The Scottish Government

An Interim Report for

OUTER HEBRIDESCULTURAL PATHFINDER PROJECT

from

Fablevision

in association with

Theatre Hebrides

and

Creative Services (Scotland) Ltd

September 2007

CONTENTS

• Introduction

• Consultation Meetings

• Creative Consultation

• Communication

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 In June 2007 the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (CnES) commissioned Fablevision, Theatre Hebrides and Creative Services to assist them with the Cultural Pathfinder project to establish Cultural Entitlements in the Outer Hebrides.

1.2 A Steering Group comprising representatives from several relevant CnES services was established to monitor and provide strategic guidance to the project.

1.3 A Detailed Delivery Plan was prepared and agreed - this outlined the approach to the Pathfinder; essentially to undertake two phases of consultation (the first with stakeholders in the cultural sector, the second with community groups), followed by an open event to feedback the results of the consultation and help evolve specific entitlements.

1.4 The consultation with community groups will be delivered through an imaginative approach that seeks to maximise the level of engagement. This is elaborated in more detail in Section 3 below.

Progress

1.5 There has been a greater degree of preparation than originally anticipated, primarily due to the twin-approach nature of the consultation but also to the scale of meetings that this approach has generated. As a result the original schedule of meetings has slipped by 2-3 weeks. This should, however, still allow for the majority of the consultation to have been undertaken within the original timescale.

1.6 This interim report is intended to provide the Steering Group with an update on progress and to allow any re-focussing of the project that may be required prior to commencing phase two of the consultation.

1.7 There are already some indications of the issues that are of primary concern to the stakeholder organisations and cultural providers. These are elaborated in more detail in the following section, however, they include:

Resources

Balancing Provision

Communication

Professional Training

Valuing Culture

1.8 The CnES have issued press releases to announce the start of the Pathfinder and the availability of an online questionnaire, the latter being accessible through the CnES, Creative Services, and Fablevision websites.

1.9 Raising the profile of the project, and indeed of cultural debate generally, remains a constant challenge in both the public and the professional environment. However, contributions so far have been positive and some useful data and opinion is beginning to emerge.

2.0 CONSULTATION MEETINGS

Summary of Meetings to date

2.1 Six consultation meetings have been held to date, as detailed in the table below:

Date Group Location Number attended

13 Sept Lewis area Town Hall, Stornoway 10

14 Sept Key Arts Providers An Lanntair, Stornoway 4

14 Sept CNES employees CNES, Stornoway 8

18 Sept Harris area Tarbert 4

24 Sept HIE Innse Gall HIE, Stornoway 4

26 Sept Lews Castle College Lews Castle College 3

Lewis Area Meeting

2.2 Over 180 invitations to an evening seminar at the Town Hall, Stornoway were sent out to voluntary, arts and community organisations working in the Lewis area. Ten people attended from a broad range of cultural interests in arts and heritage, some of whom represented up to 5 different organisations from a cross section of interest groups.

Key Arts Providers Meeting

2.3 Representatives from An Lanntair, Ceolas, Taigh Chearsabhagh and the Hebridean Celtic Festival were invited to this meeting - although only An Lanntair and Ceolas were represented on the day.

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Staff Meeting

2.4 All Comhairle staff, officials and elected members were invited to this afternoon workshop in the Council chamber in Stornoway. Eight staff, representing Arts Development, Libraries, Economic Development, Music Development, Gaelic Development and Creative Links attended.

Harris Area Meeting

2.5 Invitations were issued to 24 voluntary, arts and community organisations operating in the Harris area to an evening session at the Sir E Scott School in Tarbert. A good discussion was generated by the four who attended the meeting, representing Harris Arts Festival, the Feisean, Mod, Art teaching, Gaelic and the community coordinator.

HIE Innse Gall Meeting

2.6 This meeting was attended by the Chairman, Area Director, Area Manager from Benbecula, and Head of Community Development, with discussion centring on the Gaelic language, support for culture in the Outer Hebrides, and environmental concerns.

Lews Castle College

2.7 Lews Castle College was represented by its Director, Head of Gaelic Development and a Lecturer from the Gaelic Language and traditional music course. The discussion covered issues including the Gaelic language, venues and facilities, the promotion of culture and education.

Summary of Themes

2.8 The Detailed Delivery Plan outlined the six main themes that the consultation process sought to elaborate. These are outlined below with some of the key responses from the sessions grouped under each. They are not ranked in any order.

What do we mean when we talk about the culture of your area?
An in depth look at cultural resources - from the arts to the natural heritage, the built environment, history, language, people and crafts.

Consultees were invited to give their definition of culture, and then what makes the Outer Hebrides culturally distinctive.

What is Culture?

2.9 Defintions included:

Drama, story-telling, poetry, literature - mainly in Gaelic. Local history.

Culture is the fabric and background of society and the interaction of the people within.

How we communicate thoughts, feelings, ideas - both contemporary and historical. How a community and individuals express themselves creatively. Culture is art, sport, history, environment.

What is culture? The history and tradition of a people and area including inter-relationships with other groups.

A way of looking at the world, particularly informed by traditions, history and activities of our community.

The side of life that is not practical but artistic.

Culture is your involvement in your spoken and observed environment.

It includes the history and oral traditions including music, story-telling, drama, publishing.

Culture to me is our heritage ie Gaelic, music, story-telling, pass-times, croft work.

The sum of the artistic, linguistic and historical heritage of an area.

Activities which interest people, are not essential, but link to a body of work.

The expressions of society - visual art, music, drama, crafts, history, architecture, environment.

