Engaging with the Arts in Moray
 

KENNY MATHIESON reports from the Changing Lives conference in Moray
 

GLENFIDDICH DISTILLERY provided a handsome setting for the Changing Lives conference earlier this month. The Glenfiddich artist-in-residence scheme is only one excellent example of artistic activity in Moray, and the lively presentations and discussion in the course of the day highlighted a range of activities and initiatives, notably at youth and community level.

This was Moray’s first Arts Conference, jointly organised by Nick Fearne’s Arts Development team at Moray Council and HI~Arts, and was notably well attended. John Byrne was a happy choice as keynote speaker, and his informal presentation traced his own life-changing encounters with art in episodic but suggestive fashion, a process that began as visiting schoolboy at Pluscarden Abbey. Byrne opened the session to questions early on, and the consensus from the floor seemed to find both his attitude and his example inspirational – a word which recurred frequently in the course of the ensuing debates.

The panel discussions were split into three different topics. The first looked at the broad picture of arts development in Moray over the last three years, with contributions from Nick Fearne, Tina McGeever of Out of Darkness Theatre, Caroline Docherty of the Scottish Arts Council, and Andy Fairgrieve, who runs the Glenfiddich artist-in-residence scheme, and vied with John Byrne for the most entertaining presentation of the day.

The overall picture that emerged from their presentations was encouraging, recording a striking growth in activity at a variety of levels, but the spectre of inadequate funding and an uncertain future inevitably raised its head.

The final session of a busy morning dealt with the topic of Changing Youth, and focused in particular on two projects in the area, Total Jam Music Group in Buckie (represented by Catherine Hall) and a music, video and dance project at Hythehill in Lossiemouth (represented by Jacqueline Bennett, an arts development worked in Moray, and John Todd, a detached youth worker, plus two of the teenagers involved in the scheme). Bryan Beattie, the Expert Adviser to the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, provided a Holyrood perspective on the subject.

The success of the Lossiemouth and Buckie projects were both quantifiable, but once again doubts were raised over how to take the projects forward in both the practical and aesthetic sense.

Three short workshops followed lunch, including a session on the work of HI~Arts from Robert Livingston, and one on the Lossiemouth project with video artist Simon Fildes and some of the young people involved in creating it.

The final panel discussion, Changing Communities, focused on the activities of the arts development team and community volunteers in specific sections of Moray, and on the festivals at Speyfest in Fochabers (big and well-established) and Buckie (new and growing). The problems facing the volunteer workers who make these events possible were aired, as was the work on the ground by the development workers, Fiona Herd and Fiona Hay. Sarah Nairn Anderson also spoke about the work of the Speyside Action for Youth Initiative in Aberlour.

Bryan Beattie summed up proceedings in his role as Chair, and reminded us all that whatever the policy decisions taken at higher level, they needed to address what he called “that moment of engagement between the inspired and the inspirer” which the arts makes palpable, and which lies at the heart of our experience of them. Brian was particularly taken with Andy Fairgrieve’s analogy between distilling and art in terms of slow maturation toward excellence, “a perfect metaphor for the arts”.

Other threads from the day included the importance of community involvement, the changing perception of art itself, and issues of accessibility and entitlement, as well as the need for lateral thinking on funding.

As always many questions and issues remained open, but it was clear from both the formal presentations and informal comments that while much remains to be done, the arts have at least begun the long process of changing lives and communities in Moray.

© Kenny Mathieson, 2004