Kids are off school and the rhythm of the year shifts again – may be a good time for everyone to draw breath and look at things with fresh eyes. The big cultural picture for D+G could certainly do with some new application of all the creative talent that we are blessed with locally. The ‘State of Flux’ has been the norm for so long now that there is a danger we forget that we were ever trying reach any resolutions.
The Commonty is being increasingly regarded as an important factor in thinking about creativity in the region (not the blog per say, but the idea of the creative community ‘having a forum of independent voices’). Creative Scotland needs to hear a coherent vision for the region as whole – currently it is unclear who is speaking for on behalf of D+G. There is talk of gathering together some of the active projects, individuals and groups to distill some key messages and priorities for Creative Scotland to hear – ie something a bit more useful and relevant than the current ‘D+G Cultural Strategy'.
The Commonty could certainly be one of the ways that we could take part in such a process – what do people think? Also, which projects, groups and people would you like to see in a room working on the ‘big picture’?
posted by MB
To be honest, the very term "cultural strategy" has always sounded rather Soviet to me, like a 5 year plan for creativity, or under the SVQ or NVQ regime, the "criteria for having a creative idea." It's all anti creative. Creativity requires permission, or at least the absence of roadblocks. Over zealous planning and building regulations are stopping a lot of people from doing innovative things with disused buildings, for example. I'm not optimistic at the moment, except when I look at the building Regs for Seattle WA, which has a lovely category just for "artist studio dwellings" in order to encourage artists in all media to make use of post-industrial sites that would otherwise go to rack and ruin. If I had one agenda to bring forward with Scottish Government, it would be this...leave the artists alone and let them drive regeneration for you...and if you want to throw a bit of money into the pot to help them along, then great.
ReplyDeleteThat's my rant for the evening, thanks.
Hope