Dundee City of Culture
The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-08254, in the name of Fiona Hyslop, on Dundee, city of culture.
I call Fiona Hyslop to speak to and move the motion. Cabinet secretary, you have eight minutes.
16:26
I start by offering my congratulations to Dundee on being shortlisted to become 2017 United Kingdom city of culture. I know that a collaborative approach was taken, with contributions and support from a range of individuals and organisations who helped to put together such a strong bid for Dundee and for Scotland.
I pay tribute to the bid team, some of whom are in the public gallery today, but I also recognise that it is the involvement of Dundonians and the embracing of culture by the entire city that make Dundee’s bid so special.
I am sure that members will agree that, if given the opportunity, Dundee would showcase the 2017 city of culture programme to the world. That is clearly demonstrated by the cross-party support that I am very pleased to see in Dundee’s bid document.
On behalf of the Scottish Government, I reiterate my full support and backing for Dundee’s bid. The timing of the debate is opportune as, later this week, the bid team will, alongside Swansea Bay, Leicester and Hull, make their final presentation in the bid to become the 2017 UK city of culture in the current UK city of culture, Derry/Londonderry.
Earlier this month I recorded a message of support for Dundee at the Hannah Maclure gallery, which exhibits the work of artists and designers working with digital media. The gallery also hosts events to celebrate and showcase Dundee’s diverse local culture with an exhibition programme that brings new and exciting work to a local and international audience. The venue was fitting, too, because the curator of the gallery is also the curator of the Neon festival, Scotland’s only digital arts festival, which was taking place that week in Dundee. That encapsulates perfectly the real connections and flourishing partnerships that are the very essence of Dundee’s bid.
Dundee’s website, we Dundee, has helped connect people to the bid, allowing them to help shape and be involved in it. The website shows the tremendous imagination and enthusiasm that people have exhibited in relation to what becoming city of culture 2017 would mean to them individually and for the city. If members have not yet seen the website, I recommend that they do.
Dundee’s bid is based on the strength of the creative and cultural sectors of the city. It is focused on the vision of encouraging discovery, regeneration and transformation. It intends to deliver a robust legacy that will build youth and community engagement through cultural activities. The bid’s signature events will attract international audiences, and a series of major events throughout the year will build on the city’s existing programme of mini-festivals and events, based on Dundee’s strongest characteristics as chosen by Dundonians: the river, the light, the people and the environment.
Dundee City Council has taken a lead in using culture and creativity to help to tackle wider social issues in a range of innovative ways and has a strong track record of embedding culture into Dundee and further afield. The further positive impact that being the city of culture would bring would be a fitting legacy for Dundee as it continues to use culture and creativity as a catalyst to promote regeneration—an area that the city has been a pioneer in. City of culture 2017 status offers a potential tipping point—a chance for the city to use culture to power the momentum of regeneration that has been growing in recent years. The redevelopment of the waterfront is reconnecting Dundee city centre to the River Tay. In the last two decades, Dundee has invested significantly in culture and creativity as its future direction.
The famous royal research ship Discovery, Robert Falcon Scott’s Antarctic exploration vessel, which was built in Dundee, is back home and berthed in the city harbour, providing an inspirational focus.
Culture and creativity are at the heart of developments in Dundee, which is delivering a large £1 billion waterfront regeneration programme. It includes the £45 million Victoria and Albert Dundee museum, which will showcase Scottish contemporary design and international exhibitions to tell the fantastic story of Scotland’s design history.
The foundations in Dundee are strong: from cartoon illustration, gaming, Oor Wullie and Desperate Dan to Dundee Contemporary Arts welcoming over 300,000 people each year to a diverse and challenging programme of visual art, cinema, workshops, education and research. Dundee has variety.
Discovery, Scotland’s international film festival for young audiences, has just celebrated its 10th anniversary. The Dundee Repertory Theatre is a leading Scottish cultural institution, comprising the only full-time repertory theatre company in the UK, Scotland’s contemporary dance company and a cutting edge creative learning team. The rep has won awards consistently and developed an international reputation for the breadth and quality of its work.
