Duncan Macmillan

13 Jan 2008 in Highland, Visual Arts & Crafts

A New Highland Gallery

GEORGINA COBURN discusses plans for a new Highland Gallery and Museum with the Chair of the steering group, Professor Duncan Macmillan

A PUBLIC CONSULTATION is currently underway to choose a site for a new Highland Gallery and Museum. Three potential locations have been identified; the west side of Castle Street in the city centre, the present Inverness College site Midmills in the Crown area of Inverness and the Northern Meeting Park adjacent to the new Eden Court development on the riverside.

Professor Duncan Macmillan, former Dean of Art at Edinburgh University and curator of the Talbot Rice Gallery is Chair of the steering group.

GEORGINA COBURN: The development of a new gallery and museum in Inverness has been a long held ambition for many over the last ten years with three potential sites finally being named as part of a public consultation. How do you see this development in relation to the emergence of Inverness as a city?

DUNCAN MACMILLAN: I think it is vital to the long-term success of Inverness as a city. It is a necessary investment in the kind of cultural infrastructure that should define a city, keep successful people here and make it an attractive destination, not just for tourists, but to attract the kind of people to work here that a city needs for sustained economic success. It is also a vital element in education as the visual becomes more and more important in our culture. The Project would provide an education facility in visual and material culture from primary to tertiary education.


The public response will be considered very carefully and I have no doubt that there will be further opportunities for public consultation


GC: Why has the decision been taken to continue to combine the Museum and Gallery function? Should there not have been a public consultation about “what” the facility should be before “where” it should be located?

DM: The need for a gallery has been established over extensive public consultation. The need for a new museum is incontestable. It simply makes practical sense to combine them. I don’t think such purely practical things need more consultation.

GC: I agree completely that the need for a new facility is incontestable, however the practicality you are referring to strikes me more as an issue of pounds rather than vision. You don’t feel that putting the two elements together especially in light of their current relationship is problematic in terms of the Gallery and may dilute its profile or function?

DM: The answer to that has to be architectural and so will be in the brief, two functions clearly differentiated by the design of the building. It is not just pounds, though, it is also richness of opportunity and public, more functions brought together increase the audience by more than the simple multiple of the number of functions.

GC: Models such as the Guggenheim in Bilbao suggest that a stand-alone gallery as famed for its architecture as for its collection are ingredients for a truly international facility. Beyond bricks and mortar what kind of infrastructure do you feel is needed to compliment the design and construction of a new public art gallery in Inverness?

DM: I am not quite sure what you mean by this question. The gallery-museum is itself infrastructure not just for Inverness, but also crucially for the Highlands more widely. The idea is that it should be a service hub for the smaller galleries throughout the Highlands providing expertise and advice where that is not available locally and also originating exhibitions.

GC: What I mean to ask is really about the context of the new facility. Bilbao is mentioned in the ICP literature as a kind of model, an international draw. To me this is misleading as it is a stand-alone gallery in a country with arguably a greater pride and public awareness of its visual culture than our own. The name Guggenheim is already established, suggesting a certain quality of work with an international reach. We currently have a Museum and Art Gallery where the visual element is practically invisible, not even the website makes reference to exhibitions (a function now restored). My question relates to the necessity in an area with a poor track record for the promotion of Visual Arts for that profile to be raised. My feeling is that the museum/ gallery structure as it stands transplanted to any new building will not magically solve this problem. Capital investment is one thing, investment in infrastructure in the wider sense requires equal commitment and investment.

DM: I am still not sure about infrastructure. The gallery is that, but I think the answer lies in programming which is why the NGS is so important, top quality art will make its own case.

GC: The loan of works from national collections is a significant factor in this new development and satisfies the National Galleries remit of reaching audiences across Scotland. Are there plans to develop a significant collection in the North and develop curatorial practice as part of the new facility? Do you feel that there has been a significant shift in centres of cultural gravity in Scotland/ the UK?

DM: There is already the basis of a collection in the part of the SAC collection donated. Nevertheless at the present time an extensive acquisition programme has not been discussed, nor is it likely it could be funded, though it should not be ruled out, at least in the contemporary.

GC: Is a new gallery lacking the provision to acquire work and therefore define itself not flawed? What is the nature of the SAC collection content and how might this prove a draw for visitors /assist in audience development?

DM: The SAC gave several hundred contemporary works. It is a base to build on and a resource for the region, but the new gallery has always been conceived as primarily a changing exhibition space like DCA, even the NGS exhibitions, like the Queen’s Gallery, run for a longer period.

GC: Do you feel there has been a fundamental change in how we regard the visual in Highland Culture? Do you believe Highland 2007 has helped to focus attention on lack of cultural access and public provision for Visual Arts in the North?

DM: I think the change is much wider than just the Highlands. Collectively we regard the visual as primary in a way that reflects profound changes in the way information is ordered and communicated. Art is a matter of wide public interest in a way that it has not been for a very long time. I think it is right, and necessary for their success, that the Highlands should have the facilities to share in this cultural shift. It is also true that much has already been done in the region, witness the successful galleries and organisations there are now throughout the area. The new gallery would build on this investment.

GC: Do you feel that the new Eden Court and announcement of a £10 million pound archive facility at Bught Park strengthens the argument for the development of a cultural quarter on the riverside?

DM: It certainly should be taken into account.

GC: As Chair of the steering group can you comment on the public response so far to consultation on the three sites? What issues have been highlighted in relation to specific sites?

DM: Not yet.

GC: To what degree will the public choice of site influence the final decision and what kind of timeframe do you envisage for the development? What kind of further consultation will be necessary to make this new facility a reality?

DM: The public response will be considered very carefully and I have no doubt that there will be further opportunities for public consultation.

GC: Following the public consultation which concluded on 11 January, what will be the next step forward? How can people keep informed about the establishment of a new Highland Gallery and Museum as the development unfolds?

DM: I have suggested that we should have a proper PR set-up to keep the public informed and I am determined that that should be the case. We need to keep the public fully informed to keep their support. The project deserves it.

The Highland Gallery and Museum steering group comprises of representatives from The Highland Council, Inverness City Partnership, Highlands and Islands Enterprise: Inverness and East Highland, National Galleries of Scotland, Scottish Arts Council, HI~Arts, UHI Millennium Institute, Eden Court Theatre and Cinema and Inverness Architects Association. Opportunities and constraints to the development of each site were presented on the Inverness City Partnership website (see link below).

Links

© Georgina Coburn, 2008