Culture is a bit of a 'brochan', meaning a bit of everything.

What we do that defines our heritage in its broadest sense.

Arts, heritage, language, creative industries - who I am, who we are, where we are.

Culture is our heritage, history, creative flair, language, what makes us unique.

The way of life of an area or people.

Music, Gaelic, Dance, Aging population of Gaelic speakers, Tweed production.

Culture is what is specific to the area such as tradition / music.

Our activities on the island. Our work. Our landscape and how we use it.

What is the Distinctive Culture of the Outer Hebrides?

2.10 Definitions included:

The distinctive culture of the OH includes the Gaelic language, strong sense of community, an inspiring if often harsh environment, and a common history in which hardship and the need to cope with the different attitude of the outside world is important.

There are lots of subjects in this island you could make a film of - crofting, entertainment in Gaelic, salmon poaching, peat cutting.

Outstanding scenery, an area of natural beauty, best beaches, good hills, an outdoor place, last bastion of Gaelic?

Principally Gaelic, but also music, drama, art and history. Mostly amateur because we are so far away, but therefore it is all the richer for that.

The culture of the OH is wide ranging - both modern and steeped in deep traditions that stretch back centuries.

Beautiful unspoilt remote and rugged natural environment. A lively mix of visual art, music - traditional gaelic, rock and pop, ceilidhs, historic societies, drama, writing, film and new media.

The OH is rich in oral traditions and through immigration connected to the rest of the world.

An area of great natural beauty. Well known for its hospitality. A long valued tradition of gaelic music, gaelic poetry and literature. A unique type of humour, and based on crofting and fishing, tweed and IT.

A unique ancient landscape that has moulded a people, and a language that draws creative newcomers into its environment.

The Outer Hebrides has a unique Gaelic dimension to it, combined with stunning scenery, eclectic communities with an international perspective.

Beautiful, rugged, remote island community. Rich biodiversity, gaelic language, interesting history on doorstep, traditional music, new contemporary influence in other art forms.

Weather dominated with people you recognise - it either makes you glad you are here, or wish you were away.

Islands, Gaelic, beaches, small but good communities, people that care, strong sense of identity, paradox, music, extreme weather, beauty and harshness, laughter and challenges.

Gaelic language and song, archaeology, natural history, history of settlement, folklore tradition.

Clean, safe, white and unspoiled beaches, excellent studio facilities, possible funding and a wide skills base of experienced people. Unique aspects, Harris Tweed, croft houses, songs, Gaelic, friendliness, small communities, crafts and art.

How the sounds are ever changing and the silence is a great canvas to paint them on. The views (often) portray the sounds and vice versa.

The history of the people, work traditions on land and sea. Songs related to work. The tweeds and weaving tradition on wooden looms. Landscape. Environment. Music.

Gaelic. Traditional Music. Values. Community.

Our freedom to move and work as we please.

The most important aspect is the Gaelic language and related activities ie Music, Song. Literature, traditions but the multi-culturalism of a changing community must be considered.

What cultural activity takes place/is provided currently?

2.11 An honest look at the full range of cultural activity - music, photography, art, film, heritage, dance, boat building, flower-arranging, organic gardening, basket making, local festivals. What is the real picture of current cultural activity?

Strengths of current provision

2.12 Including:

Historical societies

Youth activities (diverse range)

Educated artists

Art and music activities

Rich musical heritage e.g. piping, Gaelic mouth music

Strong sense of culture (broad)

Real sense of communities

Environment

Facilities

The people - eclectic - motivational, get up and go factor

Library service

An Lanntair and Taigh Chearsabhagh seen as excellent resources for Lewis and Uist. Harris has no similar focal point but does have a range of galleries / exhibition spaces etc.

Seallam - small gallery but main exhibition demountable so can accommodate 60 downstairs and 20 in upstairs gallery for events.

Tarbert Hotel - Function Room takes 60+ people. Currently have weekly events May - Sept or even into mid Oct. Evenings of slides / Stories / songs / harris tweed nights / tuition / waulking songs / dying / weaving etc.

Several small private galleries.

Good circular tour from Tarbert around galleries and back.

The new Harris Tweed Centre could offer space for exhibition and workshop space. Keen to have workshop space partly for provision of sessions for participants but also because it attracts artists into a centre. Harris Development Ltd are taking responsibility for the centre and participants felt it was a very important opportunity to ensure that it included workshop facilities (rooms with sinks).

Good facilities for arts / culture - An Lanntair, TC.

Weaknesses of current provision

2.13 Inlcuding:

Entrenched views and lack of democratic platform.

Resources - lack of personnel and funds.

Too few people to sustain level of voluntary activity - volunteer fatigue.

Too few dances for older young people.

Challenge of geography - local/national - access and sharing resources.

Lack of co-ordination in provision of arts and cultural activities.

Lack of co-ordination across Council departments - people don't see big picture.

Restricted opening hours.

Promotion of events a bit hit or miss.

Choices limited.

Facilities / Venues.

Lack of good music venue in Uist. Similarly lack of good readily accessible regular traditional music venue in Lewis. Visitors expect and locals would appreciate a good 'hootenanny type venue. Visual Art is very accessible - Music isn't.

Promotion of culture / activities

2.14 More promotion of what is happening is required - particularly need to promote Gaelic, Archaeology, Plenty of activities going on but not widely available, not accessible, people not aware of them and so not well attended and then not sustainable.

Need to 'sell our riches' to maintain our culture.

