Hansard

It is only a few weeks since we previously met in the chamber to discuss the National Galleries of Scotland Bill, but I again express my thanks, as I did at the preliminary stage, to Anne McTaggart, convener of the National Galleries of Scotland Bill Committee, and the other members of the committee, Fiona McLeod and Jean Urquhart, for the work that they did in examining this private bill. I also thank the National Galleries of Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council for their valuable contributions, which have supported the process, and I thank other members for their input.

I visited the Scottish national gallery earlier this afternoon to see the annual display of Turner watercolours, which I strongly recommend. The works, which were bequeathed to the gallery by collector Henry Vaughan, span Turner’s career from his early topographical wash drawings to the atmospheric sketches of continental Europe from the 1830s and 1840s.

The display is a wonderful example of the quality exhibitions that the national galleries present, and I strongly recommend that members visit it, if they can. Our Cabinet meeting finished slightly early and I was delighted that John Swinney and Richard Lochhead were able to visit the exhibition. It is important that all our politicians, whether they are ministers or back benchers, support and visit our galleries. I was particularly struck by “Heidelberg” and the fantastic representation of Skye, which is very small but which absolutely captures the grandeur and the atmosphere of Scotland. While we enjoy magnificent exhibitions such as the Turner exhibition at present, we can look forward to the wonderful transformation that the national gallery project will deliver.

I hope that the Presiding Officer agrees that, as Anne McTaggart said, it is appropriate that we remember the architect for the project, Gareth Hoskins, who died suddenly on 9 January at the young age of 48. My thoughts are with his family at this sad time. With his passing, Scotland has lost one of its leading architects. His reputation is worldwide and his contribution to Scottish architecture was exceptional.

Following the 2011 transformation of the national museum of Scotland by Gareth Hoskins’s firm, visitor numbers more than doubled and it became the most visited tourist attraction in the United Kingdom outside London. His work on the national museum demonstrates the great potential economic benefits of good design as a local and national tourist draw and its power to deliver immense cultural benefits. The Bridge arts centre in Glasgow and the Culloden visitor centre are just two other examples of his natural talent and carefully honed expertise as a designer.

Scotland continues to benefit from Gareth Hoskins’s talent through the legacy of the outstanding contribution that he made to our built environment and culture. He designed the new home for the National Theatre of Scotland, which is being built in Glasgow as we speak and, as one of his final projects, the transformation of the national gallery will undoubtedly be a further fitting reminder of the man and his talent.

The bill process has established that the bill is necessary to allow the transfer of land to the National Galleries of Scotland for the development at the Mound to take place. In the debate on 3 December, we rehearsed the effect on the building and on external public space of the transfer to the galleries of the 5m-wide strip of land in Princes Street gardens.

In the past 10 years, visitor numbers to the national galleries have nearly doubled, and 2015 was the first year in which the galleries achieved more than 2 million visitors. The galleries count among the most popular museums in Europe.

The newly refurbished galleries will attract an estimated 400,000 additional visitors and 770,000 additional audience interactions every year, with a tripling of the gallery space that is available to show Scotland’s national school. They will present not just the great historical figures but 20th century art, including the Scottish colourists. The impact that will come from using the space intelligently to showcase the Scottish collection is striking.

In passing the bill, we will help the National Galleries of Scotland to continue to deliver an international-class visitor experience, bring benefit to Scotland and show Scottish art in the high-quality setting that the collection deserves. For those reasons, I am pleased to support the committee’s recommendation that the bill be passed.