Caird Hall is one of Scotland’s most popular city centre conference and cultural venues, which played host to the finale of the BBC Scottish proms in 2010 and 2011 and is used for a wide variety of classical and contemporary concerts, conferences and other civic events.
The recently refurbished McManus—Dundee’s art gallery and museum—has won many accolades for its sensitive representation and for the quality of its refurbishment. From exhibits that relate to the life of early man in the area, stunning paintings and decorative art through to artefacts from industries past and present, the city’s collections, many of which are recognised as being of national significance, give an insight into Dundee and its people. Testament to that, following the McManus’s reopening in 2011, more than 160,000 people now visit each year.
Dundee’s vision is to use culture and creativity to help to create a step change and close the circle of opportunity by using city of culture status to help to ensure that more people attend cultural events and activities. It wants to celebrate and embrace the culture of the city and its people and make it highly relevant, inclusive and accessible.
There is a focus on engaging with those who are deprived, disadvantaged or disengaged through long-term projects based in each of the city’s eight local communities, which will bring together creative partners with host communities at the centre. This, for me, is the heart of the bid: people, communities, and the recognition of the fundamental importance of culture to place and the profound impact that it has on our very quality of life. Dundee understands, as we do, that culture is pivotal to our wellbeing and the bid says so much about the type of city that it wants to be.
I have not yet cited the impressive economic benefits that the 2017 city of culture status may bring. The key finding outlined that if Dundee were to be the city of culture, it would benefit from tourist expenditure of up to £80 million and the creation of up to 1,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
I do not focus solely on the economic benefits, however. A benefit of culture is that it invites us to reflect on who we are and gives us an understanding of what we can become as individuals, a community and—in Dundee’s case—a city.
That is what delights me about Dundee’s bid. It is committed; it is bold; and it is ambitious.
I move,
That the Parliament endorses Dundee’s bid to become the UK City of Culture 2017 and congratulates Dundee on reaching the final stage of the competition; recognises the significant contribution that Dundee makes to Scotland’s rich cultural life and welcomes the local and national benefits that being UK City of Culture 2017 would bring while acknowledging that this accolade will strengthen the city’s growing reputation as a hub of cultural and creative excellence; agrees that the timing is right for Dundee as an international centre for the creative industries, the home of the world-renowned centre, Dundee Contemporary Arts, and the proposed £45 million V&A at Dundee; considers that the city is a national success story with a huge amount to offer to locals and visitors alike and would be a deserved holder of this prestigious title; notes the cross-party support behind the bid and congratulates the team behind Dundee’s bid document, Tipping Point, on producing an excellent submission and welcomes the involvement of so many people and organisations in the process, which has seen the bid go from strength to strength, and recognises that, if successful, the city will benefit from tourist expenditure of up to £80 million and the establishment of up to 1,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
16:33
In Dundee, I would like to see
“Urban meadows like the New York Highline”;
“An old boat parade with lighting and music”;
“sculptures of Broons characters throughout the city”;
“the Tay bridge lit at night”;
“A massive river pageant in the Tay”.
Nobody can say that we Dundonians are not romantic, ambitious and jealously proud of our beautiful home, because those are all suggestions for Dundee’s 2017 city of culture celebration.
The suggestions came from the people of Dundee using we Dundee, a new digital interactive community hub that allowed the team to pull together inspiration and ideas from all our citizens. I believe it to be a first in the United Kingdom. Everyone had their say on what they want Dundee to celebrate in 2017—a special year for them. The bid is a community bid, made up of the voices of Dundonians singing proudly for their city.
Feats of engineering, computing, a history of jute—weaving and spinning, hard work
“shifting bobbins coarse and fine”—
and our tough experiences in the mills and the factories make up our stories and our struggles, all of which encouraged Dundee to seize cultural opportunities when they reappeared in our city, when the RRS Discovery sailed home in 1986.
Culture, music, art and drama are nothing without a story and a struggle. They are about the art of making the everyday beautiful. That is why our cultural renaissance has been so successful, so inclusive and so pervasive in the city. Our city is not divided when it comes to embracing culture. Music rings out from venues throughout the city, and art galleries are successful—especially the newly refurbished McManus galleries, which the culture secretary mentioned.
