Meeting the challenge of remoteness

A good model

You do what they do in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland: see the problem not as a problem but as a challenge, tackle it with enthusiasm and use your ingenuity.

There is a wealth of artistic talent in the region. Little wonder when you consider the raw material of inspiration: a landscape known the world over for its wildness and its magnificence. But linking local artists to gainful employment and providing training as well as bringing the arts to remote communities and taking indigenous arts out to a wider audience comprise the bundle of challenges that go with the territory.

In answer to this, Highlands and Islands Arts Ltd (HI-Arts) was set up in 1990 in order to promote and develop the arts in the region. In just over a decade it is proving to be an exemplary model of innovation.

Nurturing and nourishing

HI-Arts has taken a multi-pronged approach, one being to link the arts with other sectors. Two inspired initiatives are currently helping meet the challenge.

Stimulating Creativity was a pilot project launched in 1997 to explore the potential benefits of linking arts and childcare. Partnerships were created between local musicians, visual artists and drama practitioners and childcare groups in four remote areas of the Highlands and Islands. The results proved beneficial for all parties involved and have led to demand from childcare organisations to take part in similar projects. HI-Arts is therefore setting up a new scheme ArtsPlay – a programme of training for childcare workers and artists with the emphasis on "training the trainers".

The other initiative links Arts and Health. Since 1999 HI-Arts has been working with the Highland NHS Trust to foster the role of the arts in both preventive and curative health and social care. To promote the value of the arts in health care two publications were launched at a seminar in Inverness in December. One of the speakers was Sarah Munro a traditional fiddler who has been awarded a NESTA* fellowship to develop composition and performance skills with a view to researching the therapeutic role of scale patterns for those with mental and physical disabilities.

*NESTA is the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts – helping people across the UK develop their innovative ideas within these fields. A fuller report on NESTA awards in Scotland will be covered in a feature in March.

Seeing some action

For some, however, access to the arts means being able to see the latest James Bond or Harry Potter film. HI-Arts addresses this too in the form of the Screen Machine. This silver screen on wheels transports a state-of-the-art widescreen cinema with 102 comfortable seats, air conditioning and digital stereo sound system from Ullapool to Ardnamurchan to Arran.

And for those who like the smell of greasepaint and the expectant hush as the houselights dim the HI-Arts Theatre Network offers a choice of seventeen theatre companies working in the region. From the Grey Coast Theatre company in the far north, to Dogstar Theatre Company in the Highland capital Inverness to the uniquely intimate Little Theatre in Mull the myths and everyday stories of Gaeldom are given contemporary dramatic interpretation, keeping the culture alive, cogent and potent.

The sound of HAIL

The heart and soul of the Highlands and Islands have, of course, always been found most inimitably in its music. The fiddle, the clarsach, the pipes and the lilting voice create, on the one hand, a spiritual signature of the Celt's deepest dreams and, on the other, a burling beat to dance the night away.

HI-Arts is actively developing music forums for both professionals and enthusiastic amateurs: one of the most exciting is HAIL (Highlands and Islands Labels) a forum for independent record labels, promoters and distributors and the gateway to some of the best music from Scotland today.

Many local bands are taking their contemporary Celtic sound to foreign shores where it's proving infectious. Croft No. 5 has stormed Manhattan, Italy and Denmark. The Lush Rollers have taken the stage at Amsterdam's major music industry expo and have knocked the stetsons off the crowds at the SXSW Festival in Texas. Rise have discovered exactly what it means to be an overnight sensation in the USA and Buddha Crush have enlightened Toronto's North by Northeast Festival as to what Celtic music is all about: exhilaration. And these are just the tip of the iceberg – watch this space for a full feature on music bands.

An open invitation

Not only are the Highlands and Islands exporting their talent across the seas, doors are being opened to international talent this summer. The arts centre at the world-famous Findhorn Foundation is planning to create an International Summer School from 11-23 July, where artists of many disciplines will be invited to participate in teaching sessions, exhibitions and symposia. The proposed theme is 'The Aesthetic Revelation' and participants will explore how 'beauty' is personally experienced and communicated. The event will be led by Scottish artist and playwright John Byrne.

And there's a rich international flavour to the 33rd Perth Festival of the Arts 22nd May to 1st June. The Budapest Symphony Orchestra will open the festival; Jaleoflamenco, direct from Seville, will perform their heady cocktail of flamenco dancing and singing at Perth Theatre; and the Daredevil Opera Company from Toronto will perform a poetic situation comedy for Primary School children. Guests from nearer to home include Barry Norman, English Touring Opera, the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and the all-girl Scottish folk band the Poozies with the world-renowned quartet The Lindsays as festival artists in residence.

With all this home grown and imported culture augmenting the natural splendour, there's never been a better time to visit the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. And thinking ahead – to 2006 – the Scottish Executive has given the go-ahead to develop a Scottish Year of Highland Culture (for more information visit www.highland.gov.uk). A very definite date for your (five year) diary.