Year of Creative Scotland 2012
The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-01870 on the year of creative Scotland 2012. Members who wish to take part in the debate should please press their request-to-speak button now.
15:10
I am very pleased to lead this debate on the year of creative Scotland, which is the third in a series of four focus years that showcase some of Scotland’s great creative, cultural and tourism assets and build the momentum as we progress towards homecoming 2014. Building on the success of the earlier focus years, the year of creative Scotland will spotlight, celebrate and promote Scotland’s cultural and creative strengths. The year is underpinned by four objectives: to support events and activities; to inspire our people and visitors to participate; to raise the profile of Scotland; and to encourage partner collaboration. Although public finances are tough, I have been able to protect front-line funding for culture where possible.
The programme for 2012 features fantastic events and outstanding new work taking place in communities the length and breadth of Scotland. It is only 1 February, and already an incredible amount of activity has happened in support of the year. The year got off to a great start this hogmanay with the extended and stunning fireworks display at Edinburgh castle. On 1 January, for the first time, an exciting day of fun and games for all the family in Edinburgh’s old town was provided in the form of the new year games. Ten thousand people took part, competing for the red stag of the doonies or the silver eagle of the uppies. In the end, the doonies were triumphant, but a fantastic time was had by all. Last Friday, I launched the fantastic new Big Burns Supper festival in Dumfries—a new, inspirational festival with 45 venues, 80 artists and an estimated 2,000 performers. That is an example of the year reaching different communities, and I—literally—raised the flag for the year of creative Scotland with the organisers.
Last week, I attended the year of creative Scotland’s creative places awards, which celebrate and recognise the exceptional creativity and cultural activity that go into nurturing the fabric—the social and economic lives—of our communities. I was hugely impressed by the line-up of shortlisted applicants. Organisations and partnerships supporting performers in St Andrews, craftspeople in West Kilbride, poets and writers in Wigtown, and budding artists in Creetown and in Huntly were recognised, with funding awards ranging from £40,000 to £150,000 for new, expanded activity.
More widely, a wealth of activity will happen as part of the extensive partner programme. For example, the trad trails of Fèis Rois and the Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland will, for the first time, take place in central Scotland, enabling visitors and local people to experience the very best of Scottish traditional music throughout 2012. From March to November, Scotland’s pubs, village halls, historic sites, farmers’ markets and other venues will resound to the strains of Scotland’s traditional musicians. Many of the events are free and all will guarantee an authentic experience of Scottish culture. Events and community projects such as these, coupled with our already vibrant cultural calendar, will offer something for everyone to enjoy, all year round, and will complement the cultural activity taking place around the Olympic and Paralympic games. In that spirit, I am happy to accept the Labour amendment.
As the cabinet secretary says, 2012 is the year of the London Olympics. She will be aware that there has been some controversy about the Olympic rings coming to Scotland. Is she aware that Glasgow City Council has also requested the Olympic rings and suggested that Glasgow is an ideal site? Does she agree that George Square or the squinty bridge would be an ideal location for the Olympic rings in Scotland given the connections between Glasgow 2014 and London 2012?
I diplomatically leave the matter of the most appropriate site for the rings as one to be resolved between the City of Edinburgh Council and Glasgow City Council.
Creative Scotland has provided £6.5 million of lottery funding to support a range of activities in places across the country. Newly funded projects announced so far include Dancing Voices and Mission: Possible, which promote dance in Glasgow and Dundee, and Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust’s enLIGHTen project, which will bring the streets of Edinburgh to life in February with spectacular projections of literature from the Scottish enlightenment. Between July and September 2012 in the Scottish Borders, there will be a celebration of contemporary Scottish printmaking to bring that activity in the Borders to a wider audience.
There will be activity to celebrate Scotland as a land of ideas and innovation with a world-class creative legacy in the fields of education, science, engineering, medicine and ecology. For example, during 2012, to celebrate the year of creative Scotland, National Museums of Scotland will host a series of museum talks focusing on Scottish innovation and pioneering spirit across a wide range of fields including sport, business and science.
To harness the full potential of the exceptional programme of activity that we have planned, it is essential that our communities and visitors know what is happening and are inspired to take part, so a wealth of marketing and promotional activity in support of the year has already happened.
I took the opportunity during my recent visit to North America to showcase the year of creative Scotland and warmly invite our friends overseas to visit Scotland during 2012. We have more marketing activity planned and the momentum will ramp up significantly during 2012 as more exciting events and activities are announced.
In January, I was pleased to launch the new year of creative Scotland television advert, which is expected to reach around 20 million people. It spearheads a wide range of co-ordinated partner activities—boosted by £500,000 from the Scottish Government—to showcase what we have planned for 2012 and extend a warm Scottish welcome to the world.
Today, I unveiled the groundbreaking short film “Scotland the World Over”. That new work, which has been made by Scots and Scots at heart in 32 countries around the globe, is a great showcase of our creativity on the global stage and has already captured the imagination of more than 1,500 people at home and abroad who have contributed. Already, more than that have viewed it since 9 o’clock. It can be viewed at the Scotland.org website.
Organisations, communities and businesses the length and breadth of the country are enthusiastically contributing to the celebration of the year of creative Scotland. The partner events programme already showcases more than 4,000 cultural events and activities throughout the country.
VisitScotland’s consumer website can help people to find out what is happening in their area and enables them to sign up for a newsletter to keep themselves informed as things develop over the year. In addition, its corporate website provides a range of tools to help businesses and organisations to gain maximum benefit from the year of creative Scotland, including advice on how to have their event or activity added to the programme.
The media, marketing and promotional activities that we have developed are not the only things that will help to celebrate and promote Scotland’s culture. Our collective and active enthusiasm for our creativity will also spotlight, celebrate and promote Scotland’s strengths on the world stage.
Jackie Kay writes:
“A poem is a little moment of belief”,
and I like to think that the year of creative Scotland is about belief in ourselves, our culture and our creative aspirations. It will provide economic growth and investment in new work, but it also offers the opportunity to celebrate, value and experience the great wealth of cultural activity that our communities already enjoy and to which our artists contribute.
The year of creative Scotland programme clearly has a global and international reach, and we expect that to evolve continually as the year progresses.
The year of creative Scotland supports the London 2012 cultural olympiad and offers us the opportunity to participate on the global stage. We have an opportunity to ensure that the quality and reach of festival 2012, as it is being called, relate to the work that we are doing and that we can be proud of that work. Indeed, the first festival 2012 performance is Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, performing alongside Sistema Scotland’s big noise orchestra in the Raploch in June.
Our museums and galleries will also contribute. The national collections are producing a range of work and activities to enhance a key theme of international reach in this creative and Olympic year. That includes: “Fascinating Mummies”—the title will interest my children, although I am not sure that they find me fascinating—an exhibition of antiquities from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom that will provide an insight into life and death in ancient Egypt; and “Sounds Global”, which puts young people at the heart of the curatorial process and is delivered in collaboration with the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games—LOCOG—as part of the cultural olympiad. National Galleries of Scotland will also host a series of exhibitions that will focus on celebrated artists from Scotland and around the world.
All five of the national performing companies will showcase some of the best of Scotland’s creative talent at performances this year. The year of creative Scotland will also see them produce a range of community-based activity to promote creativity throughout Scotland—that relates to Patricia Ferguson’s amendment.
That activity has been made possible as part of Creative Scotland’s first-in-a-lifetime awards. For example, Scottish Ballet will visit a number of communities throughout Scotland—Arran, Mull, Islay, Perth, Fort William, Dumfries and Greenock—four days and nights at a time in the autumn of 2012, working in partnership with organisations such as the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland to improve dance participation.
What is more, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, with Nicola Benedetti, will perform Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” in Ayr, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
In addition, the 12 main Edinburgh festivals, which are supported through the expo fund, are fully engaged with the year although, of course, Scotland’s festivals are not confined simply to Edinburgh. The year offers us the opportunity to promote, enjoy and visit festivals throughout Scotland. Visitors and residents alike can take advantage of The List and Creative Scotland’s free “Guide to Scottish Festivals 2012”, which showcases more than 350 festivals across the country. On top of that, Creative Scotland has produced an interactive festivals map to showcase Scotland’s rich cultural events through its international touring programmes.
