A look to the future of the Arts in the North East of Scotland

by Rocca Gutteridge, 23 Mar 2011

Last night we hosted the Artachat session:
“Oil, Neeps and Stony Ballads”
A look to the future of Arts in the North East of Scotland

The Artachat was set in the Empty Shop in Huntly and hosted in collaboration with Deveron Arts. It was a full house of 32 artists, organisation representatives and audiences from across Aberdeenshire.

Specifically invited speakers were:

Andrew Dixon, Chief Executive, Creative Scotland
Paul Harris, Head of School, Grays School of Art
Robert Livingstone, Director, Hi-Arts
and Carol Leathley, Arts Manager, Aberdeenshire Council

The goal for the evening was to both celebrate the current arts in Aberdeenshire and offer a look to the future. It has to be explained that the day before the Artachat was held letters from Aberdeenshire council were sent out to arts organisations explaining the current funding cuts that will be implemented in the forthcoming year.

Creative Scotland’s Corporate plan was also recently released. You can view it here:
web link

The Artachat began with a short introduction by Claudia Zeiske informally presenting some of the artists Deveron Arts has recently worked with. Norma Hunter is the current “Arts Visitor” (taken from the role of the health visitor), Wanja Kimani is the current artist in residence here to carry on the work of Congolese artist Baudouin Mouanda who unfortunately had to leave his residency due to visa problems. The introduction finished with a beautiful performance by singer Shona Donaldson and fiddler Paul Anderson.

After a delicious East African curry cooked by artist Daisy Williamson, I began the Artachat with a quick radio style interview session with Claudia and the four invited speakers. I asked them to introduce who they were, what they do and how they perceive the current contemporary arts scene in Aberdeenshire and give a brief look to the future. This was intended as a starting point and to get their voices heard before a more circular discussion began with a very engaged and articulate audience.

Below are notes of the evenings discussion, Twitter style, created by independent curator Dane Sutherland. www.huntlyartreader.weebly.com
www.linemagazine.tumblr.com
Dane and I will be working together over the next few months to capatalise upon all the research gathered during Artachat sessions.

Claudia Zeiske (Director, Deveron Arts):

• Claudia introduces the Deveron Arts methodology (web link)

• It is important for Deveron Arts to work with local and international artists and to work with the context of Huntly

• We are developing a model for the rural context

• On hospitality and dialogue:
  It’s important to be hospitable for visitors, and also it is a way for people to communicate, creates a dialogue and is good for the local economy.

Robert Livingstone (Director of Hi-Arts, web link):

• Hi-Arts works within a social remit, rather than specifically a geographical remit

• Culture and arts from the Highland and Islands are more visible due to networks maintained with the North-East.

• An organisation in Skye is developing a similar model to Deveron Arts whereby the island is the venue.

• These models are both cost effective and illustrate an inventive use of space

• There were thoughts here on the versatility of arts spaces in the North East and other rural contexts for example, the versatility of spaces such as Woodend Barn web link

Paul Harris (Head of School, Gray’s School of Art):

• Gray’s School of Art aims to expand it’s territory to establish itself as a world class institution – beyond Scotland

• The Parallel Arts School – a device set up to promote learning after college

• Carol Leathley (Arts Manager, Aberdeenshire Council):

• Aberdeenshire Council does have a public art policy. Will be building upon this

• Aims to introduce artists and art into schools, stimulating opportunities for young people

Andrew Dixon (Chief Executive, Creative Scotland):

• I moved to Scotland a year ago and I am constantly amazed

• Creative Scotland has a mandate to promote and invest time and energy and not just money

• Through the corporate plan I hope we can capture imaginations and people will get behind making Scotland stand out

• There are many places yet to define their contribution to a creative nation, yet there isn’t a place I’ve come across that isn’t doing something interesting

• We look at the places that don’t get so much attention and also learn from those that are visibly successful

• People, Place, and Pride are things that make creative culture a success

Nuno Sacramento (Scottish Sculpture Workshops)

• We are our own networks

• SSW is a node in a worldwide network

• Let’s question rurality and its opposition to urbanism, and discuss the present economies

• We don’t have to do things in relation to cities, we don’t have to choose between being here or there, because we are both here and there simultaneously

Mark Hope (Woodend barn)

• Aberdeenshire has recently done a great job of fostering a diverse array of arts organisations

• There is an array of networks with people sharing passion

• (In reference to Deveron Arts and the idea of both the local and the international) Why do we bring in international artists when we have very good local artists? Because one leads to the other

• I would stake money on the goals of the Creative Scotland corporate plan, because we have the raw materials.

• Geographical boundaries are constantly superseded through personal connections – people travel constantly between the city and the shire

• We failed to articulate how the arts are not something peripheral and ‘cuttable’

Bryan Angus (COAST Festival):

• Talked of creating a model of communal sustainability, so that the community may embrace and own an organisation

• It’s the glue we have to find, a single vision for us to work around. There needs to be a curatorial element and direction.

Mary Bourne (Artist and Deveron Arts Board Member):

• An important factor for culture in the rural area is the longevity of projects.
  With longevity people will trust a project and potentially participate

• It is also important to be woven into the fabric of the town.

Andrew Dixon:

• It is in the psyche of Scotland not to celebrate success
  Scotland didn’t know that it had 280 festivals!

• We should call upon everyone to recognise what we have here.

Donald Boyd (Town Coordinator and Huntly Development Trust)

• The importance of promotion and opportunities

Robert Livingstone:

• Importance of reliable branding in getting across to the powers that show what Scotland actually is

Paul Harris:

• Just because we are from the North-east, we don’t have to consider ourselves 2nd class citizens

• There is no need for a comparison just between Gray’s and Glasgow School of Art or Edinburgh College of Art – we want to be a world class institution.

• To retain people in the North-east it is important to provide resources, facilitate, bring people together and develop a strategy beyond formal education models to allow graduates to deploy their skills

• There is a need for continuous support and collaboration

• We must fit into this ecology of cultural provision

Pete Stolley (Musician):

• This is the place of all the places I’ve worked that you don’t need to look for a network – they find you

Bryan Angus:

• Quite often creative activity stops once the kids leave school

• Are Banff and Macduff actually urban communities in rural areas?

• Young people have these cultural expectations (ref to the urban culture)

Mark Hope:

• A sustainable arts organisation is not something that makes money… but sustainability means channeling in resources from a diverse range of sources

Lorraine Grant (Cultural Services Manager, Aberdeenshire City Council):

• There needs to be a shift from providing support downwards, to nurturing talent upwards

• Community development base model

Rachel Kennedy (Duff House):

• Tourism plays a key part

Andrew Dixon:

• It would be interesting to map a cultural day in the life of Aberdeenshire – to show how it does glue together a place, economically and socially

• The corporate strategy is not a 3 year plan but a 10 year aspiration

• It is culture and environment that defines these places

Summary (Offered by myself)

• This was an honest celebration of Arts in the North East Scotland

• There seems to be an emphasis on seeing the North East and Aberdeenshire not as a periphery but a central node in an international Arts network.

• Collaboration feels key to any progression that might take place

• If we are to create a map of Aberdeenshire Arts, will it be a map of how we see ourselves now or what we want to be?

If I have forgotten any key points please feel free to post below or email me
info@artachat.co.uk