What Kind of Culture?

GEORGINA COBURN takes a critical look at the nurturing of creative opportunities in the Highlands & Islands.

An article on BBC’s news website in November featuring local artist Sarah Barnes raised the important issue of lack of creative opportunities and the continuing decline of population aged between 16 and 35 in the Highlands.

The INverness logo representing the city as a marketable brand does not yet have the infrastructure to support the claim of a bustling, thriving, flourishing centre.

The commentary in Highland 2007’s current Fonn ‘s Duthchas exhibition stated that in the past prospects in the Highlands were poor, and “people had to move away to earn a living. Now the opposite is true”. Although the region is often touted as “the fastest growing city in Europe”, we really need to examine this growth and what the nature and direction of it truly is.

For the Arts community in particular, this is of the greatest importance, not only in terms of viability in choosing to live and work here but in terms of leadership. Imagination, innovation and enterprise will create a place where people’s aspirations can be supported and ultimately realised rather than reducing the area to an imitation of every other outer retail park in the UK.

Do we really need to go further down the path of decay in order to reach crisis and regeneration by public funds, or is this a question of our own self determination to create a future worthy of our surroundings?

It is time for the arts to actively engage with politics and introduce the concepts of vision and imagination to our future planning

Currently tertiary education is still primarily an experience of exodus, and dependence of artists on recognition and income from the central belt or elsewhere is the difference between making a living or not in their chosen profession.

It is astonishing that in 2007 Inverness as a centre of population lacks a coherent central University, an art gallery or regional art college, all of which serves to create the lowest possible expectation for creative industry to flourish. If you are a young person your prospects basically consist of working for Lifescan, the Council, or a service industry job.

If these are the area’s defining industries what kind of Culture do these organisations support and promote? It seems ironic that “Cultural Industries” strategies are what Councils’ only seem to adopt once their populations have declined rather than building healthy communities through a governing principle of accepted cultural value.

In urban centres artists are frequently sent in to regenerate communities, acting as an antidote to decay and alienation, especially amongst young or vulnerable members of society. This would seem to support by default that culture is about our humanity and what we need to support living.

For me culture is what nurtures us, allows us to grow, Kenneth White’s “mindscape in a landscape”. It is a phrase I find myself drawn into again and again. It implies redrawing our cultural map with self awareness, self criticism and self determination at its centre. It is not emergency resuscitation in response to decline but response to life.

Much is said about the unique “Highland Lifestyle” and “quality of life” enjoyed here. However, if our development and planning continue to define us as a service centre rather than a centre of innovation and enterprise, then the only thing we will nurture is cultural exodus.

The growth of artist-led groups, including studio trails across the Highlands and Islands, are a healthy indication of growing self determination, and confidence. It may be that Inverness participation in the Six Cities Design Festival and the focus of Highland 2007 will also assist in turning a significant cultural corner.

In a wider context the draft cultural bill from the Scottish Executive provides an opportunity for artists of all disciplines to respond, and I sincerely hope that artists and arts workers in the Highlands and Islands will make their voices heard.

Greater contact with arts organisations and politicians both locally and at national level will help set a positive agenda for change. If there is ignorance about the value of the arts to our culture and economy then we have a responsibility to educate those we have elected to represent the region’s interests. It is time for the arts to actively engage with politics and introduce the concepts of vision and imagination to our future planning.

My hope for this year is a time of debate, self-examination and self-determination, actively driven by the arts community. The recently launched BBC radio programme ‘Highland Café’ hosted by Bruce MacGregor, Mary Ann Kennedy, Morag MacDonald and Lindsay Cannon would seem a good starting point; “debating and discussing the issues most salient to you and what you feel is most important about living life in the Highlands and Islands”.

Another healthy sign of Zeitgeist is artist Matt Baker’s ongoing project as part of the city’s public art initiative. Inspired by a Victorian sculpture of the three graces that once stood in the city centre, Matt is exploring the idea of three contemporary virtues that define the area.

As with the ‘Imagining the Centre’ event last September, the project is defined by direct involvement with the areas’ residents. Identifying three governing principles that define us and the sculptural interpretation of these is a fascinating and challenging process.

This kind of investigation is entirely apt, especially in this year of Highland Culture.

We should never accept a vision of our own culture as a given stagnant reality, inherited from outdated notions of authority and ownership but as a dynamic, engaging and essential part of life. Many working in the arts are embracing this dynamism actively in their work, and accepting where they stand as their centre, rather than looking outside for the ultimate validation.

As the borders of Europe expand and we become part of a global vision of the world accelerated by technology, travel and communication, issues of individual and collective identity will continue to unite and divide us.

2007 as a year of ‘Highland Culture’ ultimately raises more questions than it answers about the place we live, and this for me is cause for celebration. As an agent of change and reflection art has a central role to play. It is an exciting, creative and dynamic time INdeed!

© Georgina Coburn, 2007