In the time that is available, it is difficult to encompass the incredible wealth of cultural and creative activity that will take place in Scotland during the year of creative Scotland, which will take place on top of the activity that takes place each and every year. The year of creative Scotland provides us with a fantastic opportunity to celebrate and promote our writers, artists, musicians and performers, and it does not all end on 31 December 2012. On 1 January 2013, Scotland will enter the year of natural Scotland with a stronger than ever global reputation for culture and creativity. As Einstein was famously quoted as saying,
“Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.”
The year will continue to have an impact and reach beyond 2012. To help to ensure the cultural legacy of the year, I am pleased to confirm that an additional £1.1 million of the money that the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth announced yesterday would be released from UK capital consequentials will be allocated to culture. Of that allocation, £840,000 will be invested in key infrastructure: £300,000 will go to the National Library of Scotland to help with the Kelvin hall project and other improvements; £300,000 will go to the National Gallery of Scotland for essential improvements; and £240,000 will go to the national performing companies for new equipment for performance and education work. Further announcements will follow on how the remainder will be allocated. In addition, I am pleased to announce a further allocation of £300,000 from existing budgets to the National Museums of Scotland for repairs and maintenance.
Those resources, our existing world-class portfolio of cultural events and activities, the new initiatives and projects that will be funded under the year of creative Scotland, the wealth of partner events that will form part of and benefit from the celebration, the London 2012 festival and torch relay, and all the partnerships that will be strengthened during 2012 place us in an excellent position to build towards the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will arise in 2014, when Scotland will welcome the world to join us for our second year of homecoming and when, as a nation, we will take centre stage in world terms as host of the Commonwealth games and the Ryder cup.
I move,
That the Parliament notes that the Year of Creative Scotland is the third in a series of focus years leading to Homecoming 2014; recognises the role it will play in celebrating and promoting Scotland’s creativity, innovation and culture; welcomes the Year as the start of a three-year cultural plan of creative and cultural activity embracing the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012 through to the Commonwealth Games in 2014, and acknowledges the economic and cultural benefits that can be realised by taking full advantage of the opportunities offered by the Year of Creative Scotland to raise the profile of Scotland both nationally and internationally as a world-class cultural tourism destination.
15:23
I genuinely welcome the allocation of £1.1 million of consequentials to culture in Scotland, which I am sure will be put to very good use.
In January 2006, I was pleased to announce to Parliament that a new body, which was to be called creative Scotland, would be established. That new body would be charged with supporting the arts in Scotland and creating a climate in which culture could flourish and in which people could experience and enjoy all that a truly creative Scotland had to offer.
The gestation of creative Scotland may have been difficult and it may have gone on longer than any of us could have imagined in 2006, but we now have an organisation that is fully equipped to carry out the changed role that it has been tasked with. Creative Scotland is up and running and is beginning to establish itself as an important part of the cultural and artistic life of Scotland.
Therefore, as an organisation, Creative Scotland is well placed to play a key role in the year of creative Scotland and to work with its partners—particularly EventScotland and VisitScotland—to bring forward a programme of exciting and inspiring events across the country. I am delighted to see the collaboration between the agencies and their partners continue, and to see that the cultural olympiad, which will accompany the London Olympic and Paralympic games, will be a component of that.
I congratulate the minister, who body-swerved for Scotland in avoiding Mr Smith’s request on this occasion. It was interesting to hear more detail about the Olympics festival, but I wonder whether Mr Ewing—if it is he who will be closing the debate—will say a little more about the festival events that will take place immediately around the football events in Glasgow.
The three agencies—EventScotland, VisitScotland and Creative Scotland—were always intended to complement one another and to work with other partners for the benefit of our country. I am pleased to see that they are working so well in practice.
People come to Scotland as visitors for many reasons, but research tells us that culture in its widest sense is a key reason for visiting our country. People know about our festivals, particularly the Edinburgh festivals, and they increasingly recognise Glasgow as the home of world-class galleries and museums but, as we know, every area of our country has its own unique culture and there is no single identifiable Scottish artistic style, any more than there is one type of scenery or even consistent weather throughout Scotland.
It is vital, therefore, that the year of creative Scotland emphasises those differences. Scotland is not a homogenous destination or place to live, and that is part of its attraction both to visitors from abroad and to those who live here. We must do everything that we can to protect and enhance that local cultural scene.
I absolutely agree with what the member has said on that point. Does she agree that the trad trails collaboration between the Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland and Fèis Rois, which was launched at Celtic Connections earlier this month, represents an ideal opportunity to enhance both of those important Scottish cultures?
I absolutely agree with Ms Fabiani on that. To take the connections a little further afield, one thing that has always impressed me is the way in which the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland has been able to combine the teaching of classical music at the highest level with the teaching of our more traditional music, also at the highest level. We should be proud of that and celebrate it.
From Celtic Connections to Up Helly Aa to the Wickerman, we celebrate our differences. The creative places strand of the funding arrangements, which we heard about today, has a role to play in that, particularly as it aims to help smaller communities to position themselves as tourism destinations through creative activity.
Scottish Labour’s amendment emphasises how important we believe it is that local people—and not just visitors—have the opportunity to enjoy what is on offer in the year of creative Scotland. I suggest that, to be successful, it must achieve that aim. Everyone in Scotland should be able to enjoy and experience the arts and culture in their local area. The excellent outreach work of the national collections and national performing companies is a good example of what can be achieved. I am aware that a great deal of organisation and logistical planning is required to make it happen, but I was delighted to hear the minister outline the additional programme of work that will take place in this special year. I hope, too, that the first-in-a-lifetime fund will go some way towards addressing that point and that, when we look back, we will see that local art and creativity have been stimulated for the longer term by that investment.
I was interested to hear the minister’s point about the investment in advertising. It often seems to me that we need to look beyond the usual outlets in advertising our country’s cultural life. The minister mentioned the film that she saw today, which the Evening Times described as “quirky”, and on that basis alone I look forward to seeing it. I often think that these debates offer us an important opportunity to contribute to the advertising package, because we are able to hear and discuss what is going to be available.
It is particularly important that local cultures are celebrated and that local communities are given the opportunity to be involved, particularly at a time when local authorities may have to make cuts in their budgets as a result of Government decisions. My fear is that, in some areas, culture and the arts will be seen as an easy hit. We must ensure that the Government does what it can—by setting an example and by setting the agenda—to discourage local authorities that might be tempted to make sacrifices in their support for art and culture from doing so in their area. By contrast, local authorities that have invested consistently in arts and culture have reaped the benefits, and the benefits have far exceeded the value of any such investment. I hope that the celebratory year will give local authorities a clear view of the direction of travel that the Government and Parliament want them to take.
I note that the material that we have been provided with cites architecture as an important element of our culture, and I whole-heartedly agree that it should be. Indeed, on the day when Parliament is to celebrate Scotland’s places, it would be wrong if it were otherwise. Yes, people in Scotland and beyond recognise images of Scotland’s scenery, but they also recognise images of our distinctive architecture. I wonder whether, in closing, the minister might be able to explain a little bit about whether Architecture and Design Scotland, the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and Historic Scotland have a role to play and, if so, what that role might be.
I hope that today’s debate can be positive—I am sure that it will be—and that we will consider and discuss what Scotland has to offer. However, in discussing a celebratory year of this sort, it is necessary to remind ministers that financial control must be better than seems to have been the case with the year of homecoming 2009.
The motion draws our attention to the series of focus years that the year of creative Scotland is part of. Perhaps we should pause at this point and consider whether we run the risk of diluting the concept of celebratory years. We need to take stock and ensure that such a valuable contribution to our cultural and tourism offering is not devalued by overuse. We benefited from the year of Highland culture in 2007. The 2009 year of homecoming might have been a bit more of a mixed bag, and there have been some other focus years along the way.
