Thank you for sharing this. It’s the only thing I’ve read that actually details what has happened and does not directly attribute the cut to Holyrood. It’s pretty astonishing that Creative Scotland could not have just reduced the pot available, or looked elsewhere-I’m assuming the lottery money is match funding. They knew they were on their last legs and this should have been planned for rather than gameplaying for funds and announcing it at Festival time.
This is a direct result of cuts in the block grant and the blame should be laid squarely at the door of the Labour government, just as we need to be clear about their stance on Gaza. It’s a direct assault on an independent Scottish arts sector and we need to seriously confront what arts are for in this country- are we here to be comfortable with four weeks of exposure to the metropolitan world every August, or are we here to challenge orthodoxies and create new worlds?
Funding is going to be a challenge there’s no doubt- but in my mind question is not how to get these particular funds reinstated but how to best meet the needs of creative workers across all sectors of the arts scene in Scotland.
Thank you for sharing this. It’s the only thing I’ve read that actually details what has happened and does not directly attribute the cut to Holyrood. It’s pretty astonishing that Creative Scotland could not have just reduced the pot available, or looked elsewhere-I’m assuming the lottery money is match funding. They knew they were on their last legs and this should have been planned for rather than gameplaying for funds and announcing it at Festival time.
This is a direct result of cuts in the block grant and the blame should be laid squarely at the door of the Labour government, just as we need to be clear about their stance on Gaza. It’s a direct assault on an independent Scottish arts sector and we need to seriously confront what arts are for in this country- are we here to be comfortable with four weeks of exposure to the metropolitan world every August, or are we here to challenge orthodoxies and create new worlds?
Funding is going to be a challenge there’s no doubt- but in my mind question is not how to get these particular funds reinstated but how to best meet the needs of creative workers across all sectors of the arts scene in Scotland.