Art27scotland's 2021-2022 Annual Report

Key STATS of the Year at a Glance

NUMBERS

9

Artist Community Residencies

80%

Of our funding spent on local economy

39

80

Total Direct Employment Contracts

5,059

11,238

1,386

Total Event Days Total Community Attendances

4

19

Total Number of Audience Paid Internship Alltime Site Views Regular Front of House Volunteers

“I wholeheartedly recommend! You will meet amazing warm people there!” – Participant feedback

“A creative space for expression and imagination and the power of sharing - good for mental wellbeing too” – Auidence feedback

“Proud to live in the area” – Audience feedback

INTRODUCTION

Art27 Scotland takes its mission from Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that “everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community and to enjoy the arts”. Our residency in Southside Community Centre (August 2021 – August 2022) tested out this right, and through close community

collaboration explored what the characteristics of the right to cultural life consisted of, and identified where exclusionary practices effectively denied this right to groups of people.

The Scottish Parliament had declared its intention to incorporate Social, Economic and Cultural Rights into Scots Law, we joined the Human Rights Consortium Scotland, the civic organisation dedicated to seeing through incorporation, and quickly realised that while there was support for the incorporation of Cultural Rights, they had no champion to move it forward – a vacancy we were happy to fill.

As long-time practitioners in community/socially engaged art we knew that ours was the least resourced sector. We soon learned that in the UN cultural rights were the most under reported of all the rights – it seems that nobody was quite clear on what it was they were reporting on.

Our local community centre in the Southside of Edinburgh had seen a gradual decline in community use and membership. This was in the context of the area’s significant change of demographic and increase in cultural diversity. The centre management committee emphasised their Edinburgh wide focus as opposed to a neighbourhood focus. The Southside, like inner-city areas across the world, is a dynamic and constantly changing place – it had become the High Street for the MENA communities, the extensive recruitment by Edinburgh University in China and Hong Kong had created a vibrant student and service community, the presence of the Central Mosque had meant that the area had become a safe space for many migrant communities.

We did an extensive local survey, and even when we stood across the road from the Centre the great majority of the people didn’t know they were standing outside their Community Centre. Few of them used the Centre, most didn’t know how to go

about gaining access and we soon learned that the various cultural community’s use of the space was at best sporadic, and at worst it was a threshold they felt uncomfortable to cross. After a long series of discussions with the Centre management committee, the issue of relevance and sustainability was recognised, as was a shared desire for the space, post pandemic to be open and well used, we agreed an ambitious plan to develop the Centre as a community Cultural Hub that served the whole neighbourhood. Creative Scotland advertised a new scheme, a Scottish Government initiative, called the Culture Collective. It was a post-pandemic response to the dire situation facing socially engaged artists and the communities they engaged with. Our joint submission to the Culture Collective was successful and our journey began.

What We Have Learned?

• It has been clear from the significant take up and the quality of engagement that there is high need and demand from the diverse communities of the Southside for a facilitated space to support their right to participate in cultural life. The need and desire for a safe, collective space for their own community, but also a place to meet others, to grow a shared community and sense of belonging was very strong.

• We quickly learned that offering participatory workshops in different languages not only increased the community take up, but for many of our migrant artists created the opportunity to work in their first language, which brought a new and more thoughtful engagement with their work. Through shared language and cultural identity the lines between the artist and the community dissolved – and the work was about “us”. Art27 Scotland’s workshops take place in Polish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Arabic, Persian and English, and to encourage intercultural dialogue our presentations offered live translation through surtitles.

• A sense of safety, supported access, and a welcoming relevant offer isn’t something that can be delivered through an institutionalised space. It requires human interaction, hospitality, community development, longevity and trust. The different communities need to become authors of the space, not simply treated as customers.

• Our public community spaces require competent management able to develop the use of the space to reflect our changing neighbourhoods with built-in responsiveness and flexibility as a core function.

Socially engaged practice (or Community arts) does not take place in a rarefied aesthetic space but very much in the here and now of people’s everyday lives. Our “migrant” communities were experiencing heightened degrees of racism, the Chinese and Hong Kong community attacks were fired by populist politicians blaming China for the pandemic, the Arabic speaking communities through the simplistic association made between Islam and terrorism and the Taliban, the Eastern European communities were experiencing post-Brexit fall of having to justify their right to stay in the city they had been happily working for many years. Within Art27 Scotland our young staff insisted that we engage with the post-colonial discourse and ensure it was reflected in our work. Art27 Scotland fully acknowledges that “identity” is not a fixed state but a point of departure on a journey of exploration.

The acceptance of cities as dynamic places where citizens creatively reshape and rework their own heritage and the heritage of the place in which they find themselves, is difficult for some to accept. Art27 developed the infrastructural space to enable a Cultural Hub, but despite a year of extraordinary participatory work that delivered against all the objectives the language of “take-over” returned as the diversity of the centre began to be reflected in the user profile. A criticism that was aimed at Art27 was that we were ignoring the needs of the “white working class”. Given the existing user database there was no evidence to suggest “white” people were in any way disadvantaged in use of the space, and the racial foregrounding of “working class” denied the validity of migrant experience primarily working in the service and gig economy.

Nevertheless, the impact of our residency has ultimately been positive. The voluntary committee have followed our guidance on strengthening their incorporation, increased diversity of their board, and adopted much of the language and model of Art27’s programme. Our perspective on this is, that whilst we believe the general direction towards an inclusive approach appears more hopeful on the surface, the key structural and systematic issues that create exclusion remain. We have raised this with City of Edinburgh staff and will continue to keep an open dialogue with the management committee.

We continue to engage with the City of Edinburgh Council about the need for a Cultural Hub on the Southside and were delighted to see Article 27 prominently displayed in the City’s new Cultural Strategy. Our artists are continuing to engage with their communities, and we continue our journey into the world of making cultural rights real, more appreciative than ever of the barriers faced by communities seeking to express their rights as guaranteed under Article 27. Across the world Cultural Rights are increasingly being recognised as the lynch pin of cultural policy, a way to ensure increased citizenship, protect democracy and a keystone to all other rights - the most recent being Rome in 2020 and Barcelona in 2022. While Scotland moves to the incorporation of Cultural Rights into our legal system, we hope that this creates a public duty to ensure a fairer share of cultural resources across all its citizens. Maybe Edinburgh, now officially Scotland’s most diverse city, will lead the way and join the international momentum to adopt Cultural Rights as a guiding principle and an inspiring process.

