Meeting of the Parliament 03 December 2015
I thank the convener of the National Galleries of Scotland Bill Committee, Anne McTaggart, for her opening speech and for the work that she and the other members of the committee—Fiona McLeod and Jean Urquhart—have done in examining the private bill.
I am pleased to have been given the opportunity to speak in this debate to outline my support for the bill and to emphasise the impact of the National Galleries of Scotland as a national and international institution of which we should be extremely proud. Under the chairmanship of Ben Thomson and the leadership of the director general, Sir John Leighton, the National Galleries of Scotland has developed into an ambitious and forward-thinking organisation.
The gallery is one of the leading art galleries in the United Kingdom and Europe, and it looks after one of the world’s finest collections of western art, which ranges from art from the middle ages to art from the present day and includes, of course, the national collection of Scottish art.
In the past 10 years, visitor numbers to the national galleries have increased by an outstanding 30 per cent, and 2014 was a year of record attendance, in which there were almost 2 million visitors. That confirms the status of the national galleries as one of Scotland’s major visitor attractions and consolidates Scotland’s capital as one of the top international cities for visual culture.
In recent years, the National Galleries of Scotland has established a truly national presence, and the collection is shared widely all over this country. Artist rooms, which is the collection of modern art that is owned and operated by the National Galleries of Scotland in partnership with the Tate, has attracted 39 million visitors to 77 partners in the UK since 2009 and has brought world-class art to new audiences right across Scotland, from Dumfries to Shetland.
In 2014, in connection with the Commonwealth games, the National Galleries of Scotland was the initiator of and key partner with Glasgow Life and Creative Scotland in the generation project, which celebrated 25 years of contemporary art in Scotland. The 60 exhibitions of the work of more than 100 artists across Scotland attracted a total of 1.3 million visitors.
Objects from the national galleries are shown all over the world as ambassadors for our art and heritage. In America, a tour of masterpieces from the galleries attracted large crowds in New York, San Francisco and Fort Worth, and art from Scotland is currently being exhibited to great acclaim in Sydney, Australia.
The National Galleries of Scotland’s intention is to continue to use that ambitious programme of major exhibitions of Scottish and international art to attract audiences—and more diverse audiences—and to raise its national and international profile. It is estimated that, in 2015, there will have been some 21 exhibitions and displays across all the National Galleries of Scotland’s sites and 300 education events, lectures, tours, workshops and outreach initiatives in Scotland.
The National Galleries of Scotland’s plans to redevelop the Mound complex to enhance the exhibition of its Scottish collection continue that ambition and drive for success. As members will be aware from the committee convener’s remarks, the bill is a necessary step to allow the transfer of land to the National Galleries of Scotland and to allow the development at the Mound to take place.
In order to achieve that, the gallery needs to move its existing boundary wall to incorporate a 5m-wide strip of what is currently common good land. That is the subject of the private bill. The promoter makes the case that that modest intervention would enhance the space that is available for the Scottish collections and allow the introduction of daylight into the new galleries. The 5m-wide strip of land that would be lost by moving the boundary would be regained at the upper level, allowing for a widening of the footpath leading to the Playfair steps—a most welcome widening of a popular pedestrian thoroughfare that quickly becomes a bottleneck during busy periods. Under the plans, sympathetic landscaping will ensure that those interventions are effectively integrated with the world heritage setting of Princes Street gardens, while access to that part of the gardens will be significantly enhanced.
The refurbishment of the Scottish national gallery, which is the flagship of our national collections, will triple the gallery space available to show Scotland’s national school, presenting not just the great historical figures but 20th century art, including the Scottish colourists. Under the plans, full use will be made of digital technology to make our national collection available to the widest possible public. The project aims to show Scottish art in a much more prominent way, in architecturally distinguished spaces with spectacular views across the city. The newly refurbished galleries will attract an estimated additional 400,000 visitors and 770,000 digital audience interactions every year.
The National Galleries of Scotland has a track record of delivering outstanding development and refurbishment projects. Any member who can recall how the national portrait gallery looked prior to its refurbishment and who has visited it since it was reopened by the former First Minister on 1 December 2011 will be aware of the fabulous impact of that transformative project and the many benefits that it has delivered for visitors to the gallery. This project will have the same transformative effect by opening up the galleries’ Scottish collections for the public.
A forward-thinking National Galleries of Scotland, which continues to deliver an international-class visitor experience, is a real benefit to Scotland. When complete, the project will allow the NGS to show what might be described as the crown jewels of Scottish art in the high-quality setting that those collections deserve and to promote Scotland’s greatest art with pride to audiences from all over the world. For that reason, I am pleased to support the committee’s recommendation that the bill’s general principles should be agreed and that the bill should proceed.
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