A Prospect Of Highland 2007

ROBERT DAVIDSON tackles the difficult questions facing Fiona Hampton and the Highland 2007 team.

THE CANVAS is no longer blank.  Although those faint lines up there in the corner are no more than the first tentative outlines of a big abstract notion they do represent a start.  But let’s hold on to that word ‘abstract’.

Fiona Hampton’s interview in the February Arts Journal marked the beginning of Highland 2007’s interaction with the public.  Naturally I fell on it.  We’ve been waiting for this for some time.  But when I read that the Director was ‘not sure there is an official title as such’ I wondered how it could get so far without one, and if it has no title does it have a defined purpose at all.

Here and there across the page I noted little marks of omen.  The idea of a Cultural Pledge followed by the magic words ‘young people’ made me cringe.  Undefined but – young people, eh?  Must be good.  And Highland Homecoming?  Again?  Well, there’s nothing so stubborn as nostalgia.  Has no one noticed the place is full of New Scots?  That’s new blood, new ideas.  The place is infinitely varied.  Highland is another name for Cosmopolis.  But let’s put that word ‘variety’ to one side as well.

When she wrote about making it clear how people can get involved and access the funding I thought; ah-hah, more appeals to volunteers and semi-professionals on the way, more coffee mornings, more sponsored abseils, more bloody fundraising, more bluepeterism.  C’mon everyone, let’s show ‘em what we can do!

The 2007 idea was articulated by Jack McConnell in a, let’s face it, raw state when the European City of Culture bid failed at a shockingly early stage.  The bid was openly populist and readers may recall the flotation of such ideas as Madonna’s birthday celebrations and international football competitions to be held in stadiums deemed unfit for the Scottish Premier League.  Boy, how it failed!

This flop didn’t occur in isolation.  About the same time we lost Balnain House in what looked mighty like a coup, and art.tm reverted from being at least the beginnings of the modern art gallery we desperately need to the teaching unit that, yes, we also need.  Some few readers might be aware that the present writer was at the tiller of the good ship Northwords when she went down.  Coming one after the other these were sickeners to many on the Highland arts scene and few of us think we owe the local branch of the arts development industry all that much just now.

From this background the Year of Highland Culture springs by dint of our First Minister’s will.  Thank God for devolution.  I called Fiona Hampton and she agreed to meet me for coffee at Eden Court Theatre.

“Fiona is quick to tell me these are not Highland 2007 commissions.  Highland 2007 is not in the business of handing out commissions.”

Presently an employee of Highland Council Fiona is located in the Glenurquhart Road Headquarters.  There is a company being formed, Highland 2007, one of those not-for-profit jobs limited by guarantee, and soon she and her team will be in Abertarff House.  Wow, a prime site in the middle of town.  And the grounds can be used for events and it’s close to Hoots, the river, hotels and much else.  No great call on our sympathy then.  She gave me a few more facts.

A Board has been formed and has already met, presumably as a steering group, and there are nine aboard, three from each of the funding bodies.  Here are their names; John Mason and Angela Saunders, both civil servants with the Executive; David Williams, Chief Executive of Events Scotland; Grant Sword of Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Jim Hunter (former Chairman of Highlands and Islands Enterprise), Colin Marr (manager of Eden Court Theatre); Cllrs Alison Magee, Michael Foxley and Andy Anderson of Highland Council.  Alison Magee is Chair and Jim Hunter is Vice Chair.

The Company has a budget of nine million pounds to take it from the present time through 2007.  Of this £2.7M comes from the Executive, £2.4M comes from HIE and another £2.4M comes from the Council.

Half of the Council’s contribution will be ‘in kind services’.  We’ll see how that goes.  In fact, the Council’s services are seen as crucial not only in themselves but in the shape they give to the whole venture.  I felt a bit miffed on behalf of the Western and Northern Isles.  Boundaries aside, they are part of us.  But it turns out we can put that word ‘boundaries’ over in the corner for future reference with ‘abstract’ and ‘varied’.