Need to maximise on technological methods of promoting culture particularly environmental aspects that will be less intrusive and so more acceptable to the environmental lobby; eg "Digital" archaeological walks rather than large sign.

Education

2.15 Need to educate young people effectively in the richness of the local culture - Gaelic, Music, Archaeology, Local history, local skills. Highly regulated curriculum has had adverse effect on amount of freedom for teachers to relate to local culture and environment. Could this be addressed by the Education Dept.?

What should cultural entitlements do?
What do we mean by the notion of entitlement - and what should a cultural entitlement look like?

2.16 This question will be informed by the consultation with national agencies; although one response provided a helpful observation:

• Two main aspects to be considered in relation to culture and continuance of distinctive local culture - Accessibility and Sustainability

Also, there was one issue that arose that may be more productively explored during the community consultation, namely:

• Conservation: Seen as vital to take action to 'catch the culture' - many of people still in possession of traditional skills / songs / music are in their 80's. The concentration is on digitisation - a lot of which has already been done - the culture being lost is skills. Need to pass on / train others in these skills.

How big a factor is language in the cultural equation?
Are the islands the custodians of Gaelic? What role should Gaelic play in cultural activity?

2.17 This question is asked directly in the online questionnaire - results not yet available. There are frequent references to the importance of Gaelic in the responses to other questions above - these will be collated for the final report.

The following views are indicative of those received so far:

• Viewed as vital element of culture and OH seen as essential base for the language.
• The OH must push Gaelic / support Gaelic / use Gaelic - no-one else can have the impact that the OH can.

In the context of a new administration that draws support from many MSPs in remote areas, now is the essential time to take a strategic perspective on Gaelic and make a tremendous effort to support.

This effort requires coordinated action on different fronts by all those with power including the following:

• Real commitment by government and agencies to bilingual policies and plans. For example. making Gaelic a requirement for employment and provide non Gaelic speakers with accessible opportunities to learn.

• Encourage young people to realise that Gaelic is an important element for any job and not just for teaching or media work.

• Support of Gaelic as the cornerstone of culture requires a 'joined-up plan' . For example it needs to bring together transport and culture. Changes in ferries could unlock big changes in how well people are able to live and work in island locations as well as how well tourists / visitors are able to access. Performers with professional careers can seldom live on the island currently due to the additional cost in time and money of the transport to and from the mainland to access their audience base. This depletes the area culturally and socially.

• Gaelic agencies should be located in the heartland of Gaelic not in Inverness - their location should be symbolic of policy attitudes behind this strong approach. There are too many smaller agencies relating to Gaelic - where what is required is one strong strategic agency to support Gaelic as a whole (BnG has not taken this lead or role)

What sort of cultural entitlements should we have?
A change in the library opening hours? A free pass to go to events and festivals? A discount card? More voluntary or artist representation/input in decision-making bodies?

2.18 Instrumental tuition, sports, dance, visual arts activities much more accessible to children living in and around Stornoway than communities 1 hour away, due to logistics and costs of getting tutors out to remote communities with small catchment of children.

Consider how to achieve balance of provision across all forms of culture - local history, traditional music, story-telling, classical music, contemporary music, Gaelic language development, visual art, crafts, drama, dance (contemporary/traditional), sport etc - do you base on who shouts loudest? Most demand? Areas that could disappear without specifically targeted support e.g. Gaelic language.

Consider how to achieve balance of provision for different age groups, different needs - should certain groups be prioritized because they can't always speak up for themselves e.g. adults with learning disabilities, young children, older people, people with mental health issues. This question will be answered fully as part of the Creative consultation process.

The following key issues, and suggested actions, have emerged in discussions so far:

Resources

Match funding for large capital projects from local authority

Manpower - to implement projects

Community spaces

Balancing Provision

Instrumental tuition, sports, dance, visual arts activities much more accessible to children living in and around Stornoway than communities 1 hour away, due to logistics and costs of getting tutors out to remote communities with small catchment of children.

Consider how to achieve balance of provision across all forms of culture - local history, traditional music, story-telling, classical music, contemporary music, Gaelic language development, visual art, crafts, drama, dance (contemporary/traditional), sport etc - do you base on who shouts loudest? Most demand? Areas that could disappear without specifically targeted support e.g. Gaelic language.

Consider how to achieve balance of provision for different age groups, different needs - should certain groups be prioritized because they can't always speak up for themselves e.g. adults with learning disabilities, young children, older people, people with mental health issues

Communication

Forthcoming events should be broadcast on a regular basis, to avoid duplication and events on the same night.

Any grants or funding available should be distributed on a fair basis, and more time given to apply.

Most of the organizations are run by voluntary workers, who only meet once per month and not enough time is given to apply.

Professional Training

Cost of travel and accommodation increased

Funding for professional training in visual arts and craft, drama

Coming together of strong leading personalities

Valuing culture

Convince politicians of economic value of culture

Convince politicians of social, community and health benefits

Better ways to publicise and promote events including local media/radio/press

The issue of valuing culture, and also of confidence, was underlined in several conversations. The following summaries illustrate this:

