Published: 28 Feb 2019
Over £790,000 of National Lottery funding has been awarded to 31 recipients through Creative Scotland’s Open Project Fund, including individual artists, musicians, writers, theatre makers, festivals and organisations working across the arts, screen and creative industries.
The latest range of projects to receive support include Aye Write! and Wee Write! Glasgow’s Book Festivals; new music programmes from soundscotland and New Music Scotland; new dance works from Emma Jayne Park, Christina Liddell, Lucy Suggate and Farah Saleh; debut albums from Gaelic singers SIAN and Glasgow-based World Jazz/Fusion ensemble Mezcla; a showcase of the Islamic art and Sufism at Glasgow's Tramway Theatre; a series of music, poetry and literature nights in Fife programmed by singer-songwriter James Yorkston; A Moments Peace Theatre Company will work with the charity, Social Bite, offering women facing homelessness the opportunity to develop pieces of writing that resonate with their own stories of survival; Christina Liddell will deliver interactive dance theatre workshops and performances for children and families at Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, and an artist residency programme - MERZ Artists’ Residency - at a former Lemonade Factory in Sanquhar in Dumfries and Galloway, amongst others.
From Aberdeenshire to Dumfries and Galloway, these awards reach out to all parts of society bringing communities and people together to enjoy high quality artistic and creative experiences- Iain Munro, Creative Scotland
Iain Munro, Acting Chief Executive at Creative Scotland said: “From Aberdeenshire to Dumfries and Galloway, these awards reach out to all parts of society bringing communities and people together to enjoy high quality artistic and creative experiences. Experiences that will challenge, entertain and question.
“While, as always, there are many more good applications than we have the funds to support, these latest awards made through National Lottery funding will provide invaluable support artists and communities across the country. We look forward to seeing and experiencing their work.”
The Sufi Festival at Glasgow's Tramway Theatre will showcase the traditions of Islamic art and Sufism through an exciting programme of art, storytelling, music, poetry, theatre, and talks.
Tariq Mahmood commented: "Here doors will open for invaluable exchange and dialogue between all backgrounds of people, in the spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation."
Emma Jayne Park of Cultured Mongrel will research and develop Epic Fail - a bold mid-scale piece of dance theatre for children and young people. The piece aims to re-address how we measure failure.
Park commented: “Having wrestled with failure throughout my practice and often used it as a creative tool, it feels really honest to place it at the centre of the work. It is also a real privilege to have the opportunity to work with a cast of eight performers, something you don't see very often in dance in Scotland. I have pushed to find ways to make mid-scale work for a number of years and hopefully this marks the beginning of getting to do so.”
Christina Liddell will research and develop a new multi-sensory dance theatre production that will be performed at the new children’s hospital, Little France, Edinburgh. Liddell commented: “The piece will be developed through a series of 24 interactive workshops with paediatric patients at the hospital. This production not only provides high quality, creative experiences for children and families in hospital, but also shares with the wider audience, just how inspirational these children are.”
Lucy Suggate will undertake a series of studio-based residencies to create dance material that responds to the impact of technology and animals on our way of life.
Suggate commented: “During the residencies I will examine the relationship between animals and humans and how other forms of intelligence can inform choreography and dance.”
Dance Base Associate Artist Farah Saleh will research and develop a body of work titled What My Body Can/t Remember and tour existing work Brexit means Brexit!
Saleh commented: “I’m aiming to bring high-quality, socially engaged dance, video and text work to new audiences whilst building the profile of my work within new communities and arts spaces in Scotland.”
Aye Write! (14-31 March 2019) and Wee Write! (1-8 March 2019) at Glasgow’s Book Festival for Children & Young People will bring the best Scottish and international authors to Glasgow.
Open Book will deliver reading and creative writing sessions with new partners in library and community settings in Stranraer, Ullapool, Kirkwall (Orkney), Aberdeen, the Borders, and Fife.
Marjorie Gill commented: “Every centre that we approached to discuss the possibility of starting an Open Book group took us up on the idea immediately and we can’t wait to get started.”
Glasgow Zine Library will continue their programme of workshops, talks and screenings at their archive and lending library on the ground floor of 16 Nicholson Street, Glasgow. Their largest programming component is Glasgow Zine Fest, held in CCA from 20-21 April 2019.
CoastWord 2019 will bring together established and emerging writers in Dunbar from 24-26 May 2019. The 2019 festival will explore the theme: Scotland 2019, through discussions, talks and performance with distinguished historians, songwriters and writers whose work explores and reflects the social and cultural changes in Scotland and how Scotland, her characters and political and cultural climate affects and influences their work.
New music incubator sound Scotland in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire will continue to encourage new music creation and discovery through their year-round activity and annual soundfestival.
Fiona Robertson, Festival Director commented: “This support from Creative Scotland means that we can continue the vital work of offering composers and performers a platform for their work and nurturing new music at grass roots level.
This year’s festival will see us putting the oboe front and centre, and we are delighted to welcome some of the world’s leading oboists including James Turnbull, Christopher Redgate, and Nicolas Daniel. One of the highlights of the programme will be a performance of soundfestival patron, Sir James MacMillan’s, Intercession for Three Oboes to mark his 60th birthday.”
New Music Scotland receive support towards their 2019 programme of activity that connects, enables and supports Scotland’s new music sector thorough their year-round activity including the annual Scottish Awards for New Music.
Andy Saunders, Co-Chair, New Music Scotland said: “At a time when music is in the media spotlight nationally, it is very encouraging to be able to put together a programme which will support the development of many artists and new projects, and which will hope will have an impact for many years to come. Scotland has a wealth of high-quality new music creators, practitioners, programmers, producers, educators, and audiences, spread throughout the country, and we look forward to working with them over the next year.”