Helen Trew & Robert Rae Co-directors

Art27scotland Team

Office Team Coordinators

Robert Rae

Co-director

May 2021 - current

Helen Trew

Co-director

May 2021 - current

Saber Bamatraf

Digital Comms & Project Coordinator

May 2022 - current

Asha Trivedy

Community Engagement Officer

Sept 2021 – August 2022

Vanessa Chong

Project Coordinator

June 2022 – Current

Zakaria Berrada

Project Coordinator

May 2022 – Current

Azza Dafaalla

Community Development Student Placement/Coordinator

Sept 2021 – July 2022

Yuke Huang

Projects Coordinator

Sept 2021 – June 2022

Kasia Jackowska

Cameron Somers

Digital Comms

Sept 2021 – May 2022

Project Coordinator

January 2022 - current

Mark Taylor

Events & Volunteers Coordinator

Sept 2021 – June 2022

Artists in Residence

Shatha is a Yemeni artist. She was an IIE-Artist Protection Fund (APF) Fellow in residence at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh 2020-21. Shatha has been creating art since 2014.

She has presented at several art

galleries in Yemen and beyond, and has won multiple awards for her art, including the John Byrne Award in April 2021.

In 27 October 2022, as Artist-inresidence at Art27scotland, Shatha won The 4th Scottish Women’s Award 2022 for her contribution in arts & culture.

Saber is a Yemeni pianist and music composer. He has been awarded an IIE-Artist Protection Fund (APF) Fellowship 2020-21 and was in residence at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities within the University of Edinburgh.

Saber works to reconceptualise the Yemeni work spread throughout Arabia by focusing solely on instrumentals.

In mid 2022, Saber has joined Art27scotland team in coordination & office roles.

Saber’s music releases are available in all digital platforms.

Turning Point – Album (2021)

A collection of pieces composed within 2014-2021 period in Yemen

Embrace from Edinburgh - Album (2021)

Shatha Altowai

Saber Bamatraf

Artists in Residence

Ghazi Hussein Ghazi is a poet and a teacher who has taught Arabic poetry and calligraphy for many years. He studied philosophy and Arabic grammar and went on to teach a range of different age groups and abilities in schools and universities.

Ghazi’s poetry became a way for him to survive imprisonment.

Ghazi says that when you are full of anger and you cannot speak, when you are full of sadness, but you cannot cry, poetry is a way to survive.

Laleh is an acclaimed Iranian photographer and photo journalist. Trained in Tehran during the Revolution, she fell in love with street photography. Renowned for being amongst the first women to document the Iran-Iraq war she was also the first to photograph female prisoners in Iran.

A founding member of the Iranian Photography Society, she has juried and curated many photography exhibitions and competitions in Iran and Scotland.

Laleh Sherkat

Photo credit: Written In Film

Artists in Residence

Marta Adamowicz is a visual and sound artist and illustrator of Polish origin. Marta’s work deals mainly with social issues and community focused projects.

Her artwork has been a part of many prestigious open exhibitions in Scotland and London.

She has received the An Talla Solais award at the RSA Open, which resulted in a residency in the summer of 2019.

Her sound work has been presented at local and international sound festivals.

Robert Motyka is a Polish-born, New Scot by choice video maker, projection artist and projection mapping lecturer. He is also actively supporting EU citizens’ rights and the Polish LGBTQ+ community.

Recently, he explores art as a tool for social change and examines the role of the artist in creating collaborative spaces for local communities.

Marta Adamowicz

Robert Motyka

Artists in Residence

Elaine Cheng (she/her) is a composer/sound artist from Edinburgh, Scotland and from Hong Kong descent. Her practice is currently based around producing drone music from analog and modular synthesisers and has come from a compositional background in electroacoustic music.

Elaine has exhibited sonic artwork in the Culture Lab, Square One and Occasion Festival in Newcastle, as well as at Trinity Apse in the Edinburgh Student Arts Festival (ESAF). In 2017, she was nominated for an award for her work, Happy Accidents, at the Edinburgh Student Arts Festival.

Elaine’s work can be found on: Bandcamp

Soundcloud

Spotify

Check out the links on her microsite

Yahia Mohammed

Maryam Yahia Mohamed is a Sudanese Artist Associate with Art27scotland. During this collaboration, she produced new work that went on display in May 2022 at the Southside Community Centre in Edinburgh.

Her sculptural works evoke the vibrant and distinctive cultural heritage of Sudanese and North African identity.

The artworks were shown as part of the exhibition African Oases in May and were on display during the Fringe 2022

Elaine Cheng

Maryam

Artists in Residence

As the embedded artist Robert is not only creating his own work but utilising his skills as a socially engaged theatre practitioner, film director and writer to devise an exploratory route to unpick and rethink what cultural rights mean in Scotland.

Robert Rae is one of Scotland’s leading theatre and film director and writers. He chooses to develop his work through socially engaged practice that aligns with his own political and activist commitments.

As Embedded Artist, Robert Rae has been working across all the projects providing mentorship, dramaturgy, and creative and strategic support. He has also developed three new pieces

of documentary theatre with the Yemeni community on Saber Came to Tea, a new play with Scottish doctor of Palestinian heritage who was imprisoned in Northern Ireland supported by Scottish Palestinian campaign groups “From the Heart of the Incident” , and has developed relationships with the antisectarian groups in Scotland through a play created with victims and survivors of murders on the border in Northern Ireland during the conflict “Blood Red Lines”.

Microsite:

Website:

robertrae.co.uk/

Robert Rae

Photo credit: Laleh Sherkat

Important Milestones

Although Art27scotland 2021/22 season was full of meaningful milestones as in-person workshops, events and concerts at the Southside of Edinburgh, most of which generated through our residency projects and partnership associations. This timeline makes some highlights of these exciting events.

Preparing the Southside Community Centre (Lighting/sound equipment)

Saber Came to Tea (Evening of music, short play, panel discussion and exhibitions launch)

8 9

Scratched Identities Exhibition

We are Southside miniexhibition on stairs

COP26: Evening in Conversation with Jeremy Corbyn, music and

Residency Projects

Saber Came to Tea

Launched: 08 & 09 October 2021

An evening of music, performance, visual art and conversation devised and directed by Robert Rae with Shatha Altowai, Saber Bamatraf and Ghazi Hussein.

Saber and Shatha arrived in Edinburgh from Yemen mid-pandemic, and opportunities for collaboration were limited. Able to respond quickly, Art27scotland’s embedded artist Robert Rae worked with them to develop an appropriate collaborative process. Saber hoped to work with Scottish musicians, and in response to Art27scotland’s Human Rights agenda, Shatha wanted to pursue her art in “Scratched Identities”. Together they wanted to find a way to tell their story.

Robert started the devising process by creating the dramatic structure that best facilitated the story, which centred around the custom of men and women household visitors being separated by a curtain. It was important to avoid playing into an Islamophobic agenda, but to show the lived experience of Shatha in a society polarised by war where transgression of such customs has become life threatening. To help develop this we drew resident poet Ghazi Hussein into the devising team.