• Much of the culture of the area is connected with Gaelic, the environment and local heritage but all these elements and their continued existence have been taken for granted for generations. The area has not developed to be a strong champion of these elements.
• Support is required to help Gaelic speakers be more aware of the value of their culture, more convinced, for example, that being fluent in Gaelic will enable their children to achieve and confident enough to welcome learners, so that there is a self generative effect. Because of this undervaluing of the local culture, much of the effort today is by small voluntary groups.
• There is a need for more security of funding for smaller organisations. An Lanntair, Taigh Chearsabhagh, Heb Celt Festival and Ceolas are all considered to be relatively financially secure but smaller voluntary groups have no similar security. Often the smaller voluntary groups require small amounts of funding for small projects but small grants for small projects are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain. There is a much more complex funding scenario than previously and support in signposting is required to assist small groups to benefit.
• Comunn Eachdraidh and the local history resources they contain and maintain could be the source of a new growth sector. Voluntary groups find it hard to plan long term and they are often reliant on small numbers of people. The ideas of these groups need to be harnessed for the benefit of the area. There is a high level of ownership at this level of the local culture but whilst this is of great value, it also acts as a constraint on joint working between groups. If groups worked together they would form the strong support required to carry through the strategic decisions taken by government and agencies.
• The amount of environmental designations show the value others place on the local environment. Part of the compensation for the constraints placed by such designations could be an entitlement to a creation of employment and expertise based here within the environmental field. (eg. UHI environmental research base ) Similarly with Gaelic and other cultural elements there could be greater commitment to creation of employment and value in the area.
• The government develops a variety of different markets, cultural entitlements could be used in a positive way.

What's my role in cultural entitlements?
Do I have to get more involved? Do I change the way I work? Do I collaborate more? Is a change in outlook or perspective enough?

2.19 This question will be answered as part of the Creative Consultation process.

Planned Meetings

2.20 A further 3 meetings with stakeholders and cultural service providers have still to take place:

Provisional Date Group Location

3rd October Gaelic Agencies Inverness

5th October CNES officials Stornoway

23rd October Health Agencies tbc

3.0 CREATIVE CONSULTATION

3.1 While Creative Services lead on the traditional consultation process with stakeholders and cultural service providers, the complementary process aimed at local people, residents and cultural consumers is creative in nature and headed up by Theatre Hebrides. The Theatre Hebrides process will consult with current and potential cultural consumers/participants - assessing their views on current cultural provision and gathering their thoughts, aspirations and ideas on what is working/valuable to them now as well as how things might be improved in the future.

3.2 These two elements of the consultation process have distinct but connected parts: the first part (from September to mid October) is engaging individuals and organisations in the cultural sector - essentially, the people and agencies who are currently providing, promoting, and performing; the second part (from mid October to end of November) is in planning now. It will engage creatively with the citizens of the Outer Hebrides - the people who attend and participate in cultural activities, as well as those who don't. This consultation process will reveal what is currently available culturally in the Outer Hebrides, how people view and engage with that, and what their aspirations are for the culture of the area.

3.3 The event on St Andrew's Day in Harris will bring together both strands of the process: many of the people active in the area's culture together with those who have engaged with the creative consultation process. Shared workshop discussions, a sharing of the creative consultation process and watching the film "Island Voices" which will accompany the creative consultation process will inform the final outcomes from the whole process. The event will relay the responses from this consultation, with a view to developing a set of shared cultural entitlements, driven by citizens' aspirations and supported by the capacity and ability of the cultural sector.

3.4 As with the first part of the process, the creative consultancy will be considering the same questions and discussion areas:

What do we mean when we talk about the culture of the area?

An in depth look at cultural resources - from the arts to the natural heritage, the built environment, history, language, people and crafts.

What cultural activity takes place/is provided currently?

An honest look at the full range of cultural activity - music, photography, art, film, heritage, dance, boat-building, flower-arranging, organic gardening, basket making, local festivals. What is the real picture of current cultural activity?

What should cultural entitlements do?

What do we mean by the notion of entitlement - and what should a cultural entitlement look like?

What sort of cultural entitlements should we have?

A change in the library opening hours? A free pass to go to events and festivals? A discount card? More voluntary or artist representation/input in decision-making bodies?

What's my role in cultural entitlements?

Do I have to get more involved? Do I change the way I work? Do I collaborate more? Is a change in outlook or perspective enough?

The difference in the creative consultation process is that, using innovative research and evaluation techniques, people will engage in the debate through the mediums of drama, song, story telling, or film.

3.5 The two distinct but connected parts will run consecutively: the first part (from September to mid October) is currently engaging individuals and organisations in the cultural sector - essentially, the people and agencies who are currently providing, promoting, and performing. The second part (from mid October to end of November) is designed to follow on - to engage creatively with the citizens of the Outer Hebrides - the people who attend and participate in cultural activities, as well as those who don't. This consultation process will reveal what is currently available culturally in the Outer Hebrides, how people view and engage with that, and what their aspirations are for the culture of the area. There may be interesting similarities/contrasts in the needs and aspirations expressed by local people and providers which can be celebrated/debated on the 30th November.

3.6 Progress has been good to date. The Creative Consultation Plan was worked up in a collaborative process. Additional monies for schools workshops and documentary film footage to form part of the evaluation was negotiated and all of this was agreed at the C.E.P. meeting on Friday 14th September. As soon as the plan was agreed, a recruitment process undertaken by Theatre Hebrides resulted in the appointment of Donald McDonald as the workshop programme co-ordinator. His appointment took effect from Monday 24th September and he has been contacting groups and individuals throughout the islands since that date. His task has been well supported by members of the committee who have supplied contact details (names, group representation and when they meet, telephone, emails etc.).

3.7 By the date of this draft interim report (29th September), Berneray and North Uist workshops are confirmed with a schedule beginning on the afternoon of Monday 5 November. In Berneray, for example, the Senior Citizens are the host group and invitations will be extended to others to join them on the day at the time of their usual meeting. This process guarantees that each workshop will have at least a core group whith can be built upon between now and the visit of the artists.

