4.2 ‘Years of’ (Focus Years

Film Festival (est. 1947) are all well known for the cultural diversity of their programming. While

some film festivals receive an element of state funding most are membership based, non-profit

obtain financial support from members of the public, writers and filmmakers making for a slightly

unusual business model. Nevertheless, film festivals have long since come to be firmly established

on the agendas of cultural ambassadors. They are often seen as a good opportunity for cultural

diplomacy using key influencers such as filmmakers, actors and writers.

The Edinburgh International Arts Festival offers a great example of international arts showcasing.

Established in 1947, it was the brainchild of Rudolph Bing (General Manager of the Glyndebourne

Opera Festival) and Audrey Mildmay, co-founder of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, (though often

overlooked in favour of her husband John Christie, the other co-founder), and then presented to

Harvey Wood, Head of the British Council in Scotland at the time and Sir John Falconer, the then

Lord Provost of Edinburgh. The idea was approved and the Festival has run annually for 3 weeks in

August – with the accompanying Festival Fringe running alongside it – ever since. The International

Festival is aimed at promoting the high arts, with world-class performers from the UK, Europe and

the rest of the world showcasing the best of performing arts to home and international audiences.

One objective of the festival is to ‘offer an international showcase for Scotland’s rich culture’. This is

mirrored by the Edinburgh International Film Festival which is staged in June. Other festivals have

attached their programming to the Edinburgh International Festival, for example the Book Festival,

this expanded offer encourages some of the city’s summer visitors to extend their stay. Edinburgh’s International Festival presents a good example of artists, civic leaders, industry, policy makers and

members of the public and friends of the festival coming together to produce and consume the best

international performing arts has to offer, while also ensuring partnerships, relationships and

friendships are created and maintained across boundaries and borders. Such interactions lend

themselves to the expansion of cultural relations and cultural diplomacy for those in positions to

influence.

Years of Focus9 are a conscious policy approach to funded themed years and events. In some cases,

cultural programmes for major sporting occasions (i.e. the London 2012 Olympics and 2014

Commonwealth Games) are utilised as springboards for ‘Years of’ events on the premise that by

extending an invitation to the cultural sector to respond creatively to a set theme, greater value

9 Sometimes referred to as ‘Winning Years.’

(economic, cultural, political and social) can be accrued on an international stage. This is achieved by

engaging a wider audience than would be accessed on the basis of a “one-off” event taking place

over a shorter timescale. In the cultural sector, there is some disquiet over this practice as it is

feared that financial support earmarked for the creative sector is, in fact, being reallocated to the

events sector. In turn, this has meant that outputs are then evaluated in terms of the fulfilment of

objectives associated with the larger, lead event and not in terms of artistic or creative output for its

own sake. Nevertheless, there is growing recognition that cultural forms (i.e.. the arts, sport, music,

dance) contribute to city and national economies and, as a result, should be the subject of

investment as a means to achieve a range of associated externalities, including positive economic

impact. This focus on externalities firmly shifts the role of arts away from measures of intrinsic value

and towards instrumental significance (Holden, 2004).

Since the first Homecoming Scotland celebrations in 2009, the Scottish Government, through its

strategic partners (i.e. VisitScotland, EventScotland and Creative Scotland), has embraced a ‘Years of’ approach. Since 2009, there have been Years of Food and Drink (2010), Active Scotland (2