Residency Projects

Playing for two nights as an integrated musical and theatre performance, it was followed by an expert-led panel discussion that on the first night highlighted the situation for artists in war, and second the bombardment of Yemen and the ensuing humanitarian crisis.

Saber: “We’ve learned how ideas can transform to a creative work that can reflect a culture, heritage, and traditions to a new audience. We also loved the idea of combining the musical performance within the play, linking the music with footage from Yemen landscapes and war in a storytelling manner.”

Audience feedback: “We loved the play, it was so powerful and I felt I’d looked through a small window of my own ignorance and prejudice. Thank you for shining a light.”

Scratched Identities

Launched: 08 October – 11 November 2021

An exhibition that talks about strong, successful women who are forced to hide their own identities due to enforced community constraints.

Residency Projects

“A man can show his identity whenever he likes, but for a woman in many families, she must hide her identity from a certain age. Some families scratch the women’s faces in family gathering pictures, or sometimes burn them if necessary, just to get rid of this burden.

There are a lot of issues that I could highlight through my paintings while I was in Yemen. However, there were certain topics I wished to discuss but whenever I wanted to paint them I hesitated because it is considered as a sensitive matter and the people’s reaction is unguaranteed.

So I am here in Edinburgh, with freedom of expression, I have more courage and confidence to release what’s in my head” Exhibition Panel text by Shatha

Audience feedback: “This exhibition was illuminating. It taught me so much in so little time. The portraits are so powerful, the message very clear. The erasure of women’s identities should be fought harder. Thank you for this exhibition, it is very needed”

Shatha: “Without Art27scotland we couldn’t have imagined ourselves emerging in such positive and conducive multi-cultural environment.’

Audience feedback: “Well done everyone involved for putting together this exhibition. So very deep, reflective and informative. Maybe it will give those with power over others a moment to reflect on their own actions - and thus change their ways for the better.”

Scratched Identities has attracted the attention of local and national media, including coverage from The Scotsman newspaper and BBC Scotland.

Audience feedback: “Thank you - your exhibition moved me deeply. Thank you for having the courage to speak - for so many who can’t.”

Artist-in-Residence Saber Bamatraf performing his compositions with the musicians Katherine Campbell & Phil Westwell during Saber Came to Tea

Listen to Saber’s composition The White Canvas (Piano Solo), available on all platforms

distrokid.com/hyperfollow/saberbamatraf/the-white-canvas

Yemeni women sharing their portraits for Scratched Identities exhibition by artist-inResidence Shatha Altowai

Saber Came to Tea – October 2021

Photo credit: Written In Film

Photo credit: Written In Film

Residency Projects

Poetry for Survival

‘Poetry for Survival’ is the Art27scotland project for Artist-in-Residence, poet Ghazi Hussein. It is about learning how to write Arabic poetry in an inclusive environment. It is an opportunity for all Arabic speakers to develop their poetry skills, learn how to express their feelings and experiences, and in Ghazi’s words, ‘to make their poetry into a weapon’.

In several workshops, Ghazi has been teaching calligraphy, poetry and short story-writing. He has been engaging with the Arabic speaking communities, he started out working with the Sudanese Nile School which helped facilitate the access of the group into the centre. He then found a strong group to learn storytelling with new young Syrian boys who are recent arrivals in the city.

Ghazi: “The projects have the capacity to provide a safe place for communities to participate and celebrate their own culture. We provide a healthy environment to strengthen the relationship between communities and narrow the distance of misunderstanding. The community takes part in my project because it is organised with them and in their own language. I understand their culture which is why I can share the poetry.”

If sadness could just be only sand

I would voluntarily cry

So my tears would make a beautiful beach ***

If war were only words

Bullets would be our alphabet

Weapons and machinery would fire a peaceful speech

Community coordinator Zakaria Berrada with the Syrian children during one of the Arabic language workshops

Artist-in-residence Ghazi Hussein performing his poems during one of Art27’'s evenings

Ghazi Hussein

Residency Projects

Sudanese Cultural Forum

The Sudanese Cultural Forum in Edinburgh creates the space for the Sudanese families and community to come together to celebrate and highlight the various cultures of Sudan. The Sudanese community is an extremely diverse national group with a rich intangible cultural heritage with 19 major ethnic groups and over 100 languages and dialects. Through our Community Coordinator Azza Dafaalla we were supporting the community’s cultural expression and developing joint exhibitions.

On 1st December 2021, we supported the Sudanese Cultural Forum, led by Azza, to design and deliver an open mic night which featured Sudanese poets and musicians at the core, but invited the broader Southside community to join. We had a wide range of presentations from all ages and backgrounds with a lovely safe atmosphere and some real hidden talents!

Azza: ‘Culturally being Sudanese excludes you from the Arab and African community finding yourself stuck in the middle. But allowing to meet with other individuals, having the opportunity to relate while speaking in their mother tongue is crucial”.

Residency Projects

Azza began working with us as a Coordinator and then was able to move into her role as Community Development Placement Student with Glasgow University. Through her, we have worked with the Sudanese Community of Edinburgh and the Sudanese Cultural Forum. Azza picked up with the Sudanese

community when our appointed Artistin-Residence had to leave prematurely, she also initiated 4 large scale community meals around Ramadan. She has been an effective link between Art27 and the Muslim communities around the area.

African Oases

Within the Sudanese Community engagement, a lot of our work has been to help develop, facilitate, and strengthen the work of the Sudanese Cultural Forum, organising events based around their committee’s choice. The Sudanese Community were able to take the lead in planning community cultural events such as Sudan Day Celebration, a Bazaar and a new commission from Sudanese artist Maryam Yahia Mohamed ‘African Oases’ which ran from 25th of May till 22nd of June 2022. The opening of her beautiful exhibition brought a lot of different communities and other artists, including the North African Women’s community and Sudanese community musician Gandhi El-Sayeed.

Residency Projects

We are Southside

Launched: 25 February 2022

An exhibition of street photographs to celebrate our diverse neighbourhood as depicted through the lens of acclaimed Iranian photojournalist, Laleh Sherkat.

This exhibition emerged in response to Art27scotland’s community consultation which asked about the kind of neighbourhood people in this area wished to live in, and how the space at the Southside Community Centre could help. Laleh’s skilled street photography captures the shared vibrancy, strength and struggles of the many different communities that make the Southside neighbourhood their home.

Laleh Sherkat’s engaging street photographs were exhibited on the walls of Southside Community Centre. They brought the vibrancy and colour of our 20-Minute Neighbourhood inside the building which, with enhanced lighting, transformed what was a dull entrance into an exciting exhibition space.

The exhibition launch included music performances, poetry, and projection art.

Audience feedback: “I was so happy to see centre looking so good. The look of the former café area took my breath away. And the photographs were excellent. I hope to drop in again to see them!”

