CREATIVE Scotland awarded over £900,000 National Lottery Funding through the Open Project Fund in July 2016 to 41 recipients, including individual artists and organisations working across the arts, screen and creative industries.
Awards of between £1,000 and £130,000 have been made to festivals, musicians, visual artists, dancers and writers.
In literature, awards have been made to writers Janice Galloway, Robin Lloyd-Jones and Kathleen Jamie for the development of new work, while StAnza International Poetry Festival in St Andrews has received funding towards its 2017 and 2018 festivals.
Eleanor Livingstone, festival director at StAnza, said: “I am delighted that thanks to this funding we shall now be able to press on with exciting plans which will see StAnza moving ahead into our third decade of celebrating and promoting poetry to festival audiences and within the local community.
“We’re just announcing our themes for StAnza 2017, our 20th annual festival, in which we’ll be considering poetry On the Road and The Heights of Poetry. We’re all thrilled that our headline poets next March will include the new Scottish Makar, Jackie Kay.”
An award made to Jackie Wylie will build on the legacy of The Arches arts programme through Take Me Somewhere - a celebratory festival of contemporary, experimental performance taking place in venues across Glasgow in 2017.
Jackie Wylie, former artistic director of The Arches, said: “This support from the Open Fund will allow us to pilot a new way of working across venues in Glasgow and beyond and we’re delighted to have such fantastic collaborative support from Scotland’s cultural organisations.
“We hope that this introductory programme in 2017 will develop in the future into a focal point for our incredible contemporary performance community and we can’t wait to share this first outing with Glasgow’s audiences next year.”
Among Visual Arts awards, Scottish Historic Buildings Trust has received funding for an artist-led project to create a new piece of public art to reflect the values of Scottish biologist, sociologist, geographer and philanthropist, Patrick Geddes, around the restored Riddle’s Court in Edinburgh’s Old Town.
Visual artists, Ben Skea and Nicola Williams, have both received funding to develop their creative practice. Aberdeen-based Williams will undertake this work during a residency in Finland.
Nicola Williams said: “This funding will allow me the time and space to develop a body of new work influenced by the Finnish landscape and local culture. I am especially looking forward to integrating myself within the local community and exhibiting the work produced during the residency.”
Among awards to support Theatre, new Glasgow-based theatre company, Blood of the Young, have received funding for a new touring production Daphne Oram’s Wonderful World of Sound.
Theatre maker, Ramesh Meyyappan, has received funding to develop his new work Off Kilter, a dark, comedic, solo theatre production.
Paul Brotherston, artistic director, Blood of the Young, said: “Daphne Oram’s Wonderful World of Sound will engage with Daphne’s life, music and philosophies of sound, as well as providing a timely reflection on bravery, commitment and innovation by women in the fields of both the arts and science and technology both now and then.
“Receiving funding from Creative Scotland has allowed us to pull together an ensemble cast and creative team capable of developing an ambitious piece of work, as well as facilitating creation of our live sound score – composed and performed by Anneke Kampman of Conquering Animal Sound.”
Gaelic musician, Maeve MacKinnon, has received funding towards her third solo album Songs of Work and Exile.
WHɎTE – a collaboration between Gaelic singer-songwriter, Alasdair Whyte, and electronic composer and musician, Ross Whyte, have received funding towards their debut album. The album will feature arrangements of 17th and 18th century Gaelic songs and original compositions.
Musician, Maeve MacKinnon, said: “My third album concentrates on songs of work and exile, predominantly in Gaelic.
“Gaelic waulking songs have always been my big love. I’ve been very lucky to have had access to some great tradition bearers over the years as well as the School of Scottish Studies, and Tobar an Dualchais.
“The idea behind the new album is really to go back to where it all started for me with the love of these songs. The rhythms and melodies in Gaelic work songs have an indigenous quality and patterns that can be recognised in other forms of indigenous music, particularly Native American songs and slave songs.
“The stories, melodies and rhythms convey so much- there’s darkness, there’s humour, battle, romance and tragedy. And no matter if you speak Gaelic or not, I think people can hear that in these songs.”
Iain Munro, deputy chief executive at Creative Scotland, said: “From new public art works, support for festivals, to the creation of new work by established and emerging artists, we are delighted to have been able to fund such a range of practice through Open Project Funding.
“Open Project Funding supports individual artists and organisations to develop and deliver arts and creative projects, widen access to their work, and enrich Scotland’s reputation as a distinctive creative nation.
“Collectively, these projects will have a major impact on the quality of the lives of people and communities across Scotland in many different ways, stimulating imagination and confidence through creative experiences.”
Notes to editors:
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 two 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 and all other Creative Scotland funding can be found on our website at http://www.creativescotland.com/funding/funding-programmes/open-project-funding
Please note the funding awards listed 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 andwww.facebook.com/CreativeScotland
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