This year—2012—has great potential, but there is a danger that we might try to do too much in 2014 and that the effort might not be focused enough. As members will know, the arts are an abiding interest of mine, as is sport, but so is our history. I am concerned that a year of homecoming that celebrates our sporting effort and achievement while trying to look back to remark on the Bannockburn anniversary might just stretch the concept a little bit too far. Scottish National Party colleagues should note that I do not, for a moment, deny the importance of the Bannockburn anniversary to our country, but I hope that we can do justice to the Commonwealth games, the Ryder cup and Bannockburn by celebrating them all together.
I look forward to the remainder of the year of creative Scotland and, in the months to come, to reading about and perhaps debating the outcome of any monitoring of the event and of the concept that is such a valuable tool for our tourism and cultural offering to the country and beyond.
I move amendment S4M-01870.1, to insert at end:
“but recognises that the Year of Creative Scotland must provide opportunities for people around Scotland to experience cultural events and activities in their communities.”
15:33
I am pleased to speak in this afternoon’s debate on the year of creative Scotland. I am a great supporter of culture, and if my solitude in the chamber today suggests that I am advancing the cause in isolation, I should say that my party is very much behind what is happening.
Of course, the initiative has already begun. The bells of hogmanay and the spectacular fireworks in our capital city marked the beginning of this creative year, and it is the beginning of an exciting period that embraces London 2012 and Glasgow 2014 and generates momentum towards the homecoming of 2014. Through a year-long programme of activity, Scotland will celebrate our artistic and cultural heritage. Although I recognise that 2012 has been given the title of the year of creative Scotland, we all appreciate that, year in and year out, Scotland showcases its breadth of talent to the world. Scots and tourists alike are treated to wonderful productions, world-class events, festivals and shows, and we should pay tribute to everyone who makes that happen.
Scotland is rich in heritage and one of the world’s most dynamic and creative nations. This year, in particular, we celebrate that fact. The initiative is ambitious in scope as it involves the spectrum of the creative industries, and Creative Scotland is not shirking on its investment, having put £6.5 million into the creative Scotland 2012 programme—that is no small amount of money. I also agree with Patricia Ferguson that Creative Scotland working in tandem with VisitScotland, EventScotland and VOCAL is sensible.
I welcome all that in principle. However, this is a debate, so I would also welcome the response of the Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism, Mr Ewing, if he is winding up, to concerns about the emphasis being on promoting what already exists. That emphasis has a place, but what about the anxieties of organisations that depend on Creative Scotland not for a one-off jamboree but for basic funding just to keep going? They need some certainty and reassurance about the shape of future funding. I hope that the minister will agree that while we look to Creative Scotland to co-ordinate and facilitate delivery of very exciting projects for the year, we do not want the staple diet of recurring and excellent creative activity falling off the radar screen. Nevertheless, I welcome the diversity of what is proposed and I am delighted to see the geographical spread of activity.
I am the first to hold up my hands to taking the cultural banquet that is regularly on offer from Edinburgh and Glasgow completely for granted. Those of us who live in the central belt are fortunate. The iconic locations and events with which Scotland is now indelibly associated—Edinburgh castle, Stirling castle, our museums in Edinburgh and Glasgow, the Edinburgh international festival and fringe and Glasgow’s Aye Write! festival—all have their proud place, which is entirely appropriate. I think that a particular highlight this year will be the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which will have a wealth of creative talent from four continents and will pay tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s diamond jubilee as well as the year of creative Scotland. That will be a special celebration and a crowd-puller, and a terrific advertisement for Scotland.
Among all the high-profile bells and whistles, I am delighted to see activity in some of our more remote communities being recognised and rewarded. I was pleased that the minister referred to that. I pay tribute to three towns that have won creative places awards in recognition of their status as Scotland’s most creative places. Wigtown in Dumfries and Galloway received £50,000 for winning in the category of places with fewer than 2,500 residents. The town already hosts a successful book festival and the award will allow the book festival to be developed into a year-round programme. I know the area well and regard it with great affection, having holidayed there, so that is great news. It is precisely what a local community like that needs.
In my own west of Scotland region, West Kilbride was awarded £100,000—I hope that Wigtown will not come with a war cry to West Kilbride—in the category of places with fewer than 10,000 residents and is seeking to develop itself as craft town Scotland. West Kilbride has a special place in my heart. I have known it since childhood and it was probably my introduction to the seaside. Indeed, I have been known to take a dook in the chilly Firth of Clyde there, but before Mr Ewing collapses it was admittedly not recently and it is certainly not for the faint-hearted. West Kilbride has so much potential in such a beautiful setting and the award can only enhance its growing reputation. Ally that with a train service, good road connections, its proximity to Portencross castle and its historic connection with the ancient Scottish kings, a sandy beach, a golf course designed by old Tom Morris and local recreational facilities, and West Kilbride to me is a wee diamond and a must-visit destination.
If you cannot get there, St Andrews will have to do. St Andrews featured in the category of places with fewer than 100,000 residents and won £150,000, which was a significant achievement that will greatly enhance what it is trying to do. Again, on the local front, Creetown in Galloway and Huntly in the north-east have both impressed with their long-standing creative programmes involving the whole community, so the reach is indeed both local and broad. That localism matters, so I support Patricia Ferguson’s amendment. It is very important that we give a physical assurance that all this is reaching out and beyond the two Mecca points of Glasgow and Edinburgh in the central belt.
As the minister said, the year will proudly feature a host of cultural delights that are too numerous to mention, some familiar names and some less so—I wish them all well. However, as well as celebrating all that, we should keep our heads screwed on. It is important that we do not view all this in isolation. I think that Patricia Ferguson alluded to that aspect slightly. We need to ensure that there is a legacy from the activity and the disbursement of public money and that we build on and develop our cultural infrastructure. As we enjoy the events of the year in Scotland and in the UK and look forward to the Glasgow Commonwealth games and the 2014 homecoming, I have two ambitions. First, for the homecoming, can we aim to exceed the proportion of overseas visitors that we achieved in 2009? Secondly, if we are repeating the gathering, can we have the most stringent financial safeguards to protect creditors?
I am confident that 2012 will be an exciting year and I wish all those involved every success. I support the motion and the amendment.
15:40
The cabinet secretary mentioned the incredible wealth of creativity in Scotland. In mulling over my speech, I was concerned that I should do justice to Scotland’s culture and cultural heritage in this year of creative Scotland. How could I do justice to such a wealth of talent? Yesterday, I decided to look at the year of creative Scotland events calendar on the partnership VisitScotland website.
The cabinet secretary has encouraged many organisations to register their creative events and, by using the calendar, to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the year of creative Scotland. I found my inspiration in Alasdair Gray—novelist, artist, playwright, academic, teacher and polymath. On 31 January, the gallery of modern art in Glasgow was hosting the “City Recorder” exhibition of Gray’s work. The exhibition includes city scenes captured by Gray in the 1970s, defining Glasgow’s life then, and capturing its famous inhabitants and characters. The diary for yesterday also included many Celtic Connections events—and one of the venues for Celtic Connections is Òran Mór, with its iconic Alasdair Gray mural. I am delighted that Scotland’s largest traditional music festival will head to Chicago in September 2014 as one of the events supported by the year of creative Scotland.
The 30th anniversary of Gray’s masterpiece, “Lanark”, was in 2011. On its publication, Anthony Burgess hailed Gray as
“the most important Scottish writer since Walter Scott”.
When thinking about “Lanark”, I noted that an event took place in the town of Lanark yesterday—the “Saving New Lanark” exhibition, showing images from before and after the restoration of New Lanark and documenting the work of the conservation trust over the past 25 years. New Lanark is one of the digital imaging projects featured on the Scottish ten website, where there is a modern, hi-tech, 3-D image mapping of the town. The town is also beautifully captured by Alasdair Gray in his spectacular mural of the falls of Clyde, which he painted in 1969, and which was recently beautifully restored.
A tour through some of the events on one single day of the year of creative Scotland calendar leads me to remark that Alasdair Gray—in relation to whom one single day of the year of creative Scotland weaves together music, 3-D imaging, venues, restaurants, historic landmarks and artistic and writing talent—has made a contribution that, alone, merits Scotland a place as a world-class cultural tourism destination.