We Are Southside exhibition launch –25 February 2022

Iranian musician Saeed Rezazadeh performing

Projection by Artist-in-Residence

Robert Motyka

Kurdish musician Engin Saglam performing at the launch

Watch this short video to see some snapshots and audience feedback through this QR Code/link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a2alPrq6nQ

Audience exploring the exhibition

Residency Projects

聆聽我的聲活

Hear My New Life Launched: 04 June 2022

Community engagement project by Artist-in-Residence, Elaine Cheng.

Our Artist-in-Residence Elaine Cheng, along with her Project Coordinator Yuke Huang have engaged with the Mandarin and Cantonese speaking communities in the Southside area. For the Dragon Boat Festival, where Elaine premiered her sound piece ‘Hear My New Life’, she worked with The Confucius Institute for Scotland at The University of Edinburgh, who provided poetry and music and food. She also worked with the Edinburgh Chinese School, the Edinburgh Chinese Community Orchestra, and the Southside Community Orchestra to create a spectacular programme of music and dancing for the Dragon Boat Festival. Furthermore, Elaine and Yuke engaged with the local community through food, attending local restaurants and cafes and speaking to shop owners about their experiences of being someone of Chinese heritage in Edinburgh.

They both have also held 2 Chinese knotting workshops on the 13th and 20th March 2022 at the Southside Community Centre, where they welcomed anyone from the Chinese community or have a Chinese heritage to drop in, have fun and share their experiences living in Edinburgh

Dragon Boat Festival Celebration

端午节 – 04 June 2022

Chinese Community Orchestra led by artist-in-residence

Elaine Cheng 鄭依

Dancing performed by Project Coordinator Yuke Huang

Projection for the evening designed by Artist-in-Residence

Robert Motyka

Listen to Elaine’s Hear My New Life sound piece on Soundcloud

Residency Projects

City of Homes

Launched: 02 July 2022

‘City of Homes’ is an audio-visual artwork - an outcome of residency by Marta Adamowicz and Robert Motyka.

Artists have set out to work with the Polish community in Edinburgh to invoke a discussion and collect accounts of the immigrant experience and to establish if a connection exists between architectural structures and the concept of ‘home’.

They have edited images and interviews with participants into a spectacular experience where sound and animation tell very personal stories of migration and belonging.

The artworks (linocut prints and collages) created during the series of workshops with the artists were shown during the exhibition opening on the night before the premiere screening.

The evening was finalised with the performance from the Edinburgh's own Eastern European Folk Music Ensemble DAVNO - a female collective bringing the unique traditional sounds of the region to Scotland.

Photo credit to Łukasz Mańkowski

Miasto Domów

City of Homes: Miasto

Domów - 02 July 2022 driven by Polish community led by Artistsin-Residence Robert Motyka & Marta

Adamowicz

Photo credit to Łukasz Mańkowski

Photo credit to Łukasz Mańkowski

Our Artists-in-Residence Robert Motyka and Marta Adamowicz, along with their Coordinator Kasia Jackowska, have engaged with many different groups as a part of their project. Originally, they worked with the Feniks Polish Support Group who helped to spread the word of their project, as well as EMITO, a Polish portal news site. They also created a Facebook group for participants which they engage with regularly. They have been working with LGBTQ+ activists on Robert’s Pride & Dignity event.

Pride and Dignity – LGBTQ+ in Poland panel discussion and Party

Launched: 25 June 2022

Art27scotland celebrated the Pride month with the event organised by the Polish artist in residence: Robert Motyka. Following the series of workshops and meetings that Robert held with the Polish community, we focused on Pride and Dignity this year.

The panel introduced audience to the obstacles that the LGBTQ+ community in Poland faces and how Robert and the other activists have assisted the Polish same-sex couples legalise their relationships in Scotland. At the moment, Polish law defines marriage only as a union of a man and a woman, but many Poles and their partners travelled

abroad to Scotland (before Brexit) and other countries, to see how their lives could be if the community’s rights.

Residency Projects

Art27scotland at the Fringe 2022

Every year Southside Community Centre sell the community resource to a commercial company for Fringe Festival, conscious of debate within Edinburgh around the relationship of the festivals to the people who actually live here, we decided to create a place for the communities to take part in their own centre. We are used to being the producers of our events, but this time we experienced the joys and challenges that any community group would face in participating in the Fringe.

Art27scotland participated in Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022 at ZOO Southside, we presented a season of work from our Artists-in-Residence in a total of 5 shows and 1 exhibition.

FROM THE HEART OF THE INCIDENT

The play developed by Rae with writer/performer Ghazi Hussein and his friend and fellow Palestinian activist, Dr. Issam Bassalat. The play focuses on the recent experience of Scottish Citizen Dr. Bassalat who was held for 16 months in a top security prison in Belfast, having been lured to a meeting of the Real IRA by a man who has now been publicly acknowledged to be an MI5 agent With the

welcome return to the stage of Helen Trew as the lawyer, plays his friend Dr.Issam, as they explore the human rights concern in a justice system where security considerations dominate. Despite major back surgery and a heart attack Issam remained incarcerated for 16 months and still awaits a nonjury trial in Belfast.

Julia Davidson: “Excellent acting and more details about Issam’s intriguing heartbreaking story –highly recommended. You’ve only got Tuesday 9th to catch this amazing Fringe production in Edinburgh!”

FIRSTHAND STORIES OF DIGNITY FREEDOM RESISTANCE COURAGE AND BELONGING

Residency Projects

BLOOD RED LINES

Blood Red Lines is a powerful and poignant piece of verbatim theatre, that brought standing ovations when it played in Belfast, Dublin, and venues along the Irish border. Participants share their personal stories of some of the very worst of the violence committed as a direct result of the Border, and for the first time the impact of the violence in Dublin is acknowledged. First developed by Rae while international Artist-in-Residence at Derry Playhouse, as part of the Peace Process, the play has been waiting for an opportunity to resurface postpandemic.

SABER CAME TO TEA

Art27 and the cast felt passionately that the play presents an important perspective that needs to be heard at a time when the threat to the Good Friday Agreement posed by the failure of the negotiations between the EU and the British Government could have terrifying consequences for Border communities. One of the participant’s stories, Mary Casey, whose father was murdered in an IRA bomb attack on a Border Customs post, was taken into negotiations by Leo Varadkar and is acknowledged to have been the deciding factor in securing the backstop. The play features three new songs by the musician and peace activist, Tommy Sands.

The same piece developed by Rae with Yemeni artists-inresidence Saber Bamatraf and Shatha Altowai, which premiered in early October 2021.

And we have received many positive audience feedback this year.

Isobel Leckie: “Saw this today. It’s the perfect Fringe show – surprising, charming, revelatory and the most beautiful music. Thank heavens for Art27Scotland revealing the world and its cultures to us. Similar shows at ZOO Venues, Southside Centre Nicholson St Edinburgh.”

