Committee
European and External Relations Committee 31 January 2012
31 Jan 2012 · S4 · European and External Relations Committee
Item of business
International Representation and Scottish Government Country Plans
Amanda Catto
Watch on SPTV
On the point about the potential for a visual arts festival along the lines of the Venice biennale, Creative Scotland’s predecessor, the Scottish Arts Council, initiated our presence in Venice and, because the visual arts are one of the key strengths in our international profile, we have been considering what can happen.A little while back, Richard Demarco helped to establish the art festival in Edinburgh. Of course the festivals in Edinburgh are really important. We added the art festival into the mix, and it has gone from strength to strength. It does not operate on the same model as the Venice biennale, but it opens up found spaces in the city and presents a real opportunity for the audience to see a range of work, from national collections to quite grass-roots work. In Glasgow, we are in our fourth or fifth edition of something called Glasgow international, which is a major international festival for the visual arts. It happens in Glasgow over a short period; it is not a five-month biennale type of event, but happens over a three-week period. It is recognised internationally and has hit the mark by offering newly commissioned work from Scotland, showcasing some of the best Scottish artists. We will have Karla Black this year and Richard Wright, and many of the best talents in Scotland. We will also bring in some recognised international figures.We are always interested in strengthening such activities. Glasgow knows that it has a real opportunity. It has a great cultural scene, and the visual arts are a large part of that. We will continue to have conversations with partners about what can happen.
In the same item of business
The Convener
SNP
Item 2 is a round-table discussion on Scottish representation abroad and the Scottish Government’s country plans. I welcome all our guests. I hope that we ca...
Denise Hill (VisitScotland)
I am head of international marketing at VisitScotland.
Anne MacColl (Scottish Development International)
I am chief executive of Scottish Development International.
Amanda Catto (Creative Scotland)
I am a portfolio manager for international, cultural export and visual arts at Creative Scotland.
Annabelle Ewing (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP)
SNP
I am a member of the committee.
Dr Lloyd Anderson (British Council Scotland)
I am director of the British Council Scotland.
Dr Katherine Trebeck (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations)
I am from Oxfam Scotland, but I am here to represent the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations policy committee.
Aileen McLeod (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I am a member of the committee.
Gillian Wilson (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and Network of International Development Organisations in Scotland)
I am the co-ordinator of the Network of International Development Organisations in Scotland and I am also a representative of the SCVO policy committee.
Serafin Pazos-Vidal (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities)
I am the European policy manager at the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and head of its Brussels office.
Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
I am a member of the committee.
Bill Kidd (Glasgow Anniesland) (SNP)
SNP
I am a member of the committee. I was keen to see whether you had started without me but, fortunately, you had not.
The Convener
SNP
We had not started without you, Bill—we waited for you specially.I have a general question to open up the discussion. The written evidence that we received w...
Denise Hill
VisitScotland is the lead agency for the development and promotion of tourism. We support the Government’s economic strategy and the ambition to have a major...
Anne MacColl
Scottish Development International is a joint venture—we are the international trade and investment arm of the Government, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands ...
Amanda Catto
Creative Scotland is a relatively new organisation that brought together the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen. Our mandate is to invest in arts, cre...
Dr Anderson
The British Council’s mission is to build long-term international relationships and trust for Scotland, as a nation within the United Kingdom state. We do th...
Dr Trebeck
Oxfam’s mandate around the world and in the UK is to work with others to overcome poverty and suffering. As I said earlier, I am also here with my SCVO polic...
Gillian Wilson
I am the co-ordinator of NIDOS. We are an umbrella body for just over 90 charitable international organisations. The main focus of our members’ work is to do...
Serafin Pazos-Vidal
I assure members that we do not intend to make our presence a constant feature in this committee; it just so happened that today’s subject matter suggested m...
The Convener
SNP
We will move on to open questions. Aileen McLeod will start.
Aileen McLeod
SNP
Thank you, convener. I thank everybody for coming along to our discussion.In the written evidence that we have received and during the first round of discuss...
Gillian Wilson
I think so. I am not as experienced as the major stakeholders in terms of the commercial side of the issue, but there has certainly been some movement within...
Dr Trebeck
I have a small practical example of that. Last week, Oxfam launched the small enterprise impact investment fund—that is not a very useful name, and we call i...
Dr Anderson
That relates to the point about the team Scotland approach.Publishing an international strategy that sets out a broad framework of priorities is the right th...
Anne MacColl
It is clear from what is being said round the table that this forum is an interesting way of uncovering some of the collaboration on which we are working. Fo...
Jamie McGrigor
Con
My questions are for Denise Hill of VisitScotland. You point out that“VisitScotland does not have any offices overseas”but utilises“specialist in-country sup...
Denise Hill
On your last point, a webinar is indeed a seminar over the web. We are increasingly using that approach so that the travel trade experts who are based in our...
Jamie McGrigor
Con
Later, your submission says:“There are more than 5,000 SCOTS agents worldwide promoting Scotland as a leading destination”.Just for clarification, who employ...
Denise Hill
VisitScotland created the SCOTS—specialist counsellor on travel to Scotland—education programme many years ago. The programme used to be in paper format, but...