Singer-songwriter James Yorkston will programme Tae Sup wi' a Fifer - a series of club nights hosting music, poetry and literature, held in conjunction with Fife Cultural Trusts and the Adam Smith Theatre in Kirkcaldy.
Gaelic singers Eilidh Cormack, Ellen MacDonald and Ceitlin L R Smith of SIAN receive support towards their debut album as does Glasgow-based World Jazz/Fusion ensemble Mezcla led by bass player composer David Bowden (BBC Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year 2017).
Bowen commented: “We've been gigging and cultivating the band sound for the past couple of years and we can't wait to finally make a full-length record and put it out into the world. The Glasgow Jazz scene is thriving at the moment and it means a lot to have the support of Creative Scotland for this project!”
Independent record label Last Night From Glasgow will record, mix, master, produce, manufacture, promote and distribute seven albums and supporting digital releases.
Ian Smith of Last Night From Glasgow commented: “With worldwide distribution and 300 patrons, the word and ethos of Last Night From Glasgow is spreading across the globe and Creative Scotland have been significant partners in that regard.”
Pearlfisher, a new collaboration between directors Philip Howard and Caitlin Skinner, and producer Mike Griffiths will present and tour Hope and Joy by Ellie Stewart, a co-production with Stellar Quines, in association with the Lyceum.
Set and costume designer Anna Orton will undertake residency at The Old Vic Theatre in London. Every year, 12 emerging theatre practitioners are selected for the Old Vic 12. The Old Vic 12 aims to nurture and develop the next generation of theatre practitioners.
A Moments Peace Theatre Company have received funding towards their 2019-20 artistic programme under the banner of Creative Action R&D. The programme will include starting to develop a new work – Resisters - to be produced alongside their long-standing in-house company the Women's Creative Company in 2020; a new women's creative group Holding Our Own, working with the charity Social Bite the pilot will offer women facing homelessness the opportunity to develop pieces of writing that resonate with their own stories of survival; towards the end of the year they will undertake an early inquiry into Horizons, an ambitious intergenerational performance piece planned for 2021/2; the company will also be piloting Shared Space across the year - the establishment of a new and accessible mixed art-form ensemble specifically focused on engaging individuals affected by the UK immigration system.
Physical theatre artist Lewis Sherlock will work with collaborators Jamie Wardrop and Ali Maloney to develop a visual theatre performance Confirm your Humanity and Based On Metamorphosis for presentation at Manipulate Festival in February 2019. Confirm your Humanity will explore the surge in our everyday use of technology, mindfulness and our relationship with media.
A former Lemonade Factory and now contemporary art gallery in Sanquhar in Dumfries and Galloway receives support to run an artist residency programme. The MERZ Artists’ Residency Programme will supporting six artists in residence for up to two months.
Glasgow based Luke Fowler will exhibit work at various galleries across Australia and New Zealand. The invitation was the result of an international delegate of curators who visited Scotland from New Zealand in 2017, under the Momentum initiative.
Lotte Gertz will research and develop a new body of work for a solo show at Intermedia Gallery Glasgow and collaborate with artist Ciara Phillips on a series of printmaking experiments.
Contemporary artists from Tayside will deliver a programme of activities and events designed to launch the new Cateran Ecomuseum, a series of Pictish stones situated on the 500-million-year-old Highland Boundary Fault – the great geological feature that divides the Scottish Highlands from the Lowlands.
An exhibition sharing new work from local artists and community members who participated in Fun A Day Dundee (FADD) in January will be supported. For many this provides the chance of a first exhibition which is taking place online through social media, in local cafes, and resulting in a public exhibition at WASPS Artist Studios.
Samantha Sherriff, co-ordinator of FADD commented: “The project attracts such a wide variety of individuals who all have specialized skill sets, whether they realise it at first, or not. Each year, I get to watch as these personal projects unfold, and build up into an amazing collection of work, or as one individual piece at the end, whether it be film, painting, craft, or sculpture."
Images: Farah Saleh (Chris Scott, courtesy of Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh); Farah Saleh, Brexit Means Brexit, Hysteria Video (still by Beth Chalmers); Mezcla; Alison Kinnaird, Choosing Colours (Erik Pfeiffer).
Open Project Funding is available to a wide range of organisations and individuals working across Scotland in the arts, screen and creative industries. It supports a broad spectrum of activity including creative and professional development, research and development, production, small capital requirements, touring and collaborations, festivals, arts programming, audience development, etc. A full list of activities supported through this route is set out in the Open Project Funding application guidance. Support is available for projects of different scale and duration with the maximum period of award being set at 2 years. Awards are made in the range £1,000 to £100,000 (or up to £150,000 by exception). Details of the Open Project Fund can be found on our website at creativescotland.com/funding/funding-programmes/open-project-funding.
Please note the funding awards listed (above) remain offers of funding until such time as all terms and conditions have been formally accepted and fulfilled by the award recipient. If an award recipient fails to accept any offer, the funding award will be withdrawn and credited to future Open Project Funding Panels.
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 @creativescots and www.facebook.com/CreativeScotland
Creativity Matters: The arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland deliver real benefits and make a real difference to all our lives regardless of who we are or where we live. Film, theatre, literature, dance, music, visual art, video games, craft, and the commercial creative industries all contribute to a flourishing society, to our education and learning and to our skills, jobs and economy.
Public funding for the arts, screen and creative industries, through both the Scottish Government and through the National Lottery, helps make life better in Scotland - better for us all as individuals, as communities and as a nation.
As we say in our 10-year plan Unlocking Potential, Embracing Ambition we want Scotland to be a place where the arts, screen and creative industries are valued and recognised, where artists and creative people can flourish and thrive, and where everyone, everywhere, is interested and curious about creativity.