Residency Projects

As part of the First hand series, Art27 Scotland also presented 2 shows by Artists-inResidence:

FROM THE HORSES MOUTH

Presentation by Artist in Residence Elaine Cheng where she explored the binaries of Hong Kong and China through her new sonic composition which premiered in early June 2022, panel discussion and tales of the life of those who have settled in Edinburgh.

Photo credit: Written In Film

FIRSTHAND

Artists in Residence Marta Adamowicz and Robert Motyka presented their audiovisual artwork based on ideas of home, followed by a discussion on migration.

Photos credit: Written In Film

Sam Holland: “So blown away by ‘Firsthand’ at Art27Scotland today at ZOO Venues and also #SaberCameToTea last weekend. A fantastic organisation platforming important work and celebarating the people who have migrated to Edinburgh”.

In line with Art27’s commitment to Cultural Rights the plays and shows included the first languages of the participants, presented with sub-titles for English speaking audiences.

Z pierwszej ręki

Residency Projects

WOMEN ARTISTS EXHIBITION

Women Artists exhibition combined the work of 4 award-winning artists who have had residencies at Art27scotland. These international-facing artworks all explored themes of their homes, current and previous, from Pan-African Art by Maryam Yahia Mohamed, street photography by renowned Iranian photojournalist Laleh Sherkat, prints by Polish visual and sound artist Marta Adamowicz, and “Displaced Paintings” by Yemeni artist Shatha Altowai.

Associated Events

Hosted by Art27scotland, these are associated events run by external organisations who support the broad aims of Art27scotland and highlight important issues around human rights. We are delighted to build partnerships through this methodology.

COP26: In Conversation with Jeremy Corbyn (Launched:

Jeremy Corbyn chatted to Susan Morrison about climate justice, COP26, the urgent need for action, public ownership of energy and transport.

In partnership with Fairpley Productions, COP26 came to Art27scotland as we hosted a discussion with Jeremy Corbyn as part of his Peace and Justice Project’s Alternative COP26 programming. In addition, Art27scotland’s very own Artist-in-Residence, poet Ghazi Hussein, performed some of his work.

Audience feedback: “Great evening with good conversation – also had some poetry (which I wish the author would publish) ,,, very well organised”.

09 November 2021)

Associated Events

Maryland

(Launched: 20 November 2021)

A play written in response to the murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa, described by the playwright Lucy Kirkwood as a ”howl of rage”.

Hilary Spiers (director): “The feedback has been incredible. To create such an ensemble piece in such a timescale is nothing less than a miracle – and all down to your commitment and passion and offering such a brilliant performance space and smoothing our progress every inch of the way”

Thom Dibdin (All Edinburgh Theatre Guide): “A clear and yet turbulent piece which captures the complex mix of emotions

Lata Mangeshkar Celebration

which lie beyond the raw anger at the continued murder of women by men ... The work speaks for itself. But then again, so does this particular reading of it. And speaks in a way that will long linger in the subconscious” .

(Launched: 08 March 2022)

For International Women's day, Art27 and Gifting Art Space celebrated the life of Lata Mangeshkar, one of the most famous South Asian singers of all time and a figure that has inspired millions around the world.

Sudan Day (Launched: 20 March 2022)

Event organised by the Sudanese Cultural Forum in association with Art27scotland to celebrate the Sudanese Culture. The event was open to all and included music from oud player Ghandi el Sayed, fabulous food, film and fun.

Photo Credit: Tam Croal

Associated Events

The Great May Day Cabaret

The Great May Day Cabaret is a cultural celebration of both International Workers’ Day and the 125th anniversary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC). The event featured a fantastic line-up of music, poetry and comedy. Performers included: singer-songwriter and national treasure Rab Noakes; songwriter and producer Becci Wallace; musician and activist Calum Baird; poet and former refugee and political prisoner Ghazi Hussein; Yemeni musician Saber Bamatraf and spoken word artist Iona Lee. Hosted by Susan Morrison.

(Launched: 01 May 2022)

Fair Fringe Now

(Launched: 19 June 2022)

Fair Fringe and Fair Hospitality are campaigns which ensure that workers receive the wages and working conditions they are entitled to. Workers make the Edinburgh Fringe but the

festival doesn’t always work for them: too many Fringe workers are underpaid and treated poorly in precarious conditions.

Important discussion involved Unite members working in the hospitality sector and Unite organisers on the need for hospitality workers to receive a fair deal at work. The evening included music and poetry from Scottish songwriter and Community Radio Host, Louis Rive; poet and writer, Kevin P Gilday; and poet and hospitality worker, Rosa Moxham. Hosted by Susan Morrison. Presented by FairPley Productions and Unite Edinburgh Branch in association with Art27scotland.

Event supported by Edinburgh & Lothians May Day Committee, Fair Pley, STUC, Peace & Justice Project, Unite the Union and Art27scotland.

Rab Noakes 1947-2022

The entire Art27scotland family mourned the sudden passing of the Scottish Singer-songwriter Rab Noakes last November, Noakes was at the forefront of Scottish folk music for over 50 years and recorded over 19 studio albums. He shared with us his wonderful music on The Great May Day cabaret that Art27scotland hosted with Fairpley

All projections made by Artist-inResidence Robert Motyka

The Great May Day cabaret at the Southside Community Centre

Community Consultation at the Southside

As part of our evaluation, we began with community consultation at the start of the year, gathering information about the area, what people wanted from the space, what people felt about the neighbourhood. This helped us in understanding the scope of the neighbourhood, researching what was already going on and what projects and groups were already operating in the neighbourhood. Through the consultation we discovered that many people wanted a space for the many different cultural groups in the Southside to come together. We collected stats on the area, demographics, and information on what cultural groups and languages existed. We carried out research on neighbourhood plans and local city council plans and considered the move

of the council towards community empowerment, and away from community education. Since coordinators were hired based on their knowledge of the community, they were using their networks to build the project. This was important from the start but developed differently in all the different projects.

Coordinators worked with artists looking at what they wanted the experience to be and the steps they wanted to take to get there. This kind of collaborative project design along with conversations with the directors and team were key to building the projects and were part of the evaluation process, enabling us to understand what was missing in the community, which our consultation had highlighted.

Supporting Career Development

Supporting Career Development in Creative Industries:

A large part of our capacity building at Art27 has been through catalysing change in the structure, governance, and approach of the Management Committee of Southside Community Centre. Art27 have regularly challenged the indirect discrimination inherent in the inaccessible booking and selection processes of the committee. We have been able to encourage participants and community members to go onto the board to feel they have more ownership of the space.

