Cultural activities in Scotland benefit £2.77million from Open Project Funding Awards

ONE hundred and twenty-nine projects across Scotland, including individuals and organisations, have received awards of between £1,000 and £140,000 – from October to December 2015

Award recipients include festivals, musicians, filmmakers, visual artists, comedians, community arts centres, dancers and writers.

Among the awards Glasgow-based filmmaker, Florrie James, will use her funding award to undergo research and development for seven months, focussing on improving her technical filmmaking skills through the making of two collaborative short films.

Elsewhere, LGBT Youth Scotland will use its funding to build the capacity of artists, creating a legacy of work that promotes LGBT inclusion and dialogue in Scotland.

Stornoway-based music festival, HebCelt, and the Shetland Folk Festival both received awards made towards music, alongside Scottish bands, Honeyblood, who will create a short film to support the upcoming release of their second album and Dialects who will release their debut album, Because Your Path Is Unlike Any Other.

Mhari Pottinger, co-organiser of the annual Shetland Folk Festival, said: “Without Creative Scotland investment and support from the many local sponsors we attract, our festival would have to operate in a completely different manner.

“We are focused on bringing some of the best music in the world to the even the remotest communities, one of the many measures we take to try to make our cultural offering as accessible as possible. Support like this from a national agency gives our volunteer committee a tremendous boost.”

Glasgow-based sculptors, Emma Ewan and Kate V Robertson, were among those granted awards targeted towards the visual arts, whilst Dundee-based jewellery designer, Elizabeth Humble, received an award made towards crafts.

On being awarded funding, Emma Ewan said: “Being granted this time and space to commit to research ahead of developing new works has been truly invaluable to my practice.”

Scottish Gaelic theatre company, Theatre Gu Leòr, will tour Gaelic play Shrapnel by Catriona Lexy Chaimbeul throughout Scotland, including the central belt and the Highlands and Islands after receiving one of awards made towards theatre.

Shrapnel is the adaptation of the seminal Gaelic novel of the same title by renowned novelist and Catriona’s father, Tormod Caimbeul.

Muiranne Kelly, artistic director, Theatre Gu Leòr, said: “With the generous support of the open project funding from Creative Scotland along with our two co-producers, The Tron Theatre, Glasgow and An Lanntair, we have been able to create a truly unique contemporary piece of Gàidhlig drama.

“We have also been fortunate enough to have received huge support from NTS and Bòrd na Gàidhlig and our other partners to produce Shrapnel and to tour, nationwide in March 2016. Without the significant support of Creative Scotland and our partners none of this would have been possible.”

conFAB, support, develop and expand opportunities for writers of all mediums, across Scotland. They received one of the awards given towards literature and publishing, the project will see young people from across Scotland take part in poetry and performance workshops leading up to the first National Young People’s Poetry Slam where they will compete for the title of National Young People’s Slam Master 2016.

Anita Govan, poet and key partner in conFAB, said: “I am hugely excited to finally get started on our dream of a Scottish Youth Poetry Slam. Since conFAB and I started youth poetry slams more than 11 years ago we have worked hard towards this goal.

“Over the years, I have become convinced that it has huge value as a teaching tool, enabling young people to reflect, understand and negotiate the world around them. It gives them a voice and ‘the right to speak’, helping them to gain confidence and self-knowledge in a self-empowering way.”

Iain Munro, deputy CEO at Creative Scotland, said: “Through Open Project Funding, artists and creative organisations are able to explore, develop and realise their creative potential, widen access to their work, and enrich Scotland’s reputation as a distinctive creative nation connected to the world.

“Collectively, these projects will have a major impact on the quality of people’s lives across Scotland in many different ways, stimulating people’s imagination and confidence through coming together to enjoy artistic and creative experiences.

“We are particularly pleased to be able to support such a high number of emerging and established individual artists and creative practitioners who demonstrate quality, imagination and ambition in their work.”

Over £2.5million of these awards has been allocated from National Lottery funds. Alongside funding from the Scottish Government, The National Lottery forms a vital part of funding support for the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland.

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