WE FIND ourselves one month into the new year, and also to the Year of Homecoming, the latest Scottish Government initiative aimed at selling Scotland as a visitor destination by appealing to all those “affinity Scots” – their term, not mine – around the world.

A flick through their brochure suggests that in terms of the arts in the Highlands & Islands, there is not very much happening that wouldn’t have happened anyway. As in Highland 2007, the organisers have happily taken anything that was already out there under their umbrella, and added even less in the way of unique events to the mix (unless they are keeping something up their sleeves).

It was always going to be an exercise aimed at generating tourism anyway, with the likely number of bed nights filled a more significant criteria to any funding application than artistic ambition or imagination.

However, the first wave of events did include a number of branded concerts at the first major music festival of the year, Celtic Connections in Glasgow, an awareness-raising opportunity that I felt Highland 2007 failed to capitalise on – they were represented at the event, but only at Showcase Scotland, essentially a trade show that isn’t open to the public.

If you detect a certain lack of enthusiasm for the whole shebang from this writer, then I can only concur with your sharp-eyed observation. It would be churlish to wish the whole thing anything other than success, but I can’t say I’m looking forward to it grinding its way through the year. If the visitors do come, though, I hope they take in plenty of the available arts events, and everything else Scotland has to offer.

The fiasco that is the creation of Creative Scotland also grinds on, and dissatisfaction over the proposed arrangements continues to mount, including a petition signed by some 400 artists asking MSPs not to support the formation of the new body as currently envisioned.

While the original aim of combining the Scottish Arts Council and Screen Scotland in one body had some logic to it, the subsequent attempts to do so have been marked by dissension, rejection in the Scottish Parliament, and a worrying amount of expense at a time when the arts are seriously strapped for cash. So far, so bad.

On a cheerier note, I’ll add my congratulations to Shetland-based writer Jen Hadfield, who took the T S Eliot Prize for Poetry in December. Peter Urpeth makes some very relevant points about the knee-jerk reaction of the London press to the award in his Blog on the subject.

Northings and the whole HI-Arts family of websites will be up for a serious makeover in the months ahead, which should result in a cleaner, easier to use and much more interconnected experience for all of you out there. We will flag up the changes as they occur, so watch this space.

We have been concentrating on our review coverage in January, notably at Celtic Connections, but our thanks also go to Nick Fearne for his report on the Moray-based Charioteer Theatre’s foray to Milan. We ease into February with an interview with harpist Catriona McKay, a mainstay of Shetland band Fiddlers’ Bid as well as an innovative solo artist, who will bring her Floë project to Mull in early March.

As usual, we will be adding more news, reviews and features (not to mention blogs and podcasts) as the month goes on.

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.

Post your comments

Post your comments and responses to this month’s editorial.

EDITORIAL-BLOG