During our stay in the centre, last few months, we have facilitated new members onto the committee, diversifying the voices and perspectives of new communities. We continue to campaign for stronger governance and accountability of the committee. Another key capacity building aspect for our project has been building the skills and confidence of Art27 staff. Staff have taken part in several formal and informal trainings and have been provided with career progression opportunities.

I started as an intern in the project, and we had Art27 organised Race & Equalities training, Disability training in addition to Safeguarding training via Culture Collective all of which I have never taken part in before, so these were really useful for me. I have been offered mentoring and support throughout by directors and coordinators and this has been helpful. I was also able to progress into a full-time role as Community Engagement Officer which has allowed me to take on more responsibility. I have really appreciated being able to share my ideas within the project and get to engage with the Culture Collective network more widely. I was able to explore my own interests too - of bringing Art27 to work with Arte Moris, an arts group that is close to me and heart.

Asha Trivedy Community Engagement Officer

Sept 2021 – August 2022

Supporting Career Development

I have learned a lot from my engagement with Art27scotland. As Artis-in-Residence, I have the chance to collaborate with different musicians whom I met at Art27 by going through multiple rehearsals and events within and outside the Southside Community Centre. I also learned the basic knowledge on how to develop a short theatrical play, of which I have the opportunity to co-create my first short play “Saber Came to Tea” which was part also of the Fringe Festival 2022. And most importantly, I developed connections with the different communities and individuals by attending their events at Art27. All of this has helped me to shape my new career path in art and cultural management/field, it has made me feel more knowledgeable and confident, so since May 2022, I joined Art27 as a Community

Coordinator, and started contributing for the Art27 variant events that have been held in August for the Fringe Festival and became ready for the challenges ahead. I had also the chance to I learn a lot from the Mutual Affinities Learning Lab (the pilot programme) where I met different artists from migrant backgrounds whom I share similar experiences in terms of developing our art practice in Scotland, engaged in the discussions on how to develop the communication between artists, communities, and organisations, in addition to valuable information about the residencies and the socially engaged art projects. And now since September 2022, I have joined Art27 as employee taking on the Digital Comms.

As mentioned before, Azza also began working with us as a Coordinator and then was able to move into her role as Community Development Placement Student with Glasgow University.

Through her work with Art27 she has been able to put her degree work into practice. Working with many different groups and communities and event planning, coordinating projects and Maryam Mohamed’s exhibition with Art27, she learned many new skills to take forward into her next year of university.

Our Artists in Residence Elaine Cheng and Ghazi

Hussein have also had a chance to develop their skills through their residencies.

Ghazi has learned more about teaching and working with young people. Elaine has been able to develop her skills of facilitating groups, carrying out interviews and organising events which has been an important step for her as an emerging artist.

Artist-in-Residence (September 2021 –August 2022)

Digital Comms & Project Coordinator (September 2022 –current)

Saber Bamatraf

Supporting Career Development

My main benefit was creating an opportunity to work in my firstPolish language with the Polish community. During my art residency, I realised the healing power of art and creating together. Working with Marta Adamowicz and Kasia Jackowska as a collective was a blast. I was able to achieve more artistically and being able to present my work on a bigger scale. Working with strong, artistic minds gave me an opportunity to challenge my own process and learn more through interaction, intellectual and life experience exchange, and collaboration. I was also able to collaborate artistically with other local communities - Chinese, Persian and Palestinian artists, and learn directly from them about their cultures and how I could contribute to their projects. I also enjoyed having access to a venue and projection equipment, so I could experiment and practise projection mapping in the Southside Community Centre. As a local Southside resident, I was able to invite friends and neighbours from the local community to SSCC events, so they could discover and reconnect to this rather unused community space in our neighbourhood. Also being an artist with unstable after pandemic income - it was very good to be financially safe for the months of the residency, so I could focus on developing my artistic skills. During my art residency, I was learning to animate linocuts and collages, so my final piece is a 20min projection mappingbased animation including an audio track by Marta Adamowicz.

One of the lino cutting workshop participants wrote: “You won't know until you try! Three hours of the printmaking workshops were gone in a heartbeat. The project is getting bigger and there will be more meetings and workshops in the near future. Today's linocut theme was 'HOME' - the place you miss, you yearn for, you remember. Here are the first samples of my work. I am so proud of myself and the effects of the work. This is just the beginning."

The residency with Art27 gave me a unique opportunity to work in my field, in my native language. One of our participants said that his 'home' is in his language, and I think we've all realised this a little bit as well during the creative process. Art27 paired me up with two amazing people that I probably wouldn't get to know otherwise. Working with Robert and Kasia has opened my eyes and artistic practice to possibilities that sharing my process can provide. I am very happy with the work we've done and the safe space we've provided for so many people. I truly hope we can continue this project beyond our showcase.

Robert Motyka Artist-in-Residence

Marta Adamowicz Artist-in-Residence

Supporting Career Development

Building back after COVID has been a challenge for us as much as anyone else, and we were excited to see activity coming back into the space after the lockdowns. Since March 2022 we have had over 300 people attending our

One of our goals for the project was encouraging more communities who make the Southside their home feel welcome in the community centre, and to feel ownership over the space. Maryam Mohamed’s exhibition opening. large events and regular group attendance at workshops. Some of the audience shared their thoughts after Laleh Sherkat’s “We Are Southside” exhibition opening, which documented the life of the neighbourhood through photography.

“Just wanted to say I really enjoyed last night! It was a very special atmosphere, and I was made to feel most welcome. To me the event was very high calibre (in an arty way) but at the same time humble. Fantastic! It also felt real and heartfelt and I got a sense of a bigger community that, really I wasn't aware of, nice: ) I was so unconnected before lockdown : ( Last night I looked at your swirling patterns and I saw so much woven together in a beautiful way! It was like mandalas! I can still see them, it's like they're imprinted in my 3rd eye!”

“A creative space for expression and imagination and the power of sharing – good for mental wellbeing too!"

"I was so happy to see the centre looking so good. The look of the former café area took my breath away. And the photographs were excellent. I hope to drop in again to see them!”

“Powerful, moving, poignant, compassionate and brave.”

“African Oases” was beautiful to see as many different communities came to support pan-African arts and enjoy the space.

“Makes me so proud to be African.” - attendee

“Beautiful exhibition. Powerful, heartfelt.” - attendee

Relating to building our capacity, Art27 also plans to reconstitute as a SCIO with a board to provide stronger governance and strong shared leadership with expertise to navigate strategic objectives in the future. We intend to invite artists and team members who have worked with us in the past to work closely with a new board to build a strong foundation for our work going forward.

Supporting Career Development “

I’m honoured to win the Scottish Women’s Award 2022 as Artist-in-Residence at Art27scotland. The skills, connections and networking that I gained through Art27 were so beneficial in my career path. Since my IIE-APF fellowship within University of Edinburgh, I’m thankful to have met Art27’s team who helped me to accomplish my university fellowship with a valuable community-work and sustainability.