The Film

3.8 Part of the creative consultation process will be the making of a short documentary film called Island Voices. The film will reflect in a creative way the evidence gathered during the workshop process. Some of the interviews will be filmed with participants in the creative workshop programme, others will be gathered by the Fablevision film crew separately. It is our intention, that through either creative workshop interview or individual to camera interview, as many local people as possible will be included in the process.

3.9 The film footage will be gathered during October and the first week of November and over two weeks leading up to the event on the 30th November, will be edited into an evocative short film piece called "Island Voices".

3.10 The film process will be conducted through the following channels:

• Inspired by the various collections of photographic material from the Outer Hebrides, in particular the current exhibition of Scottish photographer, Robert Adam in An Lanntair, Fablevision film artists will journey through the islands - interviewing residents, family groups, workers, working artists and local people as they go using a drop in style interview technique.

• People who have already participated in workshops with either the Creative Services Team or the Creative Consultation artists team.

• People participating in creative workshops (n.b. we have taken on board that this may be intimidating and distracting for participants so we are going to approach this very sensitively).

• Children and young people who have been working on similar and complementary projects, focussing on their identity (as a work in progress!), their heritage and their experience.

• The film will be a collection of these interviews and we will utilise landscape shots from archive of our own if we have time to take them.

• Film artist Martyn Robertson will be travelling up through Barra and the Uists from the 18th of October and will arrive in Harris on 24th of October where he will hopefully pick up some of the schools workshops during the day and the two workshops that Donnie McDonald of Theatre Hebrides is trying to arrange that week in Lewis. He will return to Harris on the 6th of November, again picking up workshops there and then move up to Lewis to capture get more of the schools work.

3.11 The cut off date for footage is Friday 9th of November in order to allow 2 full weeks for editing.

3.12 An additional element to the creative consultation process is also being worked on by the Creative Links Officer and Cultural Co-ordinators.

3.13 This will have two strands and will try to encompass the richness of activity that is happening as well as highlighting ways in which cultural activities with children and young people could become stronger and more coherent.

• Firstly, co-ordinating with the FableVision film, two or three representative groups of children and young people from all over the islands will meet and share their own interest and activity in film as well as exploring their own themes. In this way the Pathfinder will help to start up two separate film projects, one in Uist and one in Stornoway.

• Secondly there will be an exhibition, 'Slighean tro na h-Innse Gall' (Paths through the Outer Hebrides) which will draw together material from arts, media and heritage activities which are currently happening. It will also chart the path that has helped these activities come into being, via voluntary and statutory groups, individual artists and tutors as well as national and international links. Perhaps most importantly this exhibition will also highlight the aspirations of children and young people - where they would like to go as well as where they have come from. This exhibition will be shown at the St Andrew's Day celebrations in Tarbert.

3.10. Creative Workshop programming is on-going and the FableVision team will keep the committee updated as each part of the programme is confirmed. The interlocking nature of the process (it's impossible to arrange schools workshops on Harris until the community ones are confirmed so that they take place together and artists are not spending time running from island to island). Surprisingly, (or maybe not) it's difficult tracking down some of the contacts. It can take numerous phone calls to contact one individual. It is therefore important that we see the process of negotiating workshops as integral to the consultation programme. Advertising open workshops and hoping that people will turn out on a blustery November evening will result in zero. The personal touch, the building of trust and confidence are all part of the process.

4.0 COMMUNICATION

Group Hub

4.1 An interactive Ideas Exchange was established that allows registered users to log on to a specific project site, post messages, upload and download files, create project milestones and to-do items.

Registered Users

4.2 The Outer Hebrides Cultural Pathfinder Ideas Exchange has the following registered users:

User Organisation

Bryan Beattie Creative Services

Carola Bell

Liz Gardiner Fablevision

Martyn Robertson Fablevision

Muriel Ann MacLeod Theatre Hebrides

Donnie MacDonald Theatre Hebrides

Meg Rodger Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

Elsie Mitchell Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

Catherine Eunson Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

Alasdair MacLeod Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

John Cunningham Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

Erica Morrison Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

Usage of Interactive Ideas Exchange

4.3 Since it was set-up in August, participating partners and clients of this project have:

• Logged in on a regular basis - some weekly, some daily, some hourly
• Uploaded 31 files
• Posted 27 messages and 87 comments on those messages
• Completed 12 milestones
• Generated 7 upcoming milestones.

4.4 There have been regular meetings both of the Steering Group and of the consultants' group during the Study period.

4.5 An online questionnaire has been created to allow those unable to attend meetings to contribute their views directly. The site also has the capacity to provide an area for members of the community to post comments or suggestions - as yet this facility has not been activated

4.6 An audit of provision of existing 'cultural entitlements' by CnES will shortly commence. This will seek to collate quantitative data on the level and nature of current cultural provision. At this stage it is only intended to gather data from CnES, however, this should provide a helpful indication of what is available more generally.Appendix 1

OUTER HEBRIDES: CULTURAL ENTITLEMENTS PATHFINDER

Creative Consultation Plan

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Background

3. The Consultation Process

4. Agreed outputs

5. Creative Consultation Process

6. The Workshops

7. Outer Hebrides Community Cultural Network Event

8. Timetable of Delivery of Creative Consultation ProcessOUTER HEBRIDES: CULTURAL ENTITLEMENTS PATHFINDER

Creative Consultation Plan

1. Introduction

1.1 This document sets out the aims, objectives and proposed outcomes of the Creative Consultation process led by Theatre Hebrides, which will complement the Creative Services traditional consultation process.

