CHRIS FREMANTLE

This event was focused on the Scottish Government’s draft National Cultural Strategy.

NATIONAL CULTURAL STRATEGY

Public meeting at Lumsden Village Hall to take place on 2 October 2000

This is an open invitation for you to join us for an unique opportunity to hear Rhona Brankin MSP, Deputy Minister for Culture and Sport, speak about the new National Cultural Strategy. The meeting is being held at Lumsden Village Hall at 7pm on Monday 2 October 2000. The meeting is open to everyone interested in culture in the North East of Scotland and there will be an opportunity to ask questions and raise issues with the Deputy Minister.

The National Cultural Strategy recognises that our culture is not only the arts, but is also the buildings and landscape of Scotland, the language and traditions, and that culture permeates every aspect of our lives. A strong and vibrant culture can have enormous social and economic benefits. The Scottish Sculpture Workshop initiated the programme of discussions on ‘Culture and the new Scottish Parliament’ because one of the strengths of our culture is discussion and debate. This is an opportunity to speak directly to the key politician with the responsibility for government policy on culture.

On the publication of the National Cultural Strategy Rhona Brankin MSP said:

“The breadth and vision of this document are in themselves radical. Scotland’s culture can flourish and can be accessible to all. It can develop and exploit its international potential. We can celebrate excellence and we can celebrate diversity.”

The National Cultural Strategy is available from the Scottish Executive on 0131 244 0340 or on their web site at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/nationalculturalstrategy/.

The Scottish Sculpture Workshop is an artists’ residency centre specialising in sculpture and known internationally. We provide a resource for artists including residential accommodation, facilities, and technical help. We initiate projects involving artists and facilitate the commissioning of public art in the North East of Scotland.

The meeting will take place in Lumsden Village Hall which has recently been upgraded with an award from the National Lottery Halls from the Millennium Scheme.

I very much hope that you will be able to join us for what promises to be an interesting and informative evening where you can hear about the National Cultural Strategy and raise issues concerning culture with Rhona Brankin MSP, Deputy Minister for Culture and Sport.

BACKGROUND

The Scottish Sculpture Workshop initiated a programme of discussions about the potential impact on culture of the proposed new Scottish Parliament in 1998 when we held an open meeting in Lumsden Village Hall prior to the referendum on Devolution. A note was taken of the meeting and ciculated

In 1999 we followed this up with another meeting, on this occasion prior to the elections for the new Scottish Parliament. This meeting took the form of a ‘cultural hustings’. The candidates for the four parties standing in our constituency we all invited to answer questions from an audience. Again a note of the meeting was prepared and circulated, and on this occasion was also published in Artists Newsletter.

The meeting at 7 pm on 2 October 2000 will therefore be the third meeting in the programme.

We would like to thank Gavin Renwick for stimulating the idea to hold these meetings and Eric Robinson for chairing them. Lumsden Village Hall has provided an excellent venue for these meetings.

This note was originally published on the Scottish Sculpture Workshop website.