Many members in the chamber will have read the beautifully crafted essay by Pat Kane in this week’s Sunday Herald. A judge in Creative Scotland’s creative places awards—which are a key element of this year’s celebrations—Pat Kane examines the concept of creative places in the context of his home town of Coatbridge. So it should be for us all: the creative places awards, and the major events and festivals featured in this year’s programme, should inspire all Scotland’s places, communities and festivals to take part in the celebrations.
Pat’s article mentions Mark Millar and the superhero archway in Coatbridge. I was lucky enough to see Mark in a question-and-answer session in Coatbridge library last October, as part of North Lanarkshire’s book festival. To a young audience, Mark imparted a tale of the self-belief, dedication and work ethic that have enabled him to achieve his ambitions in the creative industries and to become one of the greatest writers of comic books of all time and an A-list Hollywood producer. It was truly inspiring to everyone in the audience. Mark urged them to work hard on their craft, whether as writers or graphic artists, and to become the best they could be.
Last week, I returned to Coatbridge, this time to the Summerlee museum to attend North Lanarkshire Council’s creative residency exhibition, which features talented youngsters from the area. Every year, creative pupils from North Lanarkshire are taken to Kilbowie outdoor centre for a week’s residency, during which they are given master-classes in the visual arts, jewellery making, digital photography, film making, textiles and printmaking. At the event, those who feature in the exhibition were honoured with another inspirational speech, this time from Sandra Gunn, the curriculum director of City of Glasgow College. A graduate in fine art with a masters degree in architecture and design, Miss Gunn urged the pupils to work hard and to embrace the creative industries and not to be put off by naysayers, but to trust their ambitions and talents.
After all, our creative industries are worth more than £5 billion a year to Scotland and support more than 60,000 jobs. There are new modern apprenticeships and opportunities for young people in the industry. I was delighted when, last year, the cabinet secretary announced the creative edge partnership, which will be worth more than £1.4 million over three years to Scottish talent and creative businesses. Working with partners Channel 4, Creative Scotland, Scottish Enterprise and TRC Media, the initiative aims to strengthen our talent and business base in Scotland in what is obviously a priority area for the Government.
I regret that I must ask you to close, please.
Thank you, Presiding Officer.
15:46
I, too, am grateful for the opportunity to speak about the year of creative Scotland and the practical importance of Scottish culture. Earlier this week, I read that the Hollywood film industry and numerous other productions for TV and cinema had boosted the Glasgow economy by £20 million in 2011, led by the shooting of the Brad Pitt movie “World War Z” last summer. When I was growing up in the Gorbals, it would have been pure fantasy to imagine Hollywood stars filming in our city, but it is now a reality and, I believe, a sign of things to come for Glasgow and Scotland.
The Scottish Government’s economic strategy identifies the creative industries as a key growth sector. Scottish Enterprise has indicated that the sector contributed £5.4 billion to the economy in 2010. In the past decade, the number of businesses that are involved in culture and the creative industries grew by 27 per cent compared with an average growth of just 4 per cent in all other sectors. That is a positive trend that shows how resilient the sector can be.
I welcome the drive to make 2012 the year of creative Scotland, which is a chance to showcase our arts, skills and culture to visitors from Scotland and from throughout the world. To do that, we must make the connection between Scottish culture, the creative industries and another key growth sector—Scottish tourism. Tourism accounts for almost 9 per cent of employment in Scotland and is worth £11 billion per annum to the Scottish economy, which is the equivalent of 10 per cent of gross domestic product, so it is an important sector.
We have heard a bit about what Scotland can offer, from concerts and festivals to arts and crafts and from the Edinburgh festival to events in Glasgow, which is a UNESCO city of music and a European city of culture. Our museums and galleries welcome 25 million visitors per annum and are worth £800 million to the economy. A quarter of tourists to Scotland choose to visit museums and galleries such as the national museum of rural life in East Kilbride. A growing number of visitors to Scotland come to find locations that are mentioned in film or literature. Rosslyn chapel has become one of the better-known examples, following the success of “The Da Vinci Code”, but there are others, such as the Rebus tours in Edinburgh.
As I represent Lanarkshire and Falkirk, I remind members that Scotland’s attractions stretch beyond the areas that are traditionally thought of as tourist hubs or cultural centres. According to VisitScotland, four of the top five tourist attractions in the Glasgow and Clyde valley area are located in Lanarkshire. Top destinations include Lanarkshire’s great country parks of Drumpellier, Calderglen, Chatelherault and Strathclyde, which attracted more than 6.3 million visitors in 2009 alone.
The Falkirk wheel, which is also in my region, attracts half a million visitors every year and has quickly become one of Scotland’s most recognised landmarks. Such places are great assets for Scotland and great venues for events and exhibitions, where we can showcase our creativity and promote our cultural tourism, at every level.
VisitLanarkshire is involved with local people’s activities as part of this year’s focus. There is the exhibition at the Scottish museum of industrial life at Summerlee, which the previous speaker mentioned, and entries to South Lanarkshire Council’s annual photography competition are on display at Chatelherault in Hamilton—a building that is a testament to the skill and creativity of its architect, William Adam.
The Labour amendment stresses the importance of community involvement in this year’s activities, and Lanarkshire is setting a good example. I ask the Scottish Government to consider people’s opportunities to participate and volunteer. For example, there are young people who might have a talent or interest that relates to Scottish culture, older people who have experience and want to stay active and give something back, and young and not-so-young people who are out of work and in need of positive, useful work experience. Throughout society there are people who could benefit from getting involved in this year’s events and the events that follow as we build up to 2014. I am a former training consultant, so I can assure members that good work experience and placements can lead to good jobs.
I have talked about the economic benefits of cultural tourism. The creative industries show promise. Tourism has felt the effects of the recession but remains a major industry with huge potential for growth in the years ahead. If we are to keep Scotland competitive and ensure that we become the world-class destination that I know that we can be, we must ensure that the workforce in our cultural attractions and key parts of the service sector is properly skilled.
The Government understands the importance of repeat tourism and I hope that it is working on our main cultural attractions to ensure that staff who deal with the public have the skills and the aptitude for customer service that visitors rightly expect. It is not just in museums, galleries and visitor centres that we need those skills; we need to know that proper training is taking place in the hospitality sector, in public transport and in the airports, so that Scotland maintains its reputation as a welcoming place for all who come here.
In 2012 we should not just celebrate creativity but actively show creativity in how we promote ourselves as a nation to the rest of Scotland and the rest of the world.
15:53
I direct members to my declaration of interests in respect of my membership of Aberdeen City Council—that might pop up during my speech. My colleagues from the north-east, Kevin Stewart and Dennis Robertson, will speak later in the debate, so I will do what I can do to highlight positive examples from the north-east without engaging in thunder stealing.
With that in mind, I briefly mention Huntly, which is in Mr Robertson’s constituency. I welcome the cabinet secretary’s comments about the town, which is an exemplar in its use of the arts to rebrand itself and become an internationally recognised creative community. Other small communities should emulate the approach. There are plans to use the funding award for a number of exciting projects, including a creative food project. We might hear more about that later. There is a lot to be excited about in Huntly.
During the year of creative Scotland a number of projects will run in Aberdeen. Aberdeen international youth festival is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The event has become a leading youth arts festival and one of the most popular festivals in Scotland. About 1,000 talented young people from performing arts companies and music groups across the globe will arrive in Aberdeen to perform at venues large and small, from Aberdeen music hall to the church hall at Queen’s Cross. The festival will include some outreach events in Aberdeenshire. Indeed, such events have become a festival favourite and recognise not only the city’s hosting of the festival but the city region’s role in the area’s cultural fabric. They are all about reaching out to certain communities who might not find it as easy to get into Aberdeen and enjoy the festival.
Aberdeen’s hosting of the British science festival, which promotes the best of knowledge and learning in science, technology and the arts, will play a fundamental part in its contribution to the 2012 year of creative Scotland. The impact of the Olympics has already been mentioned and an Olympic torch relay event in Aberdeenshire will involve a mixture of dance, music and the arts and include a performance by the chart-topping Aberdeenshire artist Emeli Sandé and a participatory dance event. Aberdeen’s own public Olympic art commission will also be playing a firm role in that.
