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Enterprise and Culture Committee, 13 Feb 2007

13 Feb 2007 · S2 · Enterprise and Culture Committee

Item of business

Creative Scotland

Ferguson, Patricia Lab Glasgow Maryhill Watch on SPTV

That tranche of questions was broad. Some of my comments may overlap and, if I am honest, I want them to overlap. Guiding everything that we are trying to do is the idea of increased access for as many people as possible to the best that Scottish creativity and Scottish culture have to offer our citizens.Some pieces of art are more commercial than others and some cultural endeavours are more commercial than others. Considering that is tricky. In trying to define a creative industry, we get into that debate. That is one reason why I do not think that ministers should be involved in making artistic decisions. It is not my job to do that. The Government's job is to put in place a framework—an infrastructure—that helps everything else to flourish, and to stand well back to let that happen. That is the approach that we have taken.In "Scotland's Culture", I referred to the escalator model. I will digress slightly. It is interesting that I deal with a similar issue in sport, in which we refer to the player pathway, which represents the same concept of involving as many people as possible at the bottom and allowing them a mechanism that supports them through to the top, if that is where their skill, talent and ambition take them. Stepping-off posts are allowed on the way so that people have the opportunity just to enjoy the arts for their own sake as spectators or as participants, but they can take that further if they are able to. Such ideas underpin what we are trying to do.That is important when we consider the skills agenda, which comes into play when we examine the commercial side of the business, because people want to have an identifiable and marketable skill and trade. I return to the question about the commercial side versus art for art's sake. Some overlap must exist, because if we do not have the artistic content, the skills will not be wanted.The two things come together neatly. By way of example, I draw to the committee's attention screen academy Scotland at Napier University in Edinburgh, which, by sheer coincidence, I visited this morning. The academy provides masters courses in subjects that we might describe as artistic endeavours but which are tied to the mechanics of producing a film, such as screenwriting or composing film music. However, these days, producing a film goes beyond such mechanics and enters into new technology and new media.We must make the connection across the different areas and sectors and we must be able to support that connection. At the moment, we are discussing how best it can be supported. That is a slightly broad answer to your question, but it helps to underpin where we are coming from.

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Enterprise and Culture Committee, 13 Feb 2007

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