Of that £9M some is ring fenced, as we say when we are au fait with the jargon.  There are three big beasts roaming within the fence, only one of which is well known.  £412K goes to the new musical that has Cameron Mackintosh’s backing, and his match funding.  Another £412K is set against a coming National Exhibition and an at-present unknown sum will be put towards a massive commission for the five major Youth companies in dance, theatre, choir, orchestra, and pipe bands.  For Eden Court?  There won’t be a corrie in the Cairngorms big enough to hold all that.  Fiona is quick to tell me these are not Highland 2007 commissions.  Highland 2007 is not in the business of handing out commissions.  There will be a fourth, smaller beast grazing in the paddock, salaries and other overheads.

The team is almost all in place.  Fiona’s first move was to capture Morven MacLeod from the Highland Festival as Admin Assistant.  I can say from happy experience that this was a good move.  For eight years Morven has been a stalwart on that difficult journey and first point of contact for many.  Competent, willing, reliable, that’s my experience from two Festival projects.  She can sing too.

Gathered from other parts of Scotland Fiona also has Torquil MacLeod as Sponsorship and Project Fund Manager, presumably to make up the obvious shortfall between central contributions and projected outlay.  Cathy Shankland will be responsible for Arts and Heritage.  The Marketing and Commercial post will be filled soon.  That’s the central team, all of it.

Only five of them. £9M.  Doesn’t fit, does it?

“Highland 2007 being what it is, and growing the way it is, the attributes and personality of the Director are vital and, actually, on the basis of this conversation, I think the right woman is in place.”

Before moving on (I would say ‘down’ but don’t think Fiona would like it) to the next layer of organisation I wanted to know a bit more about the core of all this, the ‘what’s it all about’ question.  She took it obliquely.

The challenge of the project, and of her post, is in the combination of complexity with a certain vagueness of purpose.  The project is almost being defined as it goes but at its most basic level it is an exercise in coordination and promotion.  The ideas must come from grass roots.  There will be no shortage.  But, of course not.  As all of us who live in the Highlands are well aware, the place is a greenhouse for enthusiasts.  All of a sudden that still unfilled post of Marketing and Commercial looks very important indeed.  So, back to structures.

The region, that is the Highland Council land mass, will be divided into eight areas.  That will be the usual eight, based on the old Districts or Counties.  These areas will have Management Groups composed of – who?  Don’t know yet.  But they will be presented with sets of essential and preferable criteria to apply to applications.  That satisfied there will be an application form of only three pages, still in development, to be filled in and soon, easily, money will appear.

At this point I brought out my points about the appeal to the semi-professional, to the communities (a formerly much loved word I am growing to hate), to fund-raisers.  Getting money out of funding bodies for the arts can be arduous and lengthy.  It can even be humiliating.  Will match funding be required?  Not necessarily, she assured me.  There will be no fixed limit to support.  Working relationships will be seen as in constant development and applicants will be assisted in the provision of training through Community Learning and Learning Resource.  Many other partnerings are already in place, such as with Visit Scotland and Events Scotland.

Well, given the number and range of likely applications it’s going to be complex enough.  Given the likelihood of the unexpected popping up it’s going to be fairly vague for quite a while.  It sure meets Fiona’s criteria for interest.  So who can apply?  Any kind of not for profit organisation, she told me.

At this point her skills developed in physical education had to be utilised when she picked me up from the floor and put me back in my seat.  What’s wrong with profit?  Actually, nothing.  Profit seeking ventures can be entertained.  It’s just that she was advised …

If anyone would like to know what is wrong with not-for-profit companies it is this; they have dependency built in.

“Drawing Fiona out on boundaries it gets pretty clear, pretty quickly, that there aren’t any.”