1.2 Creative Services will consult with existing and potential cultural providers and stakeholders - assessing their views on current cultural provision as well as their plans for the future. These consultees will mainly be located within statutory agencies, public service and the cultural sector.

1.3 Theatre Hebrides will consult with current and potential cultural consumers / participants - assessing their views on current cultural provision and gathering their thoughts, aspirations and ideas on what is working/valuable to them now as well as how things might be improved in the future.

2. Background

2.1 The Comhairle have engaged Fablevision, Creative Services and Theatre Hebrides to assist in the delivery of a ground breaking Scottish Executive community cultural planning programme, in association with the Outer Hebrides Community Planning Partnership.

2.2 The Outer Hebrides are only one of thirteen local authority areas in Scotland which have been chosen to work with the Scottish Executive to develop new cultural policy which will be legislated through the National Cultural Bill by the end of 2007.

2.3 The aim of the Outer Hebrides pathfinder is to develop inclusive and sustainable cultural entitlements in accordance with the Outer Hebrides Cultural Strategy and the Western Isles Language Plan.

2.4 By definition a pathfinder goes ahead to seek the way, so it is inevitable that there will be questions, queries and moments of discovery en-route. However, in the context of the Outer Hebrides, cultural entitlements are at this point interpreted as being specific types of cultural activity or services that authorities will seek to make available and accessible to each person in their own local area.

2.5 Over the next nine months Liz Gardiner of Fablevision and Bryan Beattie of Creative Services will work with the Comhairle, as lead agency on the Pathfinder. In the autumn, they will team up with Muriel Ann MacLeod of the Stornoway based theatre company, Theatre Hebrides to embark on a trail of creative discussions throughout the islands. The aim is to gather views, ideas and opinions on what cultural entitlements mean to our communities and what shape they should take.

2.6 It is planned that the initial outputs from these discussions will be presented and further debated at the annual meeting of the Community Cultural Network, scheduled to take place at the end of November in Harris.

2.7 The outputs from the Pathfinder will result in a suite of cultural entitlements, which link with the Outer Hebrides Cultural Strategy and Western Isles Language Plan. However, it is also anticipated that through these discussions with the local community, lessons can be learned which can be shared with the cultural policy makers of the Scottish Executive and other relevant local authority areas.

2.8 A final report on the conclusions of Cultural Entitlements Pathfinder will come before the appropriate Comhairle committees in early spring.

3. The Consultation Process

3.1 This document details the creative consultation approach the consultants will be undertaking over the next nine months.

3.2 The consultation process has two distinct but connected parts: the first part (from September to mid October) will engage individuals and organisations in the cultural sector - essentially, the people and agencies who are currently providing, promoting, and performing; the second part (from mid October to end of November) will engage creatively with the citizens of the Outer Hebrides - the people who attend and participate in cultural activities, as well as those who don't. This consultation process will reveal what is currently available culturally in the Outer Hebrides, how people view and engage with that, and what their aspirations are for the culture of the area.

3.4 An event on St Andrew's Day in Harris will bring together many of the people active in the area's culture together with those who have engaged with the creative consultation process. The event will relay the responses from this consultation, with a view to developing a set of shared cultural entitlements, driven by citizens' aspirations and supported by the capacity and ability of the cultural sector.

3.5 Both parts of the process (and the SA Day event) will be considering the following questions and discussion areas:

What do we mean when we talk about the culture of your area?

An in depth look at cultural resources - from the arts to the natural heritage, the built environment, history, language, people and crafts.

What cultural activity takes place/is provided currently?

An honest look at the full range of cultural activity - music, photography, art, film, heritage, dance, boat-building, flower-arranging, organic gardening, basket making, local festivals. What is the real picture of current cultural activity?

What should cultural entitlements do?

What do we mean by the notion of entitlement - and what should a cultural entitlement look like?

How big a factor is language in the cultural equation?

Are the islands the custodians of Gaelic? What role should Gaelic play in cultural activity?

What sort of cultural entitlements should we have?

A change in the library opening hours? A free pass to go to events and festivals? A discount card? More voluntary or artist representation/input in decision-making bodies?

What's my role in cultural entitlements?

Do I have to get more involved? Do I change the way I work? Do I collaborate more?

Is a change in outlook or perspective enough?

4. Agreed outputs

4.1 The first part of the consultation process will contact around 400 individuals [1] in the cultural, public and voluntary sectors - both in the Outer Hebrides and nationally - and invite their comments on culture and cultural entitlements in the area.

4.2 Everyone will be offered the opportunity to engage in ongoing debate, or posting and receiving ideas and observations, in a dedicated web area.

4.3 Also, each person will be given the opportunity to attend a meeting to explore in more depth the issue of cultural entitlements. There will be:

Four area meetings to which representatives from the arts, heritage, creative industries, and community groups will be invited - these will take place in -

Lewis

Harris

Benbecula

Barra

A facilitated session with Council employees and councillors

Meetings with small representative groups from -

HIE

Health agencies

Lews Castle College

Gaelic Agencies

Key cultural organisations

Meetings with National and regional bodies, including

Proiseact nan Ealan

Gaelic Media Services

Scottish Arts Council

Scottish Screen

Scottish Libraries and Information Council

Scottish Museums Council

HI Arts

4.4 The second part of the consultation process will engage citizens. It covers 11 Western Isles Areas comprising:

Community Workshops

3 community based workshops per area (totalling 33 workshops) [2]

2 of these will be organised in partnership with existing local groups and will enrol participants in identifying individual community members who may be excluded from traditional consultation processes.

