Getting art to audiences in remote parts of Britain presents its own particular challenges. Gwilym Gibbons looks at the challenges for arts development in the Shetland Islands.
If a fan of classical music in the Shetland Islands decides to go see a Mahler symphony at the Barbican, several obstacles stand in the way. First, the Barbican is 600 miles away. Second, theres the cost. That symphony in the Barbican will cost around £450 when flights from Shetland, accommodation for the night and the ticket itself are factored in. This doesnt cover the Tube, eating, buying a programme, a glass of water& Its an expensive symphony.
Some savings could be made by travelling by boat, but that has its own problems. Instead of the roughly four hours of air travel from Shetland to Heathrow, boat and train would include an overnight 12 hours on the North Sea to Aberdeen, followed by seven hours or so by train to Kings Cross. What is worth noting though, is that the same concert in either Glasgow, Inverness or Edinburgh is still going to cost £300 to £400. This raises interesting questions about choice. I could point out that a similar night out in Oslo would cost around £500. But then you have to remember that Shetlands nearest railway station is in Bergen.
From a Shetland arts development point of view, these figures have the obvious implication that we must strive, in the absence of a Scottish Executive Islander for Arts Go-See Rebate or platinum-plated ticket pricing, to provide a balanced programme of arts events in the islands. This seems fairly logical, until we examine the cost. If we imagine the numbers in a travelling party for a symphony orchestra to be around 100, then flying them from London would cost, very roughly, £25,000. This does not include the fee, venue hire, subsistence, marketing, accommodation, technical assistance& and so on. Theatre companies, rock bands with big fees, travelling art exhibitions and installations and all the rest are all going to be extremely expensive. One poet alone, costs £1,000 if you add two or three days accommodation, reading and workshop fees and flights, marketing and so on.
It is a fact that art in the islands costs more. It is a fact that audience development strategies must take this into account. And all this is on top of ensuring that participative arts workshops and activities also happen. We may choose to live here, but we have a right to live here, and we have a right to art.
It would be remiss not to acknowledge the level of community investment Shetland makes annually in the arts. Shetlands Arts Development Agency alone has an annual turnover in excess of £1.3m, and we are in the final stages of the design of a new creative industries centre that will include music and cinema venues, education space, multimedia space and recording studio. And this doesnt include the significant investment in the arts by the Schools Service in Shetland.
The population of the Shetland Islands is just over 22,000. The role of the arts and creativity is recognised as being at the heart of the islands quality of life and identity. Increasingly, the growth of the creative industries in Shetland is seen as a viable and vibrant economic sector. This level of investment in the arts is rare and to the credit of the outward looking and forward thinking Shetland community, the choice to invest in the islands creative future has continued to be made.
Two main issues are at the heart of presenting the arts in the islands. First, the development of local talents and abilities must be paramount. Any glass ceiling on ambition and vision must be removed. Islanders must be supported to form orchestras, display art, make film whatever it is that creates an accessible, vibrant artistic community that will thrive and develop and support itself. This has to be a long-term aim, and it requires support from the local council of the Islands, development, enterprise and business concerns, education and further education authorities and tourism. As much as possible, it must create a community where art is valued, practised, performed and supported. For sustainability, visiting art must not parachute into an island vacuum. It must arrive in a place where art thrives, connections are made and the word audience means more than just the people in the dark who clap at the end.
Second, the importance of national companies with a national touring remit and the connections they have with island communities must be realised and steadied for the future. Scottish Ballet, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and so on these are the organisations with which an islands arts development agency must create firm bonds. We need central government to continue to support, and continue to fund these organisations to undertake island touring. This is essential because it provides an exciting, high-standard programme around which extra funds can be sought to provide access to other activities, home-grown or otherwise.
Shetland is still a long way from developing the context in which everyone on the islands can realise their creative potential. But we are giving it a go. Shetland is a hugely creative place with strong creative foundations: Shetland textiles and music have an international standing, with a fast-growing visual arts and literature community with artists of similar acclaim.
But whats really special about Shetland is a mindset; a mindset that places Shetland's creative activity not on the fringes of the Scottish creative sector, but at the centre of a forward-thinking world creative community. We may be a small island but we have big ambitions, and it is our job as an arts development agency to nurture and support the islands creative potential and output wherever it might take us.
Recently I was at a film development meeting in Shetland where we mulled briefly on the importance of not getting too carried away with hopes and dreams, when suddenly the irony of this struck us all. Film, and art, is the medium of dreams. If it takes longer, costs more or is technically more difficult to provide because we live in an island community we must break that down with style.
Gwilym Gibbons is Director of Shetland Arts.
t: 01595 743731;
e: gwilym.gibbons@shetlandarts.org