Another event called “The Port” is a multi-arts collaboration that seeks to connect young people and their wider communities with the changing landscape of Aberdeen city and harbour and will use street performances, large sculptural pieces, dance and music opportunities to develop high-quality local experiences. Although such events are not on the grand scale of some that have been mentioned, they nevertheless play a very important role.
In an example of the kind of shameless parochiality that I engage in from time to time in the chamber, I want to talk about certain things that might not be directly linked to the year of creative Scotland but which tie in with the sort of community involvement issues that Patricia Ferguson mentioned. A number of play areas in the village of Dyce where I live and which I represent on Aberdeen City Council had fallen into a bad way, but they have since been reinvigorated partly through the installation of art pieces. For example, kids’ sculptures were placed in Central park to give it a more cultural feel. A Sluie Drive park that had fallen into a very bad state of repair was reinvigorated with artworks developed with some of the young children at Dyce play group, who were, as a result, given a real sense of ownership. Moreover, play areas off Princess Drive that had fallen into serious disrepair are now home to some fantastic ground-level street art that has really enhanced interest in the area.
It is worth mentioning such projects, because they have a role to play in community regeneration and in meeting the year of creative Scotland’s aim of exploring Scotland’s culture. This is not just about art in the community; all the projects that I have highlighted involved young people in the community, giving them a sense of ownership and helping communities to feel that the project was theirs and not just something that was imposed on them.
I was extremely enthused by a recent project involving a collaboration between the National Theatre of Scotland and my old school Dyce academy that resulted in a piece called “The Cabaret of Impossible Dreams”, which was performed at the Forum in Aberdeen. It brought in puppetry, music, mime and dance but the best thing about it was not only that it was created in collaboration with more than 120 school students, but that it brought in the local community to work alongside them and helped to create links that will continue beyond that performance.
That kind of community-based art should really be promoted. Although it might not attract the kind of headlines that the Edinburgh military tattoo or major festivals such as the Edinburgh fringe attract, that does not make it any less of a vital part of Scotland’s cultural fabric. It can act as a stepping stone for young people and communities that might not engage in cultural activity to feel a part of it and perhaps to move on and discover other things.
15:59
Edward de Bono articulated what I feel when he said:
“There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be ... repeating the same patterns.”
Recognition of, support for and investment in our creative people, whether they are visual artists, writers, architects, industrial designers or scientists, are prerequisites for a confident nation and for—as we say these days—going forward.
Only a generation or two ago, Scotland might not have been quite so prepared to support this special year. Historically, our frustrating reluctance to endorse for fear of showing off was often to deny recognition of a special talent or creative skill in young people for fear of making them different or big-headed.
Praise—far less celebration—was rarely the reaction of ordinary folk on discovering achievement or a special talent in family or community members. Glasgow was city of culture as recently as 1990, but although it absolutely deserved the title for many genuine and solidly good reasons, there were many who doubted that.
Sadly, some were unaware of the rich seam of creativity in the city at the time. A new generation of writers and artists were having their work recognised in London and further afield, and yet they were not acknowledged at home and were not part of the city of culture. I suspect that that would never happen now, more than 20 years on. Alasdair Gray’s “Lanark” was hailed as the masterpiece that it is and was being printed in translation, while most people in Scotland had yet to know of its existence. I mention those examples not to make us feel bad, but to acknowledge the distance that we have come in 20 years.
To go back further in time, the Clyde Unity Players in the 1930s and 1940s were performing plays in the recognised genre of kitchen sink drama. Those were plays written by ordinary working folk about the hardship of their lives: socialist realism. More than a generation later, John Osborne had his play “Look Back in Anger” staged in London, and theatre-goers were shocked at seeing an ironing board on the stage. That signalled the declaration and recognition of kitchen sink drama, but in Scotland a generation before we had been leading in so many of those different creative art forms, and yet never recognising enough ourselves.
In the early 1970s, there was “The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil”, John McGrath’s play recounting the economic change that was brought about by the discovery of oil in the North Sea. Much further back, we had Sir David Lindsay’s “Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis”, which was first performed during the midsummer holiday in Cupar in Fife, in 1552. That was probably the original musical, but Scotland is not often credited with that. It featured a cast of hundreds representing church, state and crown—the three estates—but in essence it is the story of the common weal.
More recently, there was the National Theatre of Scotland’s production of “Black Watch”, which portrayed the history of the regiment and the realism of present-day life for its soldiers.
Shakespeare referred in “Hamlet” to
“the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold as ‘twere the mirror up to nature: to show virtue her feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure.”
I mention that because creative Scotland has a fantastic cultural history that we can be so proud of. We can try to show how dependent we are on the work of not only our previous but our contemporary creative minds.
Artists are not always—or even often—the friends of politicians. They are often critical—surly, even—and they can be difficult. However, in every part of Scotland, often against all the odds, there are writers, poets, painters and musicians who are endlessly reaffirming and defining our nation. Protest songs, folk songs, slow laments and whirling jigs; public art, photography, film and so on; and the widening of culture by people of different nationalities who make Scotland their home: all of that is Scotland’s rich, creative scene.
Our artists often play a bigger part than we recognise. If we are asked to close our eyes and imagine Robert Burns, I would bet that it is the painting by Naismith that readily comes to mind. When we are asked to promote our country abroad, it is our artists who are in the front line. I believe that this year of heightened awareness, and of keen and ubiquitous promotion and dedicated involvement through the various strands of funding that are being made available, could prove to be a life-changing experience not only for our own people in Scotland, but for visitors, too.
I worked in the tourism industry for many years and I know the difference that it makes to a holiday if people get the chance to hear some of our music or attend a performance of actors, strolling players or whomever, whether contemporary or traditional. That is so important, and only now are we beginning to recognise the true worth of that in our everyday life.
I believe that this year should be the start of the new enlightenment—absolutely fresh thinking. We must be alert to new thinking, receptive to new music, informed about the creative minds in our midst and aware of the economic case—made regularly—regarding the importance of inventiveness and the encouragement that it needs to flourish.
A number of years ago, I was involved with the Scottish Arts Council and visited what it considered to be an exemplar of a headmistress who had tried to encourage education through the arts. We went to Barlanark primary school and met some five-year-old children who had been looking at the architecture of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. I asked who Charles Rennie Mackintosh was, at which a five-year-old pulled himself up to his full height, with hands on hips, and was appalled that I had never heard of Mackintosh—I had, of course. He said, “And no only have we did Mackintosh—we’ve done Greek Tamson an a’.” I have never forgotten that.
I must ask you to close.
That is the age that the year of creative Scotland should attack; if it does, we will have adults who are very fine indeed.
16:06
I welcome the year of creative Scotland in 2012 and the chance to participate in the debate. Creative industries are an important driver in the economic growth of Scotland, and we should use them to encourage inward investment. In particular, we should do more to support our film industry. I hope that the Scottish Government will resist the temptation to follow the UK Government’s example of cutting funds to the film industry.
The motion talks about Scotland being
“a world-class cultural tourism destination.”
That is true. We have more than 150 diverse communities, and our museums and galleries—including the Riverside museum and the Kelvingrove art gallery and museum in Glasgow—are great assets in attracting visitors. The museums are free, thanks to Glasgow City Council, as are many similar museums and galleries around Scotland. What assurances can the cabinet secretary give in her summing up that she will work with councils to ensure that museums maintain a free admission policy?
The recent success of Scottish artists—in particular, Glasgow artists—in the Turner prize competition presents an opportunity. The Turner prize exhibition is now held outside London every odd year and attracts 15,000 visitors. I hope that the Scottish Government will join me in backing Glasgow as a preferred location for the 2015 exhibition, cementing Glasgow’s reputation as a vibrant centre for the arts and boosting our economy.
Many people around the world recognise the bagpipes and tartan as symbols of Scotland. However, visitors to our country and our shops—for example, those in the Royal Mile, not far from here—find it easy to buy bagpipes and kilts that are made overseas. We must do more to protect quality and locate manufacturing; more could also be done on labelling the products to ensure that visitors can tell the difference between quality, hand-crafted Scottish products and mass-produced imitations that are made—usually with cheap labour—thousands of miles away.