Let’s consider Fiona herself.  Highland 2007 being what it is, and growing the way it is, the attributes and personality of the Director are vital and, actually, on the basis of this conversation, I think the right woman is in place.  Her background is not in the Arts and she, like me, considers that to be a good thing. 

She was trained as a PE teacher and spent her early career in that profession, moving into Leisure Management.  She worked in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen before marrying and moving north and to a job with HIE.  She and her husband have a wee yin and, she volunteered to me, she makes a point of setting 4:00pm to 7:30pm aside every day for them.  She works most days though, of course I mean beyond the usual five, and frequently returns to it in the evening.

I would say she keeps herself pretty fit, reaping the benefits of her earlier activities and training, and this should not be viewed as a trivial point.  Stress levels, for Fiona Hampton, are likely to go through the roof and it will be all too easy to ignore her own health and wellbeing.  All her time will soon be like silver but that set aside will be like gold.

There were points she had up her sleeve that she was anxious to bring out, such as the parties at either end of the year and the big November 5th fireworks display.  I had little interest in these and let it show.  I also have natural aversion to jargon that I don’t disguise.  Realising this, Fiona said, ‘Well, I’m using all the wrong words here’, and promptly switched out of presentation mode into a more thoughtful diction.  From that point on we were fine, and I’m glad she has both tools in her bag.

She speaks well and clearly, her thoughts ordered although the subject is, as she has said, complex and still vague.  This she can manage one to one with a stranger who exhibited considerable doubt about her project but whom she managed to substantially win round.  I feel very sure she could manage an audience equally well.  I have many more qualifications about the project than the hand on the tiller.  Let’s go back to those three words we put to one side; variety, boundaries and abstract.

The variety of project will be incredible.  Already there are four archaeological events planned.  Of course there is the possibility of overlap when maximum value would be with complementary projects and a sort of archaeology trail, but that is where central guidance comes in.  These four events will fit comfortably within the Heritage strand already defined within Highland 2007.  But they could equally fit within Environment.  Applying the events to the 2007 themes (that exist within the strands) they could also fit, Youth, Gaelic, Creativity, and Inclusiveness.  Got the picture?  Events aren’t going to necessarily fit into 2007 on a ‘one theme one strand’ basis.

Now think visual arts, literature, theatre, photography, all the different kinds of music, all the different kinds of sport both active and sedentary, think about hillwalking and climbing and conservation, think of old folks, young folks, think of what the many incomer groups bring, think of technology, food, single malt whiskies, religion, clothing.  Multiply this by two languages because it’s a mistake to think of Gaelic as a ‘theme’.  Apply Fiona’s six cultural strands with the other six working themes and you’ll see we are moving towards chaos.  Think of Highland Homecoming and throw yourself on your claymore.

Drawing Fiona out on boundaries it gets pretty clear, pretty quickly, that there aren’t any.  Events from outwith the Highland Council area, that is events either originating or happening or both, will be entertained if there is a Highland connection.  Outwith the area could be Moray or it could be London.  Overseas events such as Tartan Day in New York and Celtic Colours in Nova Scotia could be attended if there is reasonable hope of sufficient payback.

That’s geography.  We’ve already seen there are no boundaries to the notion of ‘culture’.  No boundaries from tradition either, because while 2007 will be built on what already exists it won’t be limited by it.  Positive laid on positive is everywhere just now.  Highland 2007 is descending on us as Philip Larkin says love should, like an enormous yes.

“That leads us neatly to success criteria for the whole project because that will impact down the hierarchy.  When I suggested, fairly bluntly, that it’s about bed nights in hotels Fiona was honest enough to say that’s part of it.”

Right now it’s ‘yes’ to everything.  The word ‘no’ doesn’t seem to exist but I feel it must appear soon.  There are no living healthy environments but have death stalking them.  If there is to be quality, however it is defined, the word ‘no’ will be required. If that £9M sum is to remain in lumps of workable size the number of projects must be limited.  If Fiona’s team of five, and the eight management groups, are to function the number of projects must be limited.