1 of these workshops will be totally open to the general public and may be held within the school/community centre or other accessible space.

Children and Young People

The key priority with this work is that children and young people (5-18 yrs) are involved in the process of strategic consultation.

For children (5 -approx 13yrs) this will probably best be done in schools therefore a school workshop will happen in all 11 areas specified. These school venues may be also used for consultations with the wider community.

For young people (approx 13 - 18yrs) the Youth Clubs or Youth Voices groups may be the best hosts for consultations as part of the wider community workshops.

Choosing the 'anchor groups' is crucial to the whole process and here local knowledge is essential. Meetings therefore need to happen soon involving relevant representatives including youth organisations and community coordinators. The Creative Links Officer must be closely involved from the outset with this process, where children and young people are concerned, in the light of the financial commitment that is being made from the Cultural Co-ordinator's budget.

Material from the Cultural Pathfinder will be available to the CLO to inform the Arts Education Strategy which is due to be created by Spring 2008.

Due to the Comhairle's commitment to supporting the Gaelic language, expressed in several strategies, it will also be necessary to involve children and young people in at least 4 consultations through the medium of Gaelic this will be carried out either in Gaelic Medium units within schools or with appropriate Gaelic youth groups. This needs to be seen as a minimum rather than a level which is seen as representative.

Where appropriate schools workshops will be timetabled to coincide with community based workshops (they may be open twilight sessions/timetabled school sessions or a mixture of both).

11 Western Isles areas:

Stornoway area

Ness

Shawbost / Bragar / Breascleit

Lochs

Uig / Bernera

Tarbert / North Harris

Leverburgh / South Harris / Bays of Harris

North Uist

Benbecula

South Uist

Barra

Therefore, the delivery plan is for 4 workshops in 11 areas delivered in the following core groupings:

Open access

Adults 25-60

Elderly 60 +

Young adult 16-25

Schools

Pre-school

Minority groups (special needs, ethnic minorities)

4.5. Points of issue: the process of consultation with young people must ensure freedom of speech and expression without influence of adult interested parties and must include young people who are living/studying on the mainland for large parts of the year.

the process must be conducted in the Gaelic language as far as is reasonably possible (default language must not be assumed to be English).

5. Creative Consultation Process

5.1. Description: The creative consultation process will be delivered through artist intervention (appropriate stimulus will be introduced to create an opening, build confidence and develop an ambience where people feel safe to speak and know they will be heard. Poetry, song, ballad, music, story, artefact, forum theatre [3], moving image are all examples potential media. The appropriate stimulus will be decided according to the nature/age/ethnicity/location of the group and specialism of the artist.

5.2. Aim: To reach beyond the sectoral/stakeholder traditional consultation process carried out in the early stages of the Pathfinder programme, in order to assess the views of current cultural consumers/participants and (possibly even more importantly) those who currently see culture as "not for the likes of me".

5.3. Objectives:

• To 'open a space' for participants to 'step into' through interactive creative engagement to allow them to express their views in a creative way.
• To attract marginalized, excluded groups as well as young people who would not feel comfortable/appropriate within a traditional consultation process.
• To develop tailor made, successful "ways in" for people who would not otherwise participate in a consultation process focussed on their "cultural entitlements".

5.4. Outputs:

• A cross section of views recorded in various ways from throughout the islands.
• Film footage of creative workshops, which will be edited into a short film for presentation as part of the final report.
• A sense within participants of sharing an enjoyable cultural experience while discussing relevant cultural issues.
• Raised awareness within communities of cultural entitlements agenda and the role they play in cultural planning.

Findings from the traditional consultation process will be billed as "interim" and the creative consultation findings will feed into/inform/challenge and modify the final conclusions/recommendations of the study.

5.5. Methodology: The artists allocated to each group and the chosen methods of approach will be influenced by the make up of the groups and will be finalised during the set-up period (September - October). Final plans will be confirmed during the training/induction days in advance of delivery.

Some potential creative tools in our toolbox:

• Drama - goal of individual self-expression within a group structure around significant issues relating to theme of - the significance of the sea in our lives.
• Creativity - an imperative in the process - something will be created in the process of the workshop, a performance, the revealing of a significant story, a piece of film.

5.6. Techniques:

• Forum theatre and Open Forum [4] techniques (issue or opinion led work).
• Artist facilitated workshops; poetry/text/imagery and /or film presentation as a way into revealing local views experiences and issues.
• Reminiscence theatre: focus for elderly people, past way of life shown through photographs or film, or read text or other element as a way in to recollection of the past.

These methods can be used with group sizes from 3 participants and more. The larger the number of participants the more difficult to hear all the voices and ideas. A group of up to sixty could be worked with, but the dynamics would operate differently, Forum Theatre could be engaged in this context as it can operate successfully with a large numbers.

6. Creative Workshops

6.1. Aims of the creative workshop programme:

• To undertake creative workshops with a wide section of Western Isles people of all ages and backgrounds in order to interrogate the term "cultural entitlements and what it might mean to the O.H. citizen.
• To encourage expression of their views of their cultural entitlements and how they might wish them to be developed/delivered.
• To enable every participant to engage with the creative process/have their voices heard and recorded through the structure of the workshop.
• To provide outlets for expression to every individual attending in a positive and enriching way.
• To provide a workshop environment where people of all ages feel at ease enough to contribute in a creative way.
• To place value on our creative abilities as people and our entitlements to have those abilities recognized/developed/validated.
• To provide a space/environment where debate can happen.

