A lot can happen in a year. But then again, not a lot can happen also. One year after the implosion of Creative Scotland, and one year before the independence referendum, the arts agency finds itself in a peculiar place – a slowing of step prior to some thing vertiginous, perhaps? Something is stirring, although from last week’s latest round of Open Sessions aimed at the sector, it is difficult to say exactly what. The question remains, does Creative Scotland have it in itself to grasp the thistle?
In the last round of Open Sessions in the spring, a narrative gradually emerged from the speakers across the country – from sectoral bloodletting into a fairly clear (albeit jumbled) analysis of what happened at the agency during its formative years, the various wrong turns and, more importantly, the what could be’s. And in fact Fiona Hyslop, Scotland’s Minister for Culture, responded with a rousing, decisive, adroit speech at Edinburgh’s Talbot Rice Gallery in May, outlining the Scottish Government’s staunch support for the arts.
So expectations were high going into the latest Open Sessions, which started in Glasgow last Friday. With a new CEO, Janet Archer, in place, the sessions were a first opportunity for the arts sector to hear how things were progressing at Waverly Gate. Archer started proceedings by reiterating her credentials as a practionner, following by reading Don Paterson’s poem, We, the Scottish People. Lofty, but how does a public agency translate these ideals into action?
To unlock or empower
Those waiting for a great reveal, a big unifying idea, were left wanting. Archer laid out some thoughts, work in progress of where the agency was headed. Creative Scotland was retrofitting its mission – should it be “Unlocking Scotland’s creative potential” or “Empowering Scotland’s creative imagination”? It’s fair to say from the audience’s response, that they didn’t really mind, although they perhaps would prefer the verb, ‘enabling’. “We see ourselves as door openers, rather than gatekeepers.” One might ask what the difference is?
Next up was Deputy Director, Iain Munro, to explain the new funding model. From April next year, there will be just three strands of funding available – Regular, Project and Targeted. Again, what may seem radical internally did not come across as a major shift. As a member of the audience pointed out, without an understanding of how the funding was weighted, of where the priorities were to be (which couldn’t be given because “we don’t know”), there wasn’t the scope for an informed response.
And so the afternoon progressed fitfully. The audience feedback was that overall the direction felt vague but sincere and tentative. Indeed, could it be different? For while Munro maintained that the projected funding situation remained stable over the next three years, the elephant in the room remained next year’s referendum – a game changer given that 50% of Creative Scotland’s £85m budget comes from UK Lottery sources.
What we have is a public organisation caught between two posts, trying to maintain a professional direction. From the more unionist sounding beneficence of ‘unlocking’, to the nationalist tinged and liberating, ‘empowering”, it’s an organisation in limbo – a Creative Scotland in waiting…
Year of flux in Scotland
So what to do? Fiona Hyslop was quite clear: “I want Scotland to be understood not just by what we do, but by how we do it. Supporting the process of artistic development is as important as recognising and appreciating the art itself…
“It is our job to work with public, private and third sector, effectively and creatively, to create and nurture the conditions in which artists and writers can develop and where our tangible and intangible culture and heritage can thrive.”
A recurring theme has emerged over the past year – the artist’s own economic position within the funding set up. Currently the annual budget for the (heavily oversubscribed) Artists’ Bursaries programme, where artists can determine their own projects, is £1.45m. The National Events budget, where artists get to ‘commemorate’ or ‘celebrate’ other’s projects, is £8m. This needs to be turned around.
In 2014, this year of flux in Scotland, the very people who should be exploring and experimenting with certainty and purpose are those who can – the artists. Creative Scotland should let go, signal its deep felt trust and commit 10% of its budget for the future, whatever that may be, to artists’ activity.
Here’s the poem I’d offer up to the process:
The Sad Astronomer by Roger McGough
His telescope is beyond repair
Tonight he opens the sky
And he cannot read it.
The stars, a jumble
Dance before his eyes.