The 4th Scottish Women’s Awards 2022 recognised and celebrated Scottish female talent, the event honoured influential and diligent women and their organisations, which have influence in our industry across Scotland.

The awards were held in Glasgow’s Marriott Hotel on Thursday 27th October 2022. The Scottish Women’s Awards 2022 recognised exceptional efforts in the present, paving way for the future.

The Scottish Women’s Awards 2022 honoured the talent of female professionals across the country and will commend women entrepreneurs, businesses and civil servants on their success and contribution to society.

Shatha Altowai Artist-in-Residence

Creative Oceanic celebrated specially nominated women across Scotland, who are making a difference and doing remarkable work. The public nominated many women, including Shatha alongside 9 other women active in the cultural and art sector, and Shatha won the award in culture and art.

We

gather stars from more than one sky. We are not soldiers, but we are fighters, fully armed with words, ideas, thoughts and art, standing in the front line to protect human rights

Ghazi Hussein

Looking forward

New Partnerships

Art27scotland core team has been in conversation with a plethora of organisations addressing different aspects of its operations. We met with Art in Healthcare to explore social prescribing in context of migration, IASH to connect with the academic setting and explore possibility of collaboration particularly through the Artist Protection Fund and Community Engagement. We are working closely with Beata Skobodzinska, Diversity Officer at CEC to support her ethnically diverse artist network, and supporting Margaret Findlay, Learning and Public Programmes Manager on an exhibition exploring migrant representation

In September 2022, we also entered in a partnership with Birmingham-based Centrala – a cultural hub for central and Eastern European artists to become a Scottish venue partner and host an exhibition in October.

Our partnership with the Scottish Human Rights Consortium is strengthening and the draft brief on cultural rights has been prepared. We are in the process of inputting additional research and examples of cultural rights in action.

We are preparing a days’ workshop for civil society organisations on cultural rights in early March. We are collaborating with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights Alexandra Xanthaki to support us and help place our work in an international context. She is currently researching cultural rights for migrant communities and will present her findings at our CEC funded Festival that we will launch in mid-June 2023.

We are developing a partnership with Dr Elaine Webster, Director, Centre for the Study of Human Rights Law and Associate Dean HaSS, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion University of Strathclyde, using her research into the experience of dignity in the care system to create a theatre piece in collaboration with NHS workers and Carers. We will nurture a relationship with MECOPP (Minority Ethnic Carers of Older People Project).

We are thankful for our partners: Written in Film who have been video documenting our projects; the PR Firm ELEGlobal who provided assistance with consultancy advice, copywriting, development of key messaging, a press pack, digital marketing advice and research; The Southside Community Centre and all the volunteers who gave us tremendous support to achieve all of this.

Each one of us tries to overcome our fears, the fears that governments have put on our lives, and overcoming these fears leads us to freedom of expression and we display our expression in our heart

Laleh Sherkat

Looking forward

Upcoming Projects

Upcoming residency projects for 2023:

The Embedded artist Robert Rae aim to work on three projects:

- The Children March: which is inspired by archetypal folk tales such as The Pied Piper of Hamlyn and by BertholdBrecht’sclassicpoem Kinderkreuzzug which itself was an adaptation of an earlier Finnish poem by Arvo Turtianen’s called Sotakoira. Brecht’s adaptation, first a screen play and then a poem, was set in 1941 and told the story of unaccompanied refugee children fleeing war in Poland. Originally conceived and developed to tell the story of Syrian Refugees this could now be developed to include and bring together the stories and experiences of children and young people whose flight from war and poverty has brought them to Edinburgh.

- Nakba Day: 2023 is the 75th anniversary of the Nakba. May 15th is Nakba Day. The Nakba was the destruction of Palestinian society and homeland and the permanent displacement of the majority of Palestinian Arabs. 78% of Mandatory Palestine was declared as Israel, 700,000 Palestinians left, 500 Palestinian villages were emptied and destroyed, the Palestinians were denied the right to return. Today nearly 14 million Palestinians live in diaspora. Art27 has engaged with a significant number of Palestinians in the first year, who generously supported the telling Saber and Shatha’s story. The Nakba is at the heart of Palestinian Identity. Art27scotland would work to mark this significant event by engaging the Palestinian community at the heart of the decision making of the project development

- Southside Symphony: music and verbatim theatre/film. Following on from “We Are Southside” to create a piece of music (or collection of songs) that celebrate the different communities who now make

up the Southside. Working with different musicians we have already met and drawing upon the collective efforts of their cultural communities we will create a song that tells their collective story in a style that reflects their cultural heritage/present. There are many communities to draw upon but including the Irish, Scottish, Chinese, Polish and MENA, and their different traditions.

- Exploring & (re-)discovering Salvic Folklore:

Artists Marta Adamowicz and Robert Motyka are working on exploring and (re-)discover Salvic folklore, fairy tales and legends. Learning about forgotten traditions based on nature’s cycle, the project will follow the calendar of the old holidays and festivals. The series of workshops will use traditional Polish cutouts from different regions of the country, linocut and storytelling.

The artists venture on a journey of examining how the old traditions can be re-read and re-interpreted nowadays hoping to find out how relevant they are to who we are today. The outcomes of the workshops will be presented in the form of a book, animated film and exhibition.

- Syrian Children Theatrical Piece & Songs:

Artist Ghazi Hussein is working with young people from Arab heritage through a series of workshops that’s designed to encourage children to engage in the creation of a theatrical play piece related to their culture and Arabic language; and share their thoughts and ideas in unique and diverse ways. The children encounter the process alongside their parents who wanted to be involved to create their own story together.

- Sound of the Southside:

During this socially engaged art residency Elaine Cheng will focus on the work with the Hong-Kongese community in Edinburgh. Through the series of meetings and workshops she would like to connect

Looking forward

with the participants drawing their attention to the auditory dimensions of the neighbourhood. She will guide sound walks immersing into the surrounding soundscapes. The expected outcome of the residency and the work with the community is a new soundpiece under the working title “Sound of Southside”. The final piece will incorporate sounds gathered and produced by the participants and artist’s own compositions.

- Inherited Incantation:

Artist Shatha Altowai will be working on a digital cultural exchange art project between women in Yemen and women in Edinburgh, she aims to explore the different protective measures that are taken by women to protect themselves and their children. Through visual artworks with different mediums, they aim to learn and understand the measures or rituals that have been transferred generationally and became part of their cultures and how they can represent them through art.

- Family in Migration:

Artist Laleh Sherkat will use narrative photography to explore many important questions with her participants during the series of workshops.

She will work to examine the presence and absence of obstacles to reach a united voice without racial discrimination and to share experiences with one another through the art of visual representation and learning how to do so through photography.