I suspect this dread element is going to appear somewhere in the hierarchy between Abertarff House and the management groups, floating about like a hooded skeleton with a scythe.  Already she has mentioned ‘essential criteria’ and ‘preferable criteria’.  We know that profit isn’t one of them and without it the whole thing is terribly abstract.&n
sp; And there is the third word that has been in waiting from the start.  It won’t do, but it can only be hunted out and dispatched by details as they become fixed in time.

That leads us neatly to success criteria for the whole project because that will impact down the hierarchy.  When I suggested, fairly bluntly, that it’s about bed nights in hotels Fiona was honest enough to say that’s part of it.  As a matter of fact I too think it should be part of it.  People drawn in to this area to visit and perhaps to stay, people with new ideas and new activities that will take us beyond 2007.  People, frankly, with money.  She also places on the scales such intangibles as increased awareness, pride and confidence; yes, the abstract values.

Still more honestly she says that the overall project is developing so rapidly it might not be possible to determine success criteria until 2008 when it’s all over.  It sounds like a cop out but I go along with it.  That will be the last abstraction to die.  There is no telling what can be achieved with a thing like this until we are into it.  Why limit our imaginations?

There is one very real success criterion I would like to see applied.  Can we think about institutions that will survive as employers after 2007.  Youth and young people have already been mentioned.  That’s good.  We should be proud of the Feis Movement.  We should be proud of what Grey Coast Theatre is achieving.  The Highlands has been sending talented young people out into the world for generations.  What we need now is working companies to give them employment here.

“So, my worst fears have been first of all realised, then turned around and into hope.”

That is, publishing companies such as Sandstone Press aspires to be, recording companies with industrial sized clout for all our great musicians, record manufacturers, distributors, a resident orchestra, a repertory theatre such as Dundee has.  Marketing specialists.  Believe me we already have adequate designers and printers.  In the 21st Century all of this is possible.

But this exposes a weakness in the 2007 strategy.  The project relies on grass roots activism for ideas and execution.  Now, I know this can be presented as a strength and to some extent it is.  I can hear the words ‘community’ and ‘inclusion’ almost as I write.  Take it from me that most activists are already careening along at full tilt, and I mean both amateurs and professionals.  For months that are now stretching into years I have been firing out ideas such as a Highland Laureate and an International Lecture but if I have to lift and carry them with no more than bare costs and guidance – well, that’s them sunk.

Right now Highland 2007 isn’t much more than a vision but those sketched lines at the top of the canvas are getting firmer.  Out of the chaos, out of the abstract, a picture will form.  It will be complex.  It will be varied.  It will need a leader and I suspect it may have the right one in Fiona Hampton, although she will have to create limits if she wants to see it through.  With no unique purpose in sight the project could grow exponentially and unmanageably.

So, my worst fears have been first of all realised, then turned around and into hope. To return briefly to cynicism, at its worst this is a smoke screen for the failed culture bid.  If it doesn’t work you’ll see it’s the fault of the grass roots, not the Arts Development Industry, and the blame will have been neatly transferred to the victims.  After speaking with Fiona I have put this view away. Not my doubts, only that cynicism.  We need something great in the Highlands.  Activists and public alike need a real boost and this could, just possibly, be it.  £9M isn’t a bottomless pool but it’s a big per capita spend for relatively small population.

2007 will need the professionals, semi-professionals, amateurs and enthusiasts, not to mention the ticket buying, book buying, all singing all dancing public, to participate.  First though, they have to be convinced.  Over to you, Fiona.  We need 2007 the way Sydney needed the 2000 Olympics.  Make it a success and we can take from it what they took, better lifestyles, increased wealth, respect, friends, independence.  C’mon everyone, let’s show ‘em what we can do!

Robert Davidson is the Managing Editor of Sandstone Press.

© Robert Davidson, 2005