq delivers tales and songs that are relevant to that specific location. This wealth of tales spans the area’s history back to the Iron Age and features the Bornais Broch, local Fenian legends, the origin of the Brahan Seer’s stone, the 19th century evangelical revival, Uig’s strong connection with the Napoleonic Wars and the discovery of the Lewis Chessmen. To walk the beach and explore all six story circles will take about two hours. The narration is by renowned storyteller Dr Finlay MacLeod and the singers include Ishbel MacAskill and Mary Smith. The stories are available in both English and Gaelic and other language versions are planned for the future. The project was created by the Gaelic arts agency, Proiseact Nan Ealan (PNE), and is the first of its kind. It was developed in collaboration with American researchers Alison Wood and Brendan Donovan from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab Europe and is already attracting international interest.