Leide Beag is a collaborative film-performance comprising voice, movement and image. Inspired by the celebrated Irish language texts of the Aistriú collection, this newly-devised work explores modern migration through a rich weave of folksongs and newly composed music, movement and gesture, alongside a collaborative process with singers from Galway’s new communities in partnership with the Croí na Gaillimhe migrant support centre.
The interdisciplinary team behind the work includes composer Ian Wilson, artist-facilitator Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi, filmmaker Laura Sheeran, choreographer Siobhán Ní Dhuinnín, director Robbie Blake, creative producer Síobhra Quinlan, conductor Sinead Hayes, Aistriú Creative Associate Marianne Ní Chinnéide, singers of Tonnta and singers from Galway’s new communities in partnership with the Croí na Gaillimhe migrant support centre.
Aistriú a Galway 2020 Commission
When Europe is faced with unprecedented migration, twentieth-century Irish language texts provide a vocabulary to respond to contemporary challenges. The Aistriú project sheds new light on some of our best-known Irish language writers and engages new readers around the globe through original translations and creative responses. The project presents our rich Irish language poetry and prose as part of the tapestry of contemporary multilingual world literatures today.
Aistriú translations
In partnership with EFACIS (the European Federation of Associations and Centres of Irish Studies), we invited translators across Europe and the globe to choose and translate one or more of the Aistriú texts. These translations are presented together on the Aistriú website (aistriu.eu) along with notes on the authors, texts and translators. We have been overwhelmed with the response. You can find over 80 translations in 17 different languages from Chinese to Croatian and from Farsi to French, and including the most widely spoken languages among Galway’s migrant communities
Aistriú creative responses
We launched a public call for artists to engage with the Aistriú texts, and Galway 2020 commissioned three separate artworks in performance, choir and sculpture. These original pieces have evolved with time and in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Each one offers an intriguing insight into the Aistriú texts and their themes of migration, displacement and assimilation.