Upcoming Festival

For all of this, we have recruited 2 assistant producers, working in contract with a digital marketing specialist, and a production manager to assist us in the delivery for our projects, so that all outcomes will be part of for the upcoming festival.

We received funding support from the City of Edinburgh Council to augment our artist production budgets, strengthen capacity and put on a festival around migration and cultural rights in June 2023 for this festival. It is a fantastic opportunity to bring together the artist residencies, our cultural rights work and extend a platform for other cultural communities to host and run an event themselves on the theme. We’re thrilled to have the support of the City of Edinburgh Council to make this celebration of diversity and creativity possible. Stay tuned for more updates by joining our mailing list:

https://www.art27scotland.org/join/

Projects Engagement

Strategic Alignments

The mission and practice of Art27scotland aligns and delivers against the following relevant local international and national strategic priorities:

A. UNITED NATIONS

Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits”.

Cultural Rights are inseparable from human rights, as recognized in Article 5 of the 2001 UNESCO Deceleration on Cultural Diversity, and can be defined as the right of access to, participation in and enjoyment of culture. This includes the right of individuals and communities to know, understand, visit, make use of, maintain, exchange and develop cultural heritage and expressions, as well as benefit from the cultural heritage and cultural expression of others.

Culture is fundamental to human dignity and identity. Accessing and enjoying culture is an important part of being a citizen, a member of a community, and more widely, a member of society.

At a time when artists, cultural minorities, cultural heritage and cultural expression are increasingly under attack, defending the cultural rights of individuals and communities has never been more important.

B. SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT National Outcomes

Communities: We live in communities that are inclusive, empowered, resilient and safe Culture: We are creative and our vibrant and diverse cultures are expressed and enjoyed widely.

Fair Work and Business: We have thriving innovative businesses, with quality jobs and fair work for everyone.

Human Rights: We respect, protect and fulfil human rights and live free from discrimination

Human Rights: We respect, protect and fulfil human rights and live free from discrimination

Cultural Strategy:

Ambition 1: Strengthening culture

• Encourage greater openness and diverse cultures to reflect a changing Scotland in the 21st century

• Value, trust and support creative peoplefor their unique and vital contribution to society and the economy

Ambition 2: Transforming through culture

• Place culture as a central consideration across all policy areas including: health and wellbeing, economy, education, reducing inequality and realising a greener and more innovative future

• Open up the potential of culture as a transformative opportunity across society

Ambition 3: Empowering through culture

• Continue to celebrate Scotland’s extraordinary cultural contributions

• Extend the view of culture to include the everyday and emerging, the established and more formal

• Extend opportunities that enable people to take part in culture throughout their lives

• Recognise each community’s own local cultures in generating a distinct sense of place, identity and confidence.

Strategic Alignments

C: HUMAN RIGHTS CONSORTIUM SCOTLAND All Our Rights in Law

The National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership was established in early 2019, to take forward the recommendations made in the 2018 Report of the First Minister’s Advisory Group on Human Rights to prioritise actions to progress human rights and equality in Scotland.

It states: The State must respect, protect and fulfil the right to culture and its defence is essential to ensuring that all people live their lives in dignity.

The key standards applied to cultural rights are:

Availability: Presence of cultural goods and services open for everyone to enjoy including intangible cultural goods such as languages, customs, traditions, beliefs, knowledge and history as well as values which make up identity and contribute to the cultural diversity of individuals and communities;

Accessibility: Effective and concrete opportunities for individuals and communities to access and share information in a language of their choice about cultural life. It also encompasses the opportunity to enjoy culture fully, within physical and financial reach for all without discrimination and taking account of the needs of vulnerable persons

Acceptability: strategies, policies, programmes and measures in relation to the enjoyment and exercise of cultural rights should be considerate and acceptable to the individuals and communities involved and respectful of cultural diversity.

Adaptability: consider flexibility and relevance of strategies, policies, programmes and measures that impact any area of cultural life. These must be respectful of the cultural diversity of individuals and communities.

Appropriateness: the realisation of a specific human right in a way that is respectful of the culture and cultural rights of individuals and communities including minorities and indigenous peoples.

D. CREATIVE SCOTLAND

Annual Plan 2020-21

We will prioritise:

• Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion: Supporting a diverse range of creative people, communities, and activity, promoting an equality of opportunity to create, participate and engage.

Scotland welcomes cultural diversity and contributions from other languages spoken here from Punjabi and Urdu to Polish and Arabic.

Strategic Alignments

E. CITY OF EDINBURGH COUNCIL

Also our mission aligns with the A new Citywide Culture Strategy by The City of Edinburgh Council to shape the council’s Culture and Wellbeing service through to 2030, which has been agreed by councillors.

Four action plans will now be developed that will ensure the city delivers on the strategy’s three main aims, that:

- All Edinburgh residents can easily access cultural experiences that they find meaningful in their local area, and everyone has the opportunity to contribute to shaping local cultural provision.

- Edinburgh is a welcoming and supportive city in which a broad spectrum of creative and cultural practitioners choose to develop their careers.

- Edinburgh is a world leading cultural capital, an environmentally responsible host city where ideas are exchanged freely, and the diversity of its residents is celebrated.

Based on The City of Edinburgh Council, the principles that will inform the delivery of the strategy are based on the following:

- Everyone has the right to participate freely in the cultural life of the community.

- Culture and creativity are essential and fundamental to the wellbeing of the city, localities, communities, groups, and individuals.

- The cultural vibrancy of the city is a collective endeavour; power, responsibility and opportunity are shared. Diverse cultures, voices and stories are essential to cultural growth.

- Fairness, respect, environmental responsibility, and equity of opportunity are fundamental to a healthy cultural ecology.

- Local, national, and international connections are enriching and vital.

- Our shared and different heritages are important and provide inspiration for cultural expression today.

- The cultural and creative workforce should be supported to explore, innovate, and take creative risks.

G. CULTURE COLLECTIVE

Art27scotland is part of the Culture Collective - a network of 26 participatory arts projects, shaped by local communities alongside artists and creative organisations funded by Scottish Government.

For the sector as a whole, the Culture Collective shines a light on the crucial importance of participatory arts projects for artists, for communities and for the future.

Our work is designed and driven by the community in which it is rooted, playing an important part in shaping the future cultural life of Scotland.

Art27scotland

40-42 West Crosscauseway

Newington

Edinburgh Scotland

EH8 9JP

Hours: Mon-Thu, 10am-6pm

Office phone: +44 (0)131 563 9537

Email: info@art27scotland.com

Web: www.art27scotland.org

@art27scotland

@art27scotland

@Art27Scotland /company/art27-scotland/

@art27scotland76

Art27scotland is a community interest company, registered in Scotland with registration number SC683111