In Dundee, we are united in the love of our home city and the culture that it boasts. However, our city is divided in terms of the share of wealth and opportunities. That is why the greatest challenge of the 2017 bid is to ensure that the year of celebration reaps benefits for all our communities. Our greatest challenge in Dundee is to create wealth and opportunity in communities that suffer the blights of unemployment, drugs, shorter lives and the desolation that wrecks dreams.
That is at the core of why Dundee is bidding for the important city of culture status. We know the transformative effects of culture. We have witnessed Dundee’s transformation over the past 40 years from a post-industrial city to an exciting hub of scientific research, with some of the finest engineering minds in the world staying in the city and creating new companies and opportunities in the life sciences, medicine, technology, computing and gaming.
We witnessed the deluge of Dundonians into the Dundee Contemporary Arts centre when Donald Dewar opened its doors in 1999. We remember the fun of the Dundee 800 and the community spirit of “Witch’s Blood”. We know that with a well-thought-out bid, as our bid is, and a well-funded plan for 2017, city of culture status for Dundee will make a difference to the lives of many of our citizens. It will raise our aspirations further and give us shared and individual memories of the beautiful everyday, centred around our prized V&A at Dundee on the waterfront.
That is why I am delighted that there is cross-party support in Parliament for the Scottish Government’s motion, which clearly indicates the unequivocal support of the First Minister and the Scottish Government and its agencies, who stand four-square behind the bid. That is what we need, if we are to win. Our competitors are fierce, and rightly have aspirations for their communities that are similar to our aspirations for Dundee. Our bid needs unequivocal commitment from all levels of government in Scotland if it is to be a success for Dundee and the whole of Scotland. That is why I am delighted that the culture secretary has given such a commitment tonight. We will vote for the Government’s motion at decision time, with pride and with hope.
16:38
The Scottish Conservatives are very pleased to put on record their strong support for Dundee in its bid to become the UK’s city of culture in 2017, and we compliment the work of the Dundee Partnership, which put together the “Tipping Point” document, which is an impressive appeal, not just because of the quality of the submission, but because it has successfully brought together so many people in the city and the community, as the cabinet secretary said.
Local media teams and The Courier newspaper are to be warmly congratulated on the positive coverage that they have given the campaign, and on helping to generate public support, including by supporting the ambassadors who represent Dundee’s many faces and who share a passion for, and pride in, the city.
There can be no doubting the extraordinary transformation that is taking place in the city of Dundee. I remember, from when I was a very young child, visits to my parents by one of my mother’s best friends, who was an international opera singer. She was Dundee born and bred, and I remember the occasion on which she told my mother, with great sadness, that she would—very reluctantly—be moving away from Dundee. That was the advice that her musical colleagues had given her because, in those days, Dundee did not do culture.
How different she would find things today, in a Dundee that is vibrant with cultural development in theatre, art, dance and music, and in which there is extensive regeneration of industry and commerce. She would see the huge success stories of the universities of Dundee, Abertay and St Andrews, and the hinterland of the Tayside college sector, which have allowed the area to build such a strong international reputation and to play a leading role in the education of young people and in raising their aspirations.
It was, of course, in the 1970s—as has been mentioned—that tough times hit the city very hard, especially with the decline of the jute industry. Dundee struggled to compete with the other Scottish cities and became only too well known for its social and economic problems, rather than for anything else.
It was at that time that the RRS Discovery—which Jenny Marra mentioned—was very nearly sent to the breaker’s yard, but for the intervention of the Maritime Trust. Just like the city, the ship had enjoyed a glorious past, especially when it was the focal point for the British expeditions to Antarctica, including the first successful expedition of Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton. It had been used by the Hudson Bay Company and in the 1914 to 1918 war effort, and it carried supplies to the White Russians in 1917. However, as the ship became increasingly outclassed by other merchant ships, her future—and that of the city—became very uncertain. Now, of course, there has been a complete transformation, and Discovery has won numerous awards for its museum and visitor centre, and is very much on the international map. The phrase, “One city, many discoveries” is very well chosen and will, I hope, act as a good-luck charm next week when the all-important decision is made.
