The winners of the Creative Scotland Awards were announced last night at an award ceremony at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, hosted by Creative Scotland, in partnership with the Daily Record.

Mànran performing at the Awards (photo: Rob McDougall)

Spread across twelve categories the Awards are a chance to celebrate and spotlight cultural success stories, as part of the Year of Creative Scotland. Winners were chosen from a shortlist of thirty-eight finalists selected from over 350 nominations made by the Scottish public. Over 400 guests attended the ceremony hosted by Scottish comedian and presenter Fred MacAulay.

The winners and all the finalists demonstrate the vibrancy and diversity of creativity across Scotland. The achievements of every winner are a cause for celebration:

From the artistic legacy of George Wyllie, to rising star Paul Brannigan and the film in which he made his brilliant debut, Ken Loach’s The Angels’ Share.

From Sistema Scotland’s Big Noise Concert in Raploch to Glasgow’s legendary Òran Mór, from the work of Vicky Featherstone and John Tiffany with the National Theatre of Scotland, to the nocturnal sensation at The Arches that was Whatever Gets You Through The Night.

The writing of Janice Galloway is celebrated, along with the musical achievements of Admiral Fallow and Mànran.

Fèis Rois’s inspiring educational music project with young people is recognised, as are the amazing achievements of a group of local young filmmakers in the Ferguslie area of Paisley.

Iain Munro, Director of Creative Development at Creative Scotland, said:

“Tonight reminds us that Scotland is a world leader in creativity and the arts. These awards celebrate an inspiring mix of artistic achievements and talent – from recognised artists to rising stars.

“I would like to thank all the members of the public who nominated their artistic highlights, many of which took place in 2012, the Year of Creative Scotland – a 12 month showcase of the country’s cultural strengths.

“Congratulations to all the winners and nominees.”

Allan Rennie, Editor in Chief of the Daily Record, said:

"This is a celebration of Scotland's greatest natural asset - the winners tonight demonstrate Scotland's tremendous breadth and depth of creative talent. Congratulations to them all."

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop, who presented the Visual Award, said:

“I am very proud of Scotland’s arts and culture, which is known around the world for its quality and ambition. Our artists and cultural sector also deserve praise and recognition at home for the way they inspire and enrich all our lives. These awards celebrate the scope and scale of Scotland’s exceptional creative talent and I congratulate the winners as well as all those who were nominated.”

The award ceremony saw exciting performances from Nicola Benedetti, Mánran, and Lorne MacDougall, a reading from Tom Pow, and an aerial dance performance from All or Nothing. Up and coming talent Gillian Shackleton, aged 20 from Kinross, Perthshire, entertained the crowd after winning the Young Scot Pathways to Music competition. Guests were also invited to give donations to Glasgow’s Women’s Library or to buy pieces from the 21 Revolutions: Two Decades of Changing Minds collection.

CREATIVE SCOTLAND AWARD WINNERS:

FILM AND TV AWARD

The Angels’ Share: Bitter-sweet comedy directed by Ken Loach and written by Paul Laverty, starring Paul Brannigan, John Henshaw, William Ruane, Gary Maitland, Jasmin Riggins, and Siobhan Reilly. The Angels’ Share tells the story of a young Glaswegian father whose life is changed by a trip to a whiskey distillery.

VISUAL AWARD

George Wyllie: 2012 has seen a major exhibition at the Mitchell Library celebrating the life and legacy of internationally renowned Scots artist, George Wyllie MBE, who passed away in May this year at the age of 90. Wyllie produced a number of notable public works, such as The Straw Locomotive and The Paper Boat.

CREATIVITY IN SCHOOLS AWARD

Fèis Rois: Fèis Rois worked with The Bridge in Inverness on a project to engage and inspire young people from difficult backgrounds through music. Traditional musicians worked with the group playing instruments, singing and songwriting. At the end of the project the young people recorded their material and designed their own CD cover.

NEW TALENT AWARD

Paul Brannigan: Star of Ken Loach’s The Angels' Share, Paul was spotted by screenwriter Paul Laverty and director Ken Loach and offered the lead role in the film after working as a football coach in the Barrowfield community in Glasgow and helping to tackle knife crime as part of a Strathclyde Police initiative.

CREATIVE BUSINESS AWARD

Òran Mór: Formerly Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church, Òran Mór, is a thriving arts & entertainment venue in the heart of Glasgow's West End. Òran Mór’s ground-breaking lunchtime theatre programme A Play, a Pie and a Pint began in 2004 and now commissions 37 new plays a year across a range of genres from tragedies and monologues to comedies and musicals.

TRADITIONAL ARTS, SCOTS AND GAELIC AWARD

Mànran: Combining Gaelic/English songs backed with an array of instruments, traditional music band Mànran regularly perform across Europe, and are staples of the Scottish festival circuit. Their debut Gaelic single Latha Math was produced by two of the country’s top producers, Calum Malcolm (Wet Wet Wet, Simple Minds and Runrig) and legendary accordion player and musician Phil Cunningham.

MUSIC AWARD

Admiral Fallow: Formed in 2007 by singer/songwriter Louis Abbott and based in Glasgow, Admiral Fallow, write and perform folk/pop. The band released their second album Tree Bursts in Snow this year. Their admirers include Guy Garvey of Elbow and Fyfe Dangerfield of Guillemots.

THEATRE AWARD

The Arches - Whatever Gets You Through the Night: An ambitious multi-disciplinary live event created by Cora Bissett with Swimmer One and David Greig, inspired by the hours between midnight and 4am. The project also took the form of a book, a film and an album.

COMMUNITY ARTS AWARD

The Zombie Project, Renfrewshire Arts and Museums: The Zombie Project gave local youngsters in the Ferguslie area of Paisley the chance to write, direct and star in their own movie. The Project had a positive impact on the whole community with parents and grandparents also being drafted in to help with the costume design and make-up workshops.

LITERATURE AWARD

Janice Galloway: Award-winning writer of novels, short stories, poetry, prose-poetry, non-fiction and libretti. Earlier this year Galloway won the 2012 Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book of the Year, in partnership with Creative Scotland, for her memoir All Made Up.

SCOTTISH ARTS AMBASSADOR AWARD

John Tiffany and Vicky Featherstone, National Theatre of Scotland (NTS): Scotland’s multi-award-winning company NTS takes its work to venues across Scotland and internationally. John Tiffany and Vicky Featherstone have been nominated for the leadership and artistic direction of NTS during a period in which they oversaw the production of a raft of high quality theatre, including Macbeth, The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart and Black Watch.

YEAR OF CREATIVE SCOTLAND EVENT

Big Noise Concert, Raploch: Since 2008, children from the Scottish community of Raploch, Stirling, have taken part in the Big Noise orchestra programme. In 2012 the children performed live on stage with conductor, Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela in an event which marked the official opening of the London 2012 Festival.

Article Image: Paul Brannigan & Nicola Benedetti (photo: Rob McDougall)

Share This Page