An Guth/The Voice

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Across these islands, people have gathered to sing the age-old songs for centuries.

When they don’t sing, they might believe in God, or in the resurrection of a critically endangered language, or in the benefits of reiki for dogs. Indeed, human beings are lyrical creatures, and without the songs’ age-old wisdom, they’ll find another hymn sheet soon enough.

Fictions, whether sung from an ancient songbook or read in a crack newspaper, are exciting. They centre us in grand stories and give the land around us a hidden logic, however misguided. But beneath them lies something profoundly human: the desire to belong, to understand, to matter. That people across these islands are flocking to conspiracy
theories should come as no surprise; people have gathered to sing the age-old songs for centuries.

Or so I read.

Christopher Ivor Adam is a visual artist who makes paintings, prints, songs and films about fellow Gaelic learners, conspiracy theorists and traditional styles of singing, among many other things. His film An Guth/The Voice was made as part of his Fine Art degree show at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in May 2025.