What have been the reasons for Dundee’s resurgence? On top of the significant developments that took place some 30 to 40 years ago, such as the building of Ninewells hospital and the Wellgate shopping centre, and the return of the RRS Discovery, there has been the inspiration that has allowed Dundee to lead the international field in biomedical research and in the gaming industry, and in constructing the extraordinary £45 million V&A waterfront development that the cabinet secretary mentioned.
There are many who say that Dundee’s resurgence is down to the sheer resilience of its people and its ability to rise to new challenges, which make a difference. Undoubtedly, its recent economic diversity, rather than its depending on a few industries, has been a large part of Dundee’s success. If we look to cities such as Liverpool, which was the 2009 European city of culture, we see that diversity is one of the necessary ingredients for development. With that development and economic regeneration comes a new-found confidence and the inspiration for bringing about social regeneration through the celebration of our culture. We should not underestimate the effect that that can have.
The bid team has decided to combine the celebration of the river and the Dundee environment with a celebration of the rich diversity of its people, and it is focusing on how that unique combination can shed light on the pathway for future generations. I find that to be one of the most powerful aspects of the bid, and I am pleased to see that within that celebration there are commitments to young people, to raising attainment across the city, and to the people in underrepresented communities who so often lose out. As the bid team has said clearly, it is
“Your City, Your Culture, Your Year”,
whoever you may be.
Success in such competitions depends so much on good preparation, as we found out when Perth was seeking city status. I am sure that the bids from Leicester, Swansea and Hull will make for a very tough opposition, but I think that we can be confident that the Dundee bid is well prepared and makes a passionate claim for Dundee’s recognition as the 2017 UK city of culture. I wish everyone the very best of luck.
16:44
As a regional member for North East Scotland, I am privileged to represent the city of Dundee. I have witnessed the remarkable journey that the city has been on. The sense of determination among its people to bring about change is admirable.
Many years ago, while I was still an Aberdeenshire councillor, I visited the city on a planning study tour to see the importance of public open space and public art in urban regeneration. What Dundee City Council was doing then was on quite a small scale compared to the regeneration that we are witnessing today, but it carried the hallmarks of creativity, imagination and determination that have propelled Dundee to this important tipping point.
What a regeneration there has been. The city’s approach—first, to recognise that a cultural renaissance could be a powerful catalyst for change and, secondly, to harness that cultural energy—makes Dundee a very special place, and the UK city of culture team has recognised that by shortleeting the city. Feedback at the time of the shortleeting said that the bid was particularly strong in respect of how it talked about the city’s journey over the past 10 years, using culture to regenerate the city through Dundee Contemporary Arts, the McManus galleries and museum, the Dundee Rep theatre and the fabulous V&A at Dundee.
The judges were positive about the consultation, and were especially impressed with how the team engaged with people through the we Dundee website, which Jenny Marra has spoken about, as well as with the number of people who have been involved. Council members, universities, community and cultural groups, young and old people, businesses and local media have all pulled together to make the best possible case for Dundee. My Liberal Democrat colleague Councillor Fraser Macpherson told me recently that
“the all-party working together to positively support Dundee’s bid, has been the best example of co-operation between politicians of all political hues in many a year.”
I echo that.
Dundee would be an outstanding choice for the accolade of UK city of culture, and I fervently hope that it is successful. There is nothing superficial about the bid, which addresses the real needs of Dundee. It does not shy away from the stark fact that a third of the city’s population lives in the poorest 15 per cent of areas in Scotland. It does not ignore the fact that Dundee’s educational outcomes are poorer than the Scottish average, nor does it gloss over the fact that the current level of participation in cultural activity in Dundee is divided between the poorer and the better-off areas. Dundee’s bid is about social regeneration through culture, and the step change will be to use culture and creativity to enable a more confident community to evolve that will address those inequalities. Dundee will use the year of culture to connect different parts of the city more effectively, and to ensure that those who live in its deprived communities are able to enjoy fully the benefits of its creative and cultural resources. That would be a truly lasting legacy, which we should endorse.
