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Scotland's National Cultural Strategy Annual Report 2003

• PROMOTING MAXIMUM DIVERSITY IN CULTURAL PARTICIPATION

Edinburgh Mela Festival Drummers

>> ACTION SINCE NOVEMBER 2002

ACTIONING THE CULTURAL DIVERSITY STRATEGY (2002-07) -

in January 2003 the Scottish Arts Council launched 2 schemes, "Mainstreaming" and "Arts Traineeships" - to develop cultural diversity in the arts in Scotland.

• Through Mainstreaming, the Council offers grants of between 2,000 and 20,000 to organisations from minority ethnic backgrounds and mainstream arts bodies to increase organisational capacity, programming and inter-cultural collaboration across art forms.

The Arts Council funded the Bharatiya Ashram in Dundee to develop a programme of arts activity for young people and more senior members of the community. Scottish Mask and Puppet Centre also attracted a grant of 16,000 to host an international season of mask and puppetry offering Scottish audiences the chance to see world-class performances from Asia. A total of 23 projects has been supported in 2003 to the value of 300,000.

• 16 Arts Traineeships have been funded through the Council to increase opportunities for people from minority ethnic backgrounds to gain employment in the arts.

Organisations who are now hosting these year-long training places include The Citizens' Theatre, Glasgow (stage management), Glasgow Film Theatre (management and programming), Project Ability, Glasgow (community arts development), Edinburgh Media Base and Pilton Video (both documentary production), Scottish Book Trust, Edinburgh (administration), Drake Music Project (music technology and workshop practice with people with disabilities).

Also in early 2003, the Scottish Arts Council dedicated funding of 150,000 for a further 11 traineeships so young people from minority ethnic groups could gain experience in theatres, galleries, music, arts development and video production. Specific projects supported by the Council include the Edinburgh Mela and the Scottish Academy of Asian Arts, Glasgow.

CULTURAL AGENCIES PLAN TO INCREASE PARTICIPATION -

following last year's Budget, the cultural agencies plan to increase participation in cultural events and activities across Scotland, to boost the numbers of under-represented groups taking part and the number of programmes in disadvantaged areas.

Mela in full swing, courtesy of the
Scottish Arts Council

SCOTTISH MUSEUMS COUNCIL PARTNERS THE BLACK ENVIRONMENT NETWORK -

the Scottish Museums Council is working in partnership with voluntary group, the Black Environment Network, on 2 major projects:

• the "Equal" project, funded through the European Social Fund seeks to encourage diversity in the workforce, within museums and the historic built environment;

• the "HEAP" project, funded by Heritage Lottery Fund, will seek to develop access to museums and galleries for black and minority ethnic groups.

CHINESE LANGUAGE TEACHING -

Oriental Culture, Education and Arts Network, Edinburgh is developing very successful performing and creative arts, as well as Chinese language teaching programmes within and outside the Chinese communities in both Edinburgh and Glasgow. The organisation was among those nominated by the Association of Scottish Colleges to showcase 'diversity and further education' at the 15th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers held in Edinburgh in October 2003.

>> ACTION CONTINUES

LEGACY OF DUSSHERA -

the Museum of Scotland Discovery Centre now offers trails for younger visitors which follow the Sacred Journey themes: exploring Islam, Hinduism, Sikism, Judaism, Buddhism and Christianity, developed following Edinburgh City Council's well-attended Dusshera Hindu Festival in October 2002.

LITERACY BOOSTED THROUGH THE ARTS -

the Cultural and Education Association of Scotland, Glasgow received two year funding for organisational development. Central to the organisation's work is the promotion of literacy in Urdu and Arabic languages through creative and performing arts and heritage activities. The organisation starts work in January 2004. Future activity areas include poetry in Urdu language, the Islamic art of calligraphy and regular concerts.

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