I will stay with the theme of products. I am keen for visitors to the Commonwealth games to be encouraged to see as much of Scotland as possible. Could each city have its own range of official memorabilia that was available only in that city, to promote visits to those destinations?
The three-year cultural plan offers a fantastic opportunity to showcase Scotland to the world. Work must be done to secure major events beyond 2014, which I hope will include the 2015 Turner prize exhibition in my own great city of Glasgow.
We have an opportunity. We all talk about culture and many events, but a lot of historical facts are attached to our cultural diversity. My colleague Drew Smith jokingly talked about the Olympic rings coming to Glasgow, but he made an important point. Our Glasgow youngsters know only one type of ring, and getting another type of ring to Glasgow would be important. He talked about George Square and the squinty bridge as locations. They are wonderful sites—the squinty bridge is near the television studios, which could use it as a backdrop. The rings could be outside Central station, where a lot of travellers from all over will arrive. Those small details make a difference.
Glasgow is the heart of Scotland; it is the steam engine. A lot of good things happen there and come from there. Glasgow represents people throughout Scotland. That is not an Edinburgh or Glasgow issue—it is just reality.
I want to concentrate on our young, who still do not have the diverse opportunities that they should have. For example, Glasgow has two bagpipe manufacturers. The bagpipes are a Scottish instrument and they are played mostly in Scotland, yet Pakistan makes more bagpipes than us. Why is that? We need to encourage our industry by supporting it to continue to create high-quality goods. We must ensure that, on the high street, people recognise the difference between quality and what is second best.
I am keen to know whether the Government can help our industries. As I said, Glasgow has two companies that manufacture bagpipes and other items that go with them. We must ensure that such companies are geared up to take on the opportunity of the Commonwealth games and that they build on that.
16:13
It is a privilege to speak in the debate. I have never heard Huntly mentioned so much in the chamber, and shortbread has not even been mentioned yet. It was a great privilege for me to be with the cabinet secretary at the fantastic creative places awards ceremony last week and for Huntly to receive a special award of £40,000. I also felt quite special that day—although it was not quite as much of a privilege—to meet Dougie Vipond for the first time, which took me back to my Deacon Blue days. That is enough of him.
Huntly and Deveron Arts are a beacon of light—I am sure that we have heard that somewhere before—that is taking Scotland forward. Huntly is a small community and a market town. Deveron Arts is embracing that community, and the whole community is involved in that project. Aspects of its artwork and its creativity can be found throughout the village. Some artwork is even in the cleaner’s cupboard in the Deveron Arts building.
My colleague Mark McDonald mentioned the menu in Huntly. It is actually going to be a new signature menu. Again, that is something that is going to be extremely creative, and it will bring people back to Huntly to see what it is all about. I look forward to enjoying some of that cuisine. I sincerely hope that the cabinet secretary and the minister can find time to visit Huntly to take part in that as well. They might meet Dougie Vipond, who has said that he is going to be there, too. Enough of him, though.
My constituency, Aberdeenshire West, has a level of talent that is probably second to none in the whole of Scotland. We have even adopted Scotland’s most creative and talented comedian, Billy Connolly, who resides in Strathdon most summers. We are proud to have him there. He usually leads the Lonach games, which are a fantastic success. We have our own home-grown talent as well. In Huntly, we have Shona Donaldson, the Huntly quine. She is a fantastic singer—one of Scotland’s finest—and her husband, Paul Anderson, is one of Scotland’s most renowned fiddlers. We have an association with Shakespeare, through Macbeth and Lumphanan. We have royal Deeside, where the Queen resides at Balmoral. I know that there is some controversy about the extent of the castle’s architectural beauty. Not everyone thinks that it is beautiful, but I do. They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I agree with that, as far as Balmoral is concerned.
We have an opportunity, as we are the gateway to tourism within Scotland. In royal Deeside today, the first lines were cast. I sincerely hope that a salmon was caught on this extremely cold day. It is frustrating for an angler when they cast and contemplate and nothing happens. I sincerely hope that it was a successful day.
I would like to commend to the cabinet secretary and the minister the activities at Braemar. I hope that they will find time to visit the village and see the wonderful activities that are going on there. That community, which has fewer than 600 people, is bringing that wonderful castle back to life and back to its former glory. As part of the curriculum for excellence, schools are going to the castle to find out about the history and the culture of the area.
We are even keeping the language alive, with Alford primary school bringing out a book called “B is for Foggiebummer”—as we know, in the Doric, a foggiebummer is a bumble bee.
There you go—creativity, art and culture are all there in Aberdeenshire West.
I commend Hanzala Malik for saying that Scottish produce is the best in many ways. I also commend his diplomacy in using the phrase “second best” when he meant “tat”.
I am thrilled to be the MSP for Aberdeenshire West, because I believe that we have the talent and opportunity to welcome visitors from all over—not just Scotland and the Commonwealth but the world. I sincerely hope that people will take the opportunity to come to Aberdeenshire West and see what we have to offer.
16:19
I refer the chamber to my entry in the register of members’ interests, which states that I am a member of Aberdeen City Council. I am glad that Mark McDonald did not steal all of my thunder.
I welcome this debate, and I particularly welcome the announcement of the extra £1.1 million of consequentials for infrastructure. I hope that the cabinet secretary will think about providing Aberdeen art gallery with some of that money, as it is in need of some roof repairs—I will probably talk to her about that later. At the moment, the gallery has a wonderful exhibition called “From Van Gogh to Vettriano”, which features paintings from private collections that do not normally see the light of day. I urge folk to go and have a look at that.
As Mr McDonald said, Aberdeen will celebrate 40 years of the Aberdeen international youth festival this year. Over that time, that festival has brought people from around the world to perform in Aberdeen. It has brought thousands of visitors to the city. I am looking forward to it, particularly to the events in communities. I agree with Ms Ferguson that they are what we need.
I am particularly interested in creating the artists of tomorrow and particularly proud of the reading bus in my patch. That initiative teaches kids to read in a fun manner and gets their parents involved. Beyond that, it gets kids involved in Doric culture and teaches them animation. Apple and TAQA Bratani have helped to sponsor it, which is amazing. Radio DJs and presenters of the future are being created. In combination with the reading bus, Station House Media Unit in Aberdeen is teaching kids those skills at a young age. I agree with Ms Urquhart that it is best to catch them early. If we get a five-year-old interested in something, it is likely that they will be interested in it for the rest of their life.
Sometimes we do not marry up tourism and culture very well, although I am not blaming the cabinet secretary or the minister for that. We spend huge amounts of money on marketing Scotland throughout the world, including in the United States.
Does the member agree that, in seeking to promote Scotland’s culture in the US market in particular, we should actively highlight the significant historic links between our countries? Does he agree that we should specifically encourage American visitors to celebrate the link between our declaration of Arbroath and their declaration of independence, perhaps by visiting Arbroath abbey?
I agree with Mr Dey. I am sure that anybody who has been to Arbroath abbey would agree that a visit there is a great day out. We should celebrate our links with the United States and try to persuade folk from there to come here.
However, it is not just about Arbroath. We miss opportunities. I wrote to the cabinet secretary recently about a constituent of mine who has written a huge number of musicals over the years and has found it difficult to access funding from the usual bodies, including Creative Scotland and the National Theatre of Scotland. There is sometimes a certain amount of snobbery in the allocation of funds, which needs to be done away with. My constituent, Mike Gibb, recently musically adapted the “Outlander” books by Diana Gabaldon, who is an American author. All of the “Outlander” books, the first of which was called “Cross Stitch” in the United Kingdom, are entirely based in Scotland. I have to be honest and say that I have not read the books, as they are described as romantic drama, which is not quite my bag. However, the series of books has a huge fan base and has sold 20 million copies worldwide, and the musical has been staged in Dundee. Visitors from the United States managed to catch it on a Facebook site.
If our cultural and tourism organisations got together to create linkages and provide initial funding that could get returns, we could sell Scotland even more culturally and in other ways throughout the world. We need to consider carefully how we dole out funding. Far too often, it is doled out to the same things, which is not right. I hope that the cabinet secretary will agree to meet me to discuss that topic so that we can perhaps thrash it out and see whether we can link tourism with culture in making cultural grants.
