Published: 09 Jan 2019
Creative businesses from across Scotland have been selected to participate in the Go See Share initiative, supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.
The initiative will enable Scotland’s creative practitioners to explore and share new ways of working, identify export opportunities, forge international connections and profile Scotland’s successes in the global marketplace. The knowledge and insights gained will be shared with the industry back in Scotland, helping to make the sector here stronger and more sustainable.
“The Go See Share fund is an absolute game changer. I'm excited to bring back new ideas and knowledge."- Bibi June Schwithal
Independent publishers 404 Ink; contemporary experimental music company AC Projects; fragrance designer Clara Weale of Arboretum; Dundee Ceramics Workshop; moving image artists Florrie James, Georgia Horgan and Ross Little; knitwear designer Hilary Grant; spoken word theatre company In The Works; jewellery designer Jo Pudelko; Loch Ness Knitting; Take Me Somewhere festival of contemporary performance and Strange Town Theatre will all explore international business models and working practices of leading companies from across Europe including Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Norway and Slovenia and further afield to Australia and the USA.
Clive Gillman, Director, Creative Industries at Creative Scotland said: “Our ambition is for Scotland to be the most positive environment globally for innovative creative businesses of all scales. The knowledge and insight these practitioners gain will enable them to improve the sustainability of their businesses whilst also inspiring others by sharing their learning back in Scotland, helping to make the sector in Scotland stronger and more sustainable.”
Award-winning independent Edinburgh based publisher 404 Ink will spend concentrated time with publishers in New York to better understand the USA’s book industry. This trip will enable 404 Ink to reach into new markets, explore comparable businesses’ growth strategy to guide their future plans, and inform delivery of workshops and talks on publishing back in Scotland. (Funding award: £1,500)
404 Ink commented: “We'll be spending the week with Penguin Books and others in the New York book industry to understand how publishers can grow and operate in different territories to our own. We're excited to learn about the US book industry first hand and feed that knowledge through 404 and various work we do back in Scotland.”
Glasgow based Alasdair Campbell, Director of Counterflows & AC Projects, will travel to Melbourne, Australia to explore models for sustaining creative practice and the potential for Scottish artists working in contemporary experimental music to showcase their work internationally. AC Projects’ Flagship festival Counterflows has, for the last eight years, been successfully showcasing contemporary music practice. (Funding award: £1,500)
Alasdair Campbell commented: “It’s really exciting to get support from Creative Scotland's Go See Share fund to travel to Melbourne to explore the burgeoning experimental and underground music scene developing there. I'm looking forward to examining the potential for Scottish artists to showcase their work in Melbourne.”
Glasgow based independent fragrance designer and perfumer Clara Weale of Arboretum will visit the Aroma Lab at Mediamatic in Amsterdam. Weale will learn more about the shared access model of the lab, which will support fragrance education and production back in Scotland. (Funding award: £861)
Clara Weale commented: “I’m so excited by the opportunity to visit Amsterdam and to forge links with practitioners at the forefront of democratising access to fragrance creation. Scotland currently has no specialist fragrance resource, let alone one with an open access element. I look forward to taking this vital first step towards creating this thanks to the Creative Scotland Go See Share Fund.”
Dundee Ceramics Workshop will undertake research into models of community run arts studios, workshops and facilities in England and Wales providing a resource for the local community and for artists. They will focus on developing strategy for sustainable finance structures, connecting to local communities, creating high quality ceramics resources, and examining membership models to support artists. (Funding award: £1,055)
Glasgow based moving image artists Florrie James, Georgia Horgan, and Ross Little will undertake research into artist-led production companies in Brussels. Horgan, James and Littlewill travel to Brussels to meet with Auguste Orts, an artist-led production platform where they will explore the potential for a similar model in Scotland to help artists working in moving image access the film industry better. (Funding award: £1,430)
Based on the remote archipelago of Orkney, Hilary Grant designs knitwear and home accessories. Grant will undertake research into the contemporary Nordic design industry and routes to market in Northern Europe, reaching out to independent designers, producers and manufacturers who are open to collaboration. Grant aims to research the market potentials of both Oslo and wider Norway, sharing this knowledge with other leading textile designers in Scotland. (Funding award: £1,189)
Bibi June Schwithal of Glasgow based spoken word theatre company In The Works will undertake an exchange with Irish spoken word agency Boundless & Bare. In The Works make theatre shows that are rooted in modern poetry and aim to promote spoken word theatre as an art forms. Schwithal will use the time to explore new ways to support the infrastructure of the spoken word scene and future strategic collaboration between their organisations. (Funding award: £1,006)
“The Go See Share fund is an absolute game changer," says Bibi June Schwithal. "I’m excited to be joining Boundless & Bare and bring back new ideas and knowledge on how to strengthen performance poetry as an art form in Scotland.”
Dunblane based jewellery designer Jo Pudelko will travel to Munich Jewellery Week in March 2019 where she will work to develop a sustainable business model, and explore collaborative, international exhibition opportunities for Scottish designers. (Funding award: £707)
Glasgow based LJ Findlay Walsh, Artistic Director of Take Me Somewhere (TMS) will travel to Brussels, Bristol and Hamburg. Walsh will learn from three organisations committed to year-round support of cutting-edge contemporary performance: Kunstenfestivaldesarts festival in Brussels; Inbetween Time Festival in Bristol who have innovated, bespoke performance methods to reach mass audiences unable to experience the work live; and Germany’s biggest independent production venue for the performing arts Kampnagel in Hamburg. (Funding award: £1,500)
Dwynwen Hopcroft of Loch Ness Knitting will undertake research into companies that specialise in sustainable textiles production in the Netherlands. Dwynwen will visit projects that have overcome practical and social challenges such as reducing water waste in the dye process, reusing waste yarn and a social enterprise transforms old military uniforms into blankets. (Funding award: £1,476)
Edinburgh based Strange Town Theatre company will undertake an exploratory and planning trip to Ljubljana, Slovenia to gain a better understanding of how European Theatre companies work with young people. (Funding award: £1,500)
Ruth Hollyman, Creative Director at Strange Town, said: “We are very much looking forward to developing the project and as a result being able to offer a fantastic opportunity to the young performers and practitioners we work with, who we hope will forge creative working relationships with professionals and young people from Slovenia, Finland and the Netherlands.”
The Go See Share Creative Industries Fund is a small fund for individuals, organisations and creative businesses to undertake trips allowing them to explore and share new ways to expand business activity and increase financial sustainable. The aim of this support is to help recipients to gain knowledge and insight, and build relationships at events or other types of visits and then to share this knowledge back in Scotland.
Sophie Bambrough, Media Relations & PR Officer, Creative Scotland
Email: sophie.bambrough@creativescotland.com
Tel: (+44) 0 7747 606 146
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland on behalf of everyone who lives, works or visits here. We enable people and organisations to work in and experience the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland by helping others to develop great ideas and bring them to life. We distribute funding provided by the Scottish Government and the National Lottery.
For further information about Creative Scotland please visit www.creativescotland.com. Follow us on Twitter @creativescots, Facebook www.facebook.com/CreativeScotland and Instagram www.instagram.com/creativescots.
Image credits: Counterflows 2018 by Dawid Laskowski and 404 Ink by Sinead Grainger.