6.2. Outputs from the creative workshop programme:

• A broad ranging consultancy with people of all ages and backgrounds in the WI.
• An honest view of what individuals from all backgrounds think of as their cultural entitlements.
• Each workshop will be an enjoyable event rather than a "dry" process of consultation.
• A record of examples of individual and group opinions developed in a creative way and recorded on film.
• A record of the age, address and details of the level of previous cultural engagement of each workshop participant.
• Identification of areas where people have issue with cultural provision and to encourage positive feedback with regards to how provision could/should be improved.
• Identification of needs/barriers/obstacles, which hamper the enjoyment or participation in cultural events.
• A series of grass roots findings/recommendations, which will inform the findings and recommendations of the final report to the Comhairle and Scottish Executive.

6.3. Creative workshop tutors:

• Criteria for tutors - local knowledge, Gaelic language skills.
• Drama workshop skills - film, media, arts discipline skills, experience of leading workshops, experience of reminiscence theatre.
• Suitably qualified tutors available on a part time basis over the four weeks are:
• Ian Stephen, (Poetry, creative writing, photography & film skills and seafaring / boat knowledge, Local knowledge)
• Artair Donald (drama workshop skills some reminiscence theatre skills, Gaelic speaker)
• Erica Morrison (drama workshop skills local knowledge Gaelic speaker can do Lewis and Harris only) - availability to be confirmed
• Maggie Smith (Gaelic song, some reminiscence theatre skills, local knowledge, Gaelic expertise)
• Muriel Ann Macleod, Theatre Hebrides (Drama workshops, Forum theatre workshops, film and reminiscence work experience, local knowledge)

6.4. Film:

The evidence gathered during the workshop process by way of film footage will be edited into an evocative short film piece called "Island Voices" which will:

• accompany the written report for funders/stakeholders and the Scottish Executive.
• provide a lasting social archive documenting the views of the O.H. citizens of their cultural entitlements.

The film can be uploaded onto the existing interactive forum on the website, can be located in schools, libraries and arts centers and will be an accessible summary of the findings of the cultural entitlements Pathfinder of 2007. 20 copies of the DVD will be made available as part of the final report.

The creative direction and edit of the film will be led by Martyn Robertson of Fablevision (Drama workshop, film and reminiscence theatre skills) 7.

Outer Hebrides Community Cultural Network Event

7.1. The proposal is to hold the next Outer Hebrides Community Cultural Network event on St.Andrew's Day, 30 November & 1 December in Tarbert, Isle of Harris [5]. The aim of the OHCPP network is to act as a discussion and information forum for cultural community groups throughout the islands. In addition, the Scottish Executive and other CEP local authority representatives from across Scotland have indicated that they would be interested to attend the event to gain and share Pathfinder experience and knowledge.

Primary aim:

To provide a networking opportunity for the OHCCN.

Objectives:

• To discuss and debate the CEP interim report with the OHCCN and partner organisations.
• To provide the opportunity for national networking with other Cultural Entitlement Pathfinders and Local Authorities from across the Highlands and Islands.
• To showcase the culture of the Outer Hebrides.
• Community planning - taking stock of where we are?

Anticipated outputs:

• Collation of feedback on the interim report used to further develop the CEP.
• Increased awareness within Scottish Executive and other CEPs of cultural issues, challenges and context of Outer Hebrides.
• Increased awareness, within the OHCCN of the wider national cultural policy.
• Sharing of interim report findings with other relevant local authorities within and out with Outer Hebrides.

It is anticipated that there will be around 80 delegates. These will be OH cultural organisations, Cultural Strategy partners, OH local authority councillors, H&I and national CEP local authority representatives and Scottish Executive civil servants.

Entertainment will be provided by local musicians, artists and a ceilidh dance, providing a relaxed and informal context for people to network.

7.2. As part of the event it is proposed to have a "showcase presentation" during the Friday evening of outputs from the creative consultation workshops (including the film 'Island Voices').

There will be three elements to the presentation:

• A description of the creative consultation process enhanced by performance and sharing from the artists involved. They will show the stimulus, pieces they used, they will demonstrate forum theatre in action and will introduce the final results.
• Viewing of the exhibition 'Slighean tro na h-Innse Gall'
• Film screening (Island Voices), as above.

8. Timetable of Delivery of Creative Consultation Process

Week Beginning Activity

Monday 27th August Co-ordination with groups

Monday 10th September Draft Workshop timetable

Appointment of Artists

Monday 1st October Final timetable

Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th November Induction days for artists together with artistic director, film maker and researcher

Monday 29th October Workshop delivery

Monday 5th November Workshops and filming

Monday 12th November Workshops and filming

Monday 19th November Workshops and film edit

30th November Showcase event [1] Identified from available Comhairle databases and agreed with the Steering Group

[2] Original proposal had been for 44 workshops with 1 facilitator, however it is now deemed more appropriate to run 33 workshops with 2 facilitators.

[3] "Forum" theatre is a technique derived from Augusto Boal who developed a theatre skills based method of consultation. Put simply, actors will "set the scene" and participants will be invited to "invent" different "endings" or "outcomes" for the end of the scene according to what they think is going to happen/they would prefer to see happening.

[4] Open Forum techniques start from participant priorities. Participants who are passionate/have a burning issue they want to discuss or who would like to introduce a topic are allowed one minute to introduce their subject. Fellow participants who are equally inspired then go with the initiator - forming a small group to discuss in depth. The technique is an excellent filter for single issue dominance.

[5] This event subject to a budget separate to the main Pathfinder consultation and will be managed by the Council's Arts Development Officer.