This has been a brilliant debate in which there has been no disagreement across the chamber. I hope that we do brilliantly in 2012.
I remind members who have participated in the debate that they should be in the chamber for closing speeches.
16:25
I echo Kevin Stewart in saying that this has been an extremely interesting debate in which, predictably, there has been little dissent. Its most obvious feature is what has emerged about the diversity of Scotland’s creativity. The minister set the scene with her reference to diverse events such as the cultural olympiad, with the 2012 festival including the marvellous concert in Stirling featuring the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra. Her reference to peripatetic ballet alarmed me a little, but as long as I am not involved, I am right behind it. She indicated a breadth of activity about which we can feel excited and proud. Clare Adamson paid a deserved tribute to the role played by Alasdair Gray. I was struck by Mark McDonald’s reference to youth art in Aberdeen and by the references to fishing in Deeside and admiring Balmoral, which seemed to be Dennis Robertson’s very worthwhile pastimes.
The whole issue of localism was reflected in Patricia Ferguson’s amendment, about which I spoke in my own contribution. I detect support for the need to ensure that we do not disregard localism and get carried away in a huge froth of excitement about the big, glitzy events but are also right down there in our communities. Several contributors made important points about that. Margaret McCulloch talked about Lanarkshire and the Kittochside museum, which I have visited. I recommend it to anyone; it is a fabulous experience. Several members gave impressive descriptions of what is available in their parts of Scotland.
Some powerful points were made about the economy. The minister alluded to that, and Margaret McCulloch made some important observations, too. I had not realised the extent, according to Scottish Enterprise, of the contribution that is made by the sector—£5.4 billion, which is a whacking big amount of money. That makes it clear how culture can drive tourism and how the concept of cultural tourism is so important to us. I was struck by her observations on the role of skills and work experience in cultural tourism; she hits the nail on the head in that regard. There is an important benefit to be derived from that.
Kevin Stewart was very candid. I enjoyed the part of his speech where he said, if I understood him correctly, that we do not always quite tie up the marketing of culture and tourism. That is a point well made. Perhaps we need to look at what we market, to whom we are trying to market it and what we are saying to those people.
I completely agree. One of our frequent failures is to spend lots of money on advertising when some things advertise themselves—or they could if they were done properly.
That is a helpful observation, and I am sure that the minister will take it to heart.
On the fundamental question of skills and the creative industries, Margaret McCulloch said that we need to ensure that training is in place, and she mentioned the hospitality trade. I think that we are all aware that first impressions are all-important. When visitors come to Scotland, we want to ensure that they have a very positive experience at whatever level their engagement is taking place. Perhaps the message is that we all need to be more proactive. I must confess that I am pretty passive; if I am in an eaterie somewhere and do not think that the service is all that great, I tend to just grin and bear it and disappear. Perhaps we need to be slightly more vigilant, and, if we think that something is not quite up to scratch, we should think to ourselves, “This isn’t just about the service I’m getting—it’s an advertisement for our country.” We may need to make people more aware of that.
Jean Urquhart made a fascinating speech about the historic legacy. She may be surprised to hear me say that, but she should not be too alarmed by my paean of praise. I enjoyed her speech very much. She referred to the whole spectrum of historic cultural contribution, whether Sir David Lindsay’s “Thrie Estatis” or the Unity Players—yes, I knew what she was talking about—and the exciting concept of a new enlightenment. That illustrated the minister’s observation, quoting Einstein, that
“Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.”
The quotation from the schoolchild about Mackintosh and Greek Thomson was entertaining and encouraging.
My love of the historic legacy probably tends more towards books. It occurs to me that we have writers such as Guy McCrone, Neil Munro and A J Cronin who were all novelists in their day but who now perform the role of social commentators on conditions in Scotland in their time. We should be careful, in our quest for new talent and new contributions to the creative field, that we do not forget that there is some valuable stuff in the background as well.
It has been a pleasure to take part in the debate, which has been positive. I make a serious point to the minister: let us have an ambition for the year of homecoming in 2014 to improve the number of overseas visitors. The gathering was a bit of bad press. We do not want to repeat that bad press so, if the gathering is to happen again, we must be extremely vigilant and careful about the financial constraints that surround it.
16:31
As other colleagues said, the debate has been interesting and informative.
I was particularly taken with the point that Annabel Goldie made in her opening speech about—if I describe her comments correctly—what might have been sacrificed to allow the year of creative Scotland to take place. To judge by the speeches that we have heard, that is a concern for all of us. My take is that, if there is a legacy from the spend, perhaps we do not have to worry too much about any displacement.
Miss Goldie was also correct to refer to the importance of the Edinburgh tattoo. This year, as always, it will be an important part of what Edinburgh offers to Scotland and the world. My only worry about it now including references to the diamond jubilee and the Olympics is that the tickets are likely to sell out even more quickly than they normally do. Perhaps we need to be more creative and consider ways in which we can expand that element of the Edinburgh festivals.
I was also taken by Clare Adamson’s comments about the calendar of events. I, too, have had a look at the calendar. I must admit that I always find such calendars quite difficult to read. There always seems to be so much in them that I have to have a second and, sometimes, third read before I can get my head round what I want to go to, hear, see or experience.
Clare Adamson was also correct to refer to Alasdair Gray, who, over the years, has played a highly significant role in the culture of Scotland and in promoting the natural culture that comes from deep inside.
If it is not too much of a plug, thinking of that reminded me that, this evening, somebody who operated in a similar ilk and whom we have lost all too soon—Gerry Rafferty—will be remembered in a recording of the excellent concert that was on at Celtic Connections a week or two back. It is good watching for anyone who has a spare hour this evening.
My colleague Margaret McCulloch mentioned the Hollywood stars who came to Glasgow with Brad Pitt to make “World War Z”. Anyone who walked through Glasgow when that film was being made would have recognised that something special was going on. Meetings in Glasgow city chambers and many of the other buildings around George Square seemed to be distracted inordinately by the need to go to windows, open them and comment on the way back about who had happened to pass by. The serious point is that the film brought a huge amount of money to our country and put us on the world stage. It does not really matter that Glasgow will be portrayed as, if I remember rightly, Philadelphia. What matters is getting the work to come here and being recognised as the kind of country that can cope with such an experience.
I was also taken by Margaret McCulloch’s reference to Rosslyn chapel, which I remember visiting around the time at which the popularity of “The Da Vinci Code” was at its height. We have talked about how we need to be more proactive about advertising. When I visited the chapel, a neighbouring farmer had a sign on his gate that said, “Da Vinci potatoes available here”, which was perhaps taking entrepreneurship a bit too far.
Mark McDonald made some interesting points about using art to regenerate communities, and I strongly agree with his comments. You will come across such art in communities in the area of Glasgow where I live and which I represent. Members will all be familiar with the work of Andy Scott, who works in my constituency, who built the Clydesdale that we see on the M8 and who is responsible for many of the other wonderful sculptures that we see around.
The arts can be used to stimulate regeneration. For example, a couple of schools in my constituency that have—I need to be careful how I say this—a slightly boring exterior are, I hope, to be enhanced through the use of colour on the outside of the building. As small an element as the introduction of colour can make a huge difference in a community. It is valid to emphasise the role of art in regenerating communities.
Does the member agree that art can also deter youth crime? I cite the example of Northfield in Aberdeen, where young people painted the shutters of shops. That has reduced the amount of graffiti and other forms of vandalism in the area quite dramatically.
Absolutely. If we involve young people in their community, whether through arts projects or other activities, that is the result that we will get—they will have respect for and pride in their community. That is what we want to instil in all our young people.
In an extremely interesting and informed speech, Jean Urquhart mentioned the Unity Players. I do not recall them, but I had a great uncle who was a member. The Unity Players produced many of those actors and actresses who were household names in my early childhood, whom I still think of with a great deal of affection. Many of them were leading lights in organisations such as Mayfest, which helped to promote the idea of Glasgow as a city of culture, which came to fruition in 1990. Jean Urquhart was quite right to say that there were those who doubted that Glasgow deserved its status as city of culture. Time has shown them to be wrong in taking that point of view, and it is to be hoped that fewer people will hold such an attitude in the future.
