Unfortunately I was unable to attend the latest event organised by AHM, namely, 'Changin'
Scotland – The Role of the Arts, Culture and Identity
in Scotland' in Ullapool, 2-4 November 2012. Thankfully Richard Taylor has written a comprehensive report on the conference.
'Changin'
Scotland – The Role of the Arts, Culture and Identity
in Scotland' looked at how artists and others can influence public
policy.
By: Richard Taylor
Introduced by writer and commentator
Gerry Hassan and
Highlands and Islands MSP Jean Urquhart, 'Changin' Scotland – The Role
of the Arts, Culture and Identity in Scotland' took a 'Yes' campaign
slant on how Scottish cultural identity could help educate public
opinion on Scotland’s independence referendum in 2014.
The conference was organised by artists and facilitators
AHM (Sam Ainsley, David Harding and Sandy Moffat),
who in 2011 produced the State of Play – Art and Culture in Scotland
Today symposia. In their opening session, and in light of having
attended the open public meeting at Glasgow's Tramway on October 31
which addressed the need for change at funding body Creative Scotland,
AHM asked: "How do artists and those involved in the arts change public
policy?"
Further sessions followed over a full day on the Saturday, with a
screening of 'Brigadoon' in the evening, and two morning sessions on the
Sunday. Representatives of Scotland’s cultural sector presented their
ideas, followed by open discussion facilitated by AHM. The role of
cultural action as a stimulus for social transformation and political
change was discussed in terms of national institutions, such as the
Royal Scottish Academy, the role of Creative Scotland, and events in
recent Scottish arts history such as
'Windfall 91', a seminal artist-led exhibition in
Glasgow involving Scottish and European artists. All sessions were
visually recorded through
drawing by artist Emily Wilkinson.
www.mindfulmaps.com
There was strong support for Scottish independence throughout the
three days. Artists such as Jim Mooney and Roderick Buchanan, art
historians, politicians, poets and literary figures such as Janet
Paisley and
Alan Bissett, as well as former representatives of
what was the Scottish Arts Council, including Sam Ainsley and Lindsay
Gordon, put forward arguments that harkened to late '70s Scottish
nationalism and its influence in the arts in the '80s and '90s. Creative
Scotland was also scrutinised on its dismantling of the specialist
voice of artists at board level.
Speakers from the visual arts sector included Malcolm Maclean, former
CEO of
Proiseact
nan Ealan (the Gaelic Arts Agency); Will Maclean (RSA), former
Senior Research Fellow and tutor at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art
and Design; Craig Richardson, Professor of Fine Art, Northumbria
University; novelist, journalist and filmmaker Ewan Morrision; and Tom
Normand from School of Art History, St Andrews University.
A strong argument came from Malcolm Maclean’s Saturday morning
session 'Out of the Invisible: The role of the visual-arts in
re-imagining Gaelic Scotland'. In presenting historical events that
dealt with the promotion of Gaelic language through visual art, Maclean
put forward ideas on how artists can project change through media
coverage and a public voice.
He commented: "The blank canvas of giving artists full license to
realise their ideas whilst working with the Gaelic language – Proiseact
nan Ealan’s foremost ethos – in turn allows an effective politicisation
of ideas… a slow-burner effect of instilling social and political
movement." Foundation funding was this year withdrawn from Proiseact nan
Ealan by Creative Scotland.
The importance of history
Craig Richardson’s Saturday afternoon talk, ‘Scottish Art since 1960’
discussed historical definitions of Scottish contemporary art in light
of post-modernism, Thatcherism and devolution – all reference points
that were brought together in the conference to promote 2014’s
independence vote, and to politicise the creative act.
Anchoring social change to artists' responses, Richardson stated: "An
insurance policy for Scottish artists is the knowledge of their recent
art history, a record of which has been difficult to trace in a British
sense… to look at the topology of Scottish visual art since 1960
unearths either exclusion or inclusion – a predicament the artists’
national confidence will face in upcoming political shifts."
Ewan Morrison’s later talk, 'The role of great art and art education
in social transformation', questioned whether social change is indeed
possible through the work of artists. He instead suggested that such
tasks should be left to politicians. He said: "Artists feel the need to
symptomatically respond to politics, yet successful practitioners have
responded instead with entrepreneurship in order to survive."
With many artists now avoiding the art market to pursue alternative
ways to make a living, context-specific work is realisable, as are
socially engaged projects that look to the community. Yet this type of
work is clearly dependent on funding.
Much focus was brought back to Creative Scotland’s role. It was
characterised as a product of decisions made by governmental shifts
ignorant of Scotland’s international cultural standing and overly
focused on activity in the central belt (Edinburgh and Glasgow). The
overiding message of Changin' Scotland was that the change brought about
by being an independent nation would allow for inclusivity, rather than
exclusivity.
'Changin’ Scotland – The Role of the Arts, Culture and
Identity in Scotland' took place 2-4 November, in Ullapool, Scotland.
Images from the event can be viewed on the AHM blog:
http://theahmblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/conference-report-arts-and-identity-at.htmlhttp://theahmblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/conference-report-arts-and-identity-at.html
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