A NUMBER of Scots projects spanning a broad range of artistic genres and reach have received an incredible £800,000 funding from the National Lottery.
The 36 projects are the latest round of Creative Scotland’s Open Fund, including several which draw on Scotland’s history for inspiration.
One of these notable project is the Vivid Roots Collective theatre company in Inverness, the Scottish Highlands, who received a whopping £58,921 of funding.
The funding will help to support the production and presentation of Highlands-based playwright Annie MacDonald’s new play, The Wound, The Rag & the In-Between.
Premiering at Eden Court Theatre on Saturday 4 May, the play brings together Highland theatre-makers to tell a story set in the Far North of Scotland, past and present.
The commission by Vivid Roots Collective will explore gender inequalities in medicine, offering a poignant and powerful response, and telling a story which reaches across centuries.
The Wound, the Rag & the In-Between asks unsettling questions about the spaces between trust, belief and recovery.
Vivid Roots Collective’s CEO & Producer Laura Walker said: “This is a unique opportunity to create professional theatre in the Highlands by local and emerging artists, for a local audience.
“The play touches on big issues that matter to all of us, but is also a beautiful story, and we are so excited to be bringing this to the stage.”
Quinie’s (aka musician and artist, Josie Vallely) latest album – Forefowk, mind me – will continue her exploration of language, landscape, tradition and identity through Scots song.
She will embark upon a two-week research residency in Kilmartin, Argyll, exploring the landscape on horseback, which will be documented by artists-book designer Dominique Rivard, and filmmaker Lizzie Mackenzie.
Josie will then use her experiences from the residency to create her third album of contemporary Scots song, working with multi-instrumentalists Oliver Pitt, Stevie Jones and Harry Gorski-Brown.
With this work, Josie aims to raise awareness of the history and culture of the Scots language and Scots Traveller community (Nawken).
Josie Vallely added: “The most significant thing for me in terms of receiving Creative Scotland funding is that it enables me to work with a whole range of people to bring my project to life.
“Being able to collaborate with filmmakers, artists, Nawken activists, a piper, sound engineers, players of weird and wonderful instruments, mentors. It’s going to be an exciting (and busy) year.”
Similarly using historical inspiration to create contemporary art is Dundee-based ceramics designer and maker, Steph Liddle.
Steph has been commissioned by Park Gallery and Callander House in Falkirk to create a contemporary response to Dunmore Pottery Archive in Falkirk Council’s museum collection.
With support from an Open Fund award of £8,617, Steph will undertake a period of research studying the Pottery’s archive.
This will involve the work of master potter (the pottery’s late nineteenth-century manager), Peter Gardner, known for creating experimental glazes.
Steph Liddle commented: “Receiving this funding gives me the opportunity to take some time away from ‘business as usual’ in my studio to focus more of my time and energy into researching the Dunmore collection, experimenting with form and glazes, and developing new work in response to the historic collection.
“I’m really excited to have this chance to play and explore, and to share the outcomes of the project in an exhibition in Summer 2024.
“I hope that my learnings will also benefit the wider ceramics community that I’m part of by allowing me to deepen my knowledge of glaze making which I can then inform the work I do in my teaching and technical roles.”
Creative Scotland’s Interim Director of Arts Paul Burns said: “The exciting projects which have been awarded in the latest round of the National Lottery Open Fund exemplify how vital these awards are for culture across the country.
“We are thrilled to be able to support these organisations and individuals, including so many who draw inspiration from historical subjects to create contemporary artistic responses.
“This work allows us all the opportunity to reflect on Scotland’s rich history – highlighting stories, artistic practices and traditions of the past in ways that connect to our modern lives.”
Other recipients in this round of awards include:
- CHARCO PRESS LTD received £14,883 for their project New International Literary Voices, publishing four new translated works by four critically acclaimed Latin American authors. Three of these authors have never had their work translated into English before.
- Scottish trad music agent ROSIE MUNRO will use her funding to attend the Folk Alliance International Conference – the world’s largest gathering of the folk music industry and community, in Missouri, USA.
The full list of Open Fund recipients in this round is available on Creative Scotland’s website.