Jean Urquhart’s speech reminded me of the Maryhill Integration Network in my constituency, which works with asylum seekers and refugees to make them feel at home in their new community. It does that largely through the use of social and artistic activity. Some of the most enjoyable artistic events that I have been to in recent years have been organised by that organisation. It is wonderful to experience the different cultures that are on offer; we all learn so much from them.
Dennis Robertson said that he had never heard Huntly mentioned so often. After his speech, it is fair to say that never has Dougie Vipond been mentioned so often. Joking apart, I congratulate Huntly and all the other creative places—those that are recognised formally and those that are not—on the contribution that they make to Scotland.
Kevin Stewart mentioned the Aberdeen international youth festival, which I have attended in previous years, at the invitation of Nanette Milne. I have found it to be a joyous occasion, on which young people from Aberdeen and other places around the world work together to celebrate their shared enjoyment of music and the arts. That is always to be welcomed.
I am conscious that the Presiding Officer will want me to draw to a close very shortly, so I apologise to those colleagues whose excellent speeches I have not been able to mention. I will just say that the speeches of members of all parties have demonstrated that it is not just 2012 that is the year of creative Scotland; it is every year.
16:39
This has been an excellent, wide-ranging and informative debate. As well as the many things that we have learned from many of the speeches, we have seen the emergence of potential professional tour guides in many parts of the country. If Dennis Robertson gets his way, what with the requests to visit Huntly, Braemar and here, there and everywhere, we will spend the whole summer in his constituency—which would be a fate devoutly to be wished, I am sure.
Margaret McCulloch waxed lyrical about the various parks in Lanarkshire and the excellent attractions that it has to offer. She is perfectly right. Indeed, I spent Monday visiting Lanarkshire. I visited a hotel in Abington, the visitor centre in Lanark and the Biggar museum, so I have seen many of those attractions for myself. My visit brought to mind—I am not sure how relevant this is, but I will struggle on manfully—one of the first examples of the staycation, which was when Robert Burns visited this great city. This might be known to those members who have read James Mackay’s biography of Robert Burns.
Of course, there was no internal combustion engine in those days, so the mode of travel was horse. He stopped over near Biggar—in Symington, I believe. He was a famous man even then, and a wee boy stood on top of a haystack and said, “He’s coming! He’s coming!” They had a great party, at which Robert Burns was the honoured guest. They sampled the food and, indeed, the drink, well and deeply, and the next day, the national bard got on his horse and made the second leg of the journey, from Lanarkshire to Edinburgh. When he got to Edinburgh, the first two days of his first staycation were taken up recovering from a pretty severe hangover. So there we are—that was an early example of the staycation.
The speeches that we heard from all members who contributed to the debate illustrated the huge range of creative activity in Scotland. We learned about the different types of art and culture in different parts of the country. That was welcome. Jean Urquhart made the thoughtful speech that we would expect her to make, given that—at least in my mind, and I hope that she will forgive me for this—she will forever be associated with the Ceilidh Place and the many great times that many people have spent there, including me. She said that artists are the most precious people in the world. They will be remembered long after my speeches are well forgotten—which might not be that long, actually. [Laughter.] That sentiment seems to have attracted a measure of unanimity, if you can have a measure of unanimity.
Seriously, Presiding Officer, artists are remembered long after most other human beings, who spend a brief time on this planet, are forgotten. Artists are remembered because they leave a legacy of beauty behind them, as we heard from many members.
Scotland is proud to have had some of the most distinguished and outstanding artists in the world, some of whom are not as well known as they deserve to be. I am delighted that we have seen the Scottish national portrait gallery reopen and that we are bidding for the Turner prize award ceremony in 2015 or 2016, as Hanzala Malik rightly highlighted. I think of the Scottish colourists—of Peploe, Cadell and Fergusson. They were marvellous artists, in my humble opinion, but even though their paintings are hugely valued and cherished, they are perhaps not as well known as they should be.
I did not realise that the minister was such a fan of Peploe. He can see some Peploes at the Van Gogh to, er—[Interruption.]—Vettriano exhibition at the Aberdeen art gallery. [Laughter.] I got too excited by Peploe there. I have a vision of the picture in my head now.
I think that Mr Stewart is just trying to make up for his admission that he does not read romantic drama. [Laughter.] He is trying to rehabilitate his new man credentials with some other confessions of his leisure time pursuits.
Scotland has distinguished artists in all spheres. I enjoy listening to jazz, including musicians such as the guitarist Martin Taylor, Tommy Smith on the saxophone, and the distinguished vocalist Annie Ross, who has achieved world fame. Not only are they brilliant exponents of their art, they give their time freely and at length to help young people in Scotland with things like the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland and festivals all round the country, including, I understand from the provost of Stirling, one in Callander—who would have thought it—and in Ayrshire, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Nairn and other places throughout the country. Every area of culture and every world will be represented this year. Every type of art and culture will have its champions, events and celebrations, and will be promoted throughout the country. That is all greatly to be welcomed.
Many members have rightly highlighted the necessity of learning from past difficulties, and of spending money wisely. It is quite reasonable for Annabel Goldie, Patricia Ferguson and Kevin Stewart to have made that point—in Kevin Stewart’s case, before he got on to the confession-time part of his speech. That is absolutely proper. It is a key responsibility of any minister.
We want and are determined to leave a lasting legacy. This year will not be a one-off. The purpose is not just to hold a series of new events. It is to promote and celebrate, to provoke new activity, and to encourage young people to take part in art and culture, such as they do in the big noise orchestra in Stirling, so that they can continue to experience, to enjoy, to broaden their minds, and to learn from some of the world’s greatest artistic experts. No matter how difficult those experts are—I know that they can be difficult—they always try to help young people. They might not like every politician, but everyone likes children. We are determined to leave a legacy for the generations yet to come.
Of course, we are also determined to celebrate events in Scotland that are about the London Olympics. The torch relay events will visit all 32 local authorities in Scotland between 8 and 14 June before returning to Dumfries and Galloway on 21 June. Although I will probably adopt Fiona Hyslop’s body-swerve manoeuvre on the issue of the Olympic rings, I know that the famous chamber group that was established in the 1970s, the Kronos Quartet, will be the high point of an open-air festival in Glasgow. There will be many ways of celebrating the London Olympics in addition to the Scottish Government’s support for that event and the benefit that Scottish companies have had therefrom.
I will move towards a conclusion, Presiding Officer. Members such as Margaret McCulloch, Hanzala Malik and Annabel Goldie talked about tourism and its importance to the country. Kevin Stewart rightly made the point that when we promote our culture, we take cognisance of its importance for tourism. I am here and making this speech because we entirely recognise that that point is very well made. Such activity might be partly Government-inspired, but the purpose is to move way beyond Government and the bodies that are involved and to promote interest and excitement among Scotland’s communities, as the Labour amendment rightly emphasises. It is more important in that than in any other area of Government activity that the relevant ministers—the cabinet secretary who is responsible for culture and I, who have portfolio responsibility for tourism—work together.
We have a truly marvellous country that has had a most successful year of tourism, and despite the recession, the gloom, the woe and the depression, we have seen tourism grow pretty successfully. That is because we, as a nation, are getting better at it, with higher-quality visitor attractions, food and drink, and some of the best scenery in the world.
One of the things that I tried to highlight in my speech was that Scottish produce is an important element in all this. Is there any mileage in trying to ensure that all our museums sell only products that are produced and manufactured in Scotland? Could we ensure that shops in high streets in Scotland—for example, the Royal Mile, and Argyle Street in Glasgow—have special labels that tell tourists that every product sold in that particular outlet is manufactured in Scotland?
I certainly support the aim of promoting quality Scottish produce in every way possible. Indeed, when I make purchases by way of gifts and presents for my immediate loved ones—as of course I frequently do, at great expense to myself—I tend to see what I can do to do my bit for Scotland. I think that this debate has shown that we all have that attitude in this chamber, and a good thing it is, too.