HI~ARTS and the University of the Highlands and Islands combine this month to bring a new feature to NORTHINGS. Robert Livingston explains the thinking behind the Virtual Dinner Party in his introduction to the feature, and the round-table – or should that be round-keyboard?

Not coincidentally, the subject of discussion at the party, ‘Artists are doing it for themselves’, is also the theme of the second Highlands & Islands Visual Arts Gathering [hyperlink] at Eden Court Theatre. The earlier gathering in Ullapool in 2006 was judged a great success, and we look forward to another healthy debate this month.

NORTHINGS’ second Podcast also focuses on the visual arts, and also reflects on a literal case of artists doing it for themselves. Participants from around the world discuss their reactions and contributions to the latest cycle of Three Islands International Arts workshops, which took place on the islands of Hoy in the Orkney Isles and Tanera Mhor within the Summer Isles of Scotland.

While all this positive activity coheres around the visual arts, theatre in the Highlands & Islands received a very unwelcome blow with the news that the Scottish Arts Council has decided to withdraw its funding contribution to the Highland Producer’s Fund, administered by HI~Arts. The SAC statement announcing the move reads as follows:

“Scottish Arts Council regrets that it will no longer support the Highland Producers’ Fund. We recognise the achievements of Highland-based companies in recent years and the part that the Highland Producers’ Fund has played in enabling them to develop and present new work. However, we now propose to direct our resources to other support for the performing arts sector and are therefore withdrawing our commitment to the fund. HITN members now regularly receive Scottish Arts Council support individually, and will continue to be eligible to apply for grants directly from us.”

It is my understanding that neither HI~Arts nor the Highlands & Islands Theatre Network (HITN) had any opportunity to make a case for continuation of the fund in advance of the SAC’s decision. The Board of HITN are appealing that decision. In the meantime, and in order to ease the transition, HI~Arts will use funding from HIE and some unspent funds from previous years to offer a reduced fund of £45,000 for the year 2008-9, half of the total available for 2007-8.  Decisions on the applications should be made in early May.

The Festivals season is getting in swing this month, kicking off this very weekend with the Shetland Folk Festival. There will be no Outsider this year, although the organisers of the event at Rothiemurchus – one of many hampered by rain last year – are still looking at the possibility of returning in 2009. A more definite casualty is the Skye Music Festival, which sustained heavy losses last year after falling well below budgeted audience numbers, and had to call in the administrators.

Elsewhere, though, the big headline events – St Magnus, Rockness, Hebridean Celtic Festival, Tartan Heart, Connect, Blas – are all gearing up for another big year, and they are supported by a network of smaller events covering every conceivable area of the arts (HI~Arts festival guide listed some 70 festivals in the area last year). Now all we need is a decently dry summer ….

Our main interview this year is with fiddler Bruce MacGregor of Blazin’ Fiddles, but not in his accustomed role. Strathpeffer Pavilion was not active when we ran the first series of Venue Profiles in this journal, but is certainly so now, and is our profile for May.

In addition, General Manager Andrea Muir will be providing a Weblog charting the run-in to one of the most exciting events in the Highlands this year, the arrival of Leeds band The Kaiser Chiefs.

We were saddened to hear of the death of Simon MacKenzie last month. Rody Gorman pays bi-lingual poetic tribute to Simon in his memorial poem Tionndadh [hyperlink].

As ever, look out for more features and reviews in the course of the month.

Kenny Mathieson
Commissioning Editor, Northings

Kenny Mathieson lives and works in Boat of Garten, Strathspey. He studied American and English Literature at the University of East Anglia, graduating with a BA (First Class) in 1978, and a PhD in 1983. He has been a freelance writer on various arts-related subjects since 1982, and contributes to the Inverness Courier, The Scotsman, The Herald, The List, and other publications. He has contributed to numerous reference books, and has written books on jazz and Celtic music.