THE EVALUATION Report on Highland 2007 published last month by the Centre for Cultural Policy Research at the University of Glasgow presented a predictably mixed picture on the effectiveness of the project in generating visitor numbers, economic activity and publicity (and let’s face it, artistic achievement was not why the then-Scottish Executive cooked it up in the first place).

FIONA HAMPTON, the director of Highland 2007, reflects on the strengths and weaknesses of the Highland Year of Culture

WHILE the arguments over the success of Highland 2007 will doubtless rumble on for some time yet, the official end of the designated Year of Highland Culture duly arrived on 12 January in Inverness.

Kessock Bridge, Inverness, 12 January 2008

NORTHINGS awakes from its seasonal slumber this week, but not quite as originally intended. In the December editorial, I spoke of an article from Highland 2007′s Fiona Hampton that we intended to post ahead of the final festivities in Inverness on 12 January.

HIGHLAND 2007 moves into its final phase, although it’s not quite over with the passing of the year. The last hurrah will come on the weekend of 11-12 January, culminating with Highland Lights ~ Solais na Gaidhealtachd, which they promise will provide a spectacular final flourish back where it began exactly a year earlier in Inverness.

EDEN COURT THEATRE found itself much in the news in July, albeit without actually doing anything. A banner front-page headline in the Press & Journal suggesting that the theatre would miss all of Highland 2007 proved to have nothing concrete to add to the current understanding of the situation, which is that the theatre is still scheduled – but not certain – to re-open sometime in the final third of the year.

HALFWAY THROUGH Highland 2007, and the reception has been – perhaps inevitably – rather mixed. There are plenty of events, but also a feeling that much of it is not all that relevant to the stated aims of promoting Highland culture, and taking it to the rest of Scotland and beyond.

Elgin Cathedral, 20-23 June 2007

JANETTE PARK sets the scene for a major retrospective of the work of Orkney artist Stanley Cursiter for Highland 2007