On the wider impact, I believe that there will be significant benefits for the whole North East Scotland region. At the core of the economic impact will be increased visitor spend and an uplift in economic activity related to culturally led tourism. VisitScotland has recognised that the north-east underperforms at the moment and that Dundee has a key role as a city that is at the centre of a region of great natural beauty. The visitor impact of the year of culture would be an increase of 50 per cent in the total number of visitors to Dundee during the year, and a sustained higher level of visitors beyond that. The combination of completion of the V&A, the development of new hotel opportunities and the improvement of transport links also places Dundee in a great position to attract cruise ships, as well as UK based tourists.
Dundee: “One city, many discoveries”. All of us can praise that vibrant city but, truth be told, there are still too many Scots—and, indeed, visitors from further afield—who have yet to visit Dundee and find out for themselves what is there to be discovered. I hope that the city of culture bid will encourage a great many more people to make their own visits of discovery.
I congratulate The Evening Telegraph on its campaign. It was uplifting to read some of the online comments about what people love about Dundee. One comment summed it up for me:
“Dundee people are proud of a city which has seen hard times but is reinventing itself as a modern city which embraces change and new opportunities.”
I have no doubt that this should be Dundee’s moment.
16:50
On behalf of the Independent and Green group, I would like to echo the support for Dundee’s city of culture bid that has been expressed by members across the chamber.
Dundee is, in many ways, a microcosm of Scotland. It is a city with a proud industrial heritage that is reinventing itself for the 21st century and leading the way in video games technology and biomedical research. Over the years, it has been infused with Irish, Italian, Polish, Asian and Chinese immigrants—to name but a few—and both of its top-class universities continue to attract students from all over the globe.
The continued investment by the Scottish Government in Dundee’s waterfront will transform the way in which its citizens interact with the city and will, I hope, add further architectural excellence to Dundee’s many cultural accomplishments. I am assured by my Dundonian researcher that the city’s football teams—of which I know absolutely nothing—particularly the one that plays in dark blue, are also worthy of mention for their European heritage and exciting style of play.
What really makes Dundee worthy of its bid, though, is its people and how they have shaped their sense of self through the bid. Artists and writers are now thriving in a city that is universally recognised to be bursting with opportunity and ambition. From Sheena Wellington’s show-stopping performance of “A Man’s a Man for a’ that” at the opening of the Parliament in 1999 to the wry observations and brilliant talent of the much-missed Michael Marra, Dundee’s contribution to Scotland’s traditional and contemporary folk scene is legendary. Its links to Deacon Blue, Snow Patrol and The View and its annual blues bonanza demonstrate that that musical legacy continues to the present day.
New publishing firms such as Teckle Books and the success of the Bob Servant novels perfectly encapsulate the irreverent Dundonian sense of humour. Those success stories beget popular events, with the DCA’s Dundead horror festival and the Dundee literary festival being other highlights of a packed cultural calendar.
The bid for city of culture status gives Dundee an opportunity to celebrate all her heroes. There are too many other cultural strings to Dundee’s bow to mention: the McManus galleries, the impending V&A museum, DC Thomson, Brian Cox, AL Kennedy, William McGonagall—I could go on.
It is worth noting in particular the continuing success of Dundee Contemporary Arts and Dundee Rep, not least because both were established at a time when some would have suggested that arts funding should be a lower priority for the city. As two key drivers of Dundee’s continued regeneration, I believe that they have demonstrated the intrinsic worth of cultural investment, and they are two potent symbols of the dedication of the city of Dundee to its artistic community. They are successful because they are used—and used well—by the folk of Dundee.
Dundee fully deserves to be awarded city of culture status, and I hope that, when the judges take in the spectacular view as their train travels over the silvery Tay, they realise that they have just arrived in a city of great culture in any year.
16:53
I thank everyone for their contributions, and I thank the Parliament for enabling us to have the debate this week, which is an extremely important week for the bid preparation and the delivery of the bid.
