Edinburgh Review 135

In the new edition of Edinburgh Review, I go into detail about the experiences faced by many folks trying to maintain  viable grass-roots arts communities in Edinburgh.

Some points made:

“For many working in the Edinburgh arts scene, it has been and remains a fight. This is not a conspiracy, but a bureaucracy that has failed across the board to address and codify appropriate mechanisms for local cultural protection. For (councillors) unwilling to be informed, it is all too easy for them to remain so. The arts provides its own value, and a council that pours money and time into annual festivals needs to consider how to protect fragile organizations from the negative effects of their policy outside the Rumspringa of August.”

“Many other people ‘on the ground’, involved with artistic and cultural initiatives, see a city at risk of
being dominated by those rich enough to be patrons, a city no more than a Tartan Disneyland.”

If the arts in Edinburgh are close to your heart, it helps to be armed with some knowledge. Grab a copy of Edinburgh Review either at their online store or in any of the handsome bookshops that stock it.