I DON’T know about you, but I can’t remember a slower start to the year in the arts in these parts, certainly not in the last decade.

EVEN the normally reliable Eden Court could only muster two stage shows in the whole of January, and one of those was the end of the run of their annual panto.

At least in terms of things to go and see, the opening month of the Year of Creative Scotland has been a bit of a damp squib, although I have no doubt that artists and art workers across the region have been planning and working, and things are also starting to hot up on the events front as we move into February.

Dàimh are among the headliners for Celtic Connections' Big Top in Skye in March

The advent of the Year of Creative Scotland brought a couple of interesting responses to my January editorial. Those who feel concern that such events tend to focus on high-profile one-offs rather than genuinely nurturing the crucial infrastructure and ongoing support for arts activity in the region won’t have been much cheered by the initial announcement of funding for the First In A Lifetime awards.

There are some exciting projects to look forward to, but while many of them run through the year, they can’t really be seen as infrastructure-based – at best they will hook in people new to the arts who might want to continue their interest or involvement, and there is no arguing the merits of that.

They don’t, however, address the issues of building a better funding structure and facilities for the arts here, and with further losses likely in the months ahead, that remains a critical concern.

Despite Andrew Dixon’s assertion that “from the Highlands to the Borders, Scotland is a rich tapestry of thriving and vibrant creative communities” at the announcement of this year’s Creative Places awards, the Highlands & Islands actually missed out completely, with only Huntly getting one of the two special awards. This year at least, it paid to be a community south of the Highland line – we’ll have to raise our game for next year.

Lest we forget, as well as The Year of Creative Scotland, we are still in the Year of Scotland’s Islands as well, which runs until March, and is still flagging up events around our shores. Those events will include Celtic Connections’ first venture to the north with their Big Top event in Skye in March, with Rosanne Cash, Michael McGoldrick Band, Dàimh and Mànran among the headliners. Celtic Connections itself is still in full swing in Glasgow, and runs until 5 February.

Kenny Mathieson

Editor

© Kenny Mathieson, 2012