The city of culture competition represents an exciting opportunity for Dundee and for Scotland to promote our cultural and creative talent, and to showcase our inspiring buildings and places to the world. The aspirations of Dundee’s bid chime with my vision for a Scotland that promotes its talent both at home and to the world.
The timing is right—the city of discovery, Dundee, is on a journey on which the potential is unrivalled. It deserves the opportunity to demonstrate the creativity and cultural heartbeat of what the city has to offer. Alison Johnstone talked very well in her speech about that journey. Given where Dundee has been and is going, the city of culture bid comes at the right time for Dundee to grasp it as an opportunity and to succeed.
The recently announced programme of focus years includes the year of innovation, architecture and design in 2016, and the year of history, heritage and archaeology in 2017. All that would help in the lead-up to the city of culture 2017, particularly because of the strengths and talent that Dundee has in those areas. The bid brings a wealth of opportunities to align and boost relevant activity with a view to focusing on visitors from across the globe who are keen to learn more about this country’s rich history, architecture, heritage and culture. Reflecting on my visit to the Derry/Londonderry city of culture 2013 to hear about and see that city’s experience, I know that it is not just about what happens in the year but that the lead-up to the year is really important. The showcase focus years will therefore be of benefit in the lead-up to city of culture 2017.
I want to reflect, too, on the partnership to which a number of members referred, including Liz Smith. The partnership that we see in Dundee, not just for the city of culture bid but generally, is something on which Dundee should be congratulated. I know that Joe FitzPatrick and Shona Robison, as the local MSPs, are passionate in their advocacy of Dundee, but they also reflect what I think is the important unique selling point of Dundee, which is the fact that it can bring together the council, the universities, media and business. Other cities could probably take a lesson from that partnership, which has been one of the catalysts for making the bid especially strong.
Alison McInnes was correct in identifying the benefits of the bid for the wider north-east, including Angus and Perth. She is right about the potential that needs to be realised for tourism in that wider area.
Cabinet secretary, can I stop you for a moment? There is a bit too much noise in the chamber. Can we show some respect, please, for the cabinet secretary’s closing speech?
Thank you, Presiding Officer. This speech is about respect for Dundee, so I hope that everybody will get behind the motion at decision time.
It is entirely right that through this debate the Parliament recognises the contribution that Dundee makes to the rich quality of the cultural offering that we have in Scotland and outlines clearly our support for Dundee’s bid to become the 2017 city of culture. As we have heard, Dundee lives and breathes culture and creativity. Last year alone, more than 2,400,000 people attended cultural venues in the city and over 280,000 people attended festivals.
A bid centred on discovery, regeneration and transformation would be an ideal demonstrator for Dundee as a city of culture because it would show how those things can be done well in a city that is facing and overcoming challenges. Jenny Marra was right to talk about the challenges that the city faces and the opportunity that the city of culture bid gives to tackle them. I think that the bid is very strong indeed on the themes of discovery, regeneration and transformation.
The city is physically being transformed before our eyes. However, the city of culture bid can ensure that there will be a spiritual and cultural change that can be the heartbeat of the city going forward. It is not just about the physical aspects but about the cultural aspects.
As the Scottish culture secretary, I am excited and enthusiastic about supporting the Dundee bid, and support for it has been exhibited from across the chamber today. Recognition as 2017 city of culture would perfectly encapsulate Dundee’s philosophy and allow Dundee to build on the successes of the Derry/Londonderry city of culture this year. Dundee’s bid provides an opportunity for culture and creativity, and for helping people of all ages and backgrounds come together from communities across Scotland, the UK and further afield. The bid presents an unrivalled opportunity to help widen access and participation and to raise the quality and diversity of our cultural offerings across communities in Dundee.
Dundee is a city that is proud, confident and rooted in culture and heritage. It is a city that not only cherishes its diverse heritage and traditions, but continually seeks to create further opportunities to share and to celebrate. I hope to see Dundee designated the 2017 city of culture and I am delighted that we can come together on a cross-party basis across the chamber to back the Dundee bid. Good luck, Dundee. [Applause.]