Considering a Creative Scotland

If you’re looking for interesting listening on your iPod or computer while you tend to other elements of your life, the Scottish Arts Council is at your service with this wonderful series of keynotes and conversations from their recent cultural summit.

The Scotland: Creative Nation Cultural Summit gathered over 400 participants in Edinburgh in late February. The topics were broad and the guest speakers were varied, but the central goal of the convening was to consider the context of a new national initiative. Creative Scotland will merge two arts agencies — Scottish Screen and the Scottish Arts Council — under a broader and deeper mission to advance arts, culture, and the creative industries.

The bill to authorize the new entity was submitted to the Scottish Parliament on March 13.

The conference brought together some great keynotes (Alan Brown, John Knell, Suzanne Lacy, and others) to explore three themes: The Impact of the Arts, Innovation and New Artistic Practice, and Engagement and Participation. Conference organizers were thoughtful enough to prepare all these conversations in multiple audio formats (including an enhanced iPod format complete with images), and post them for free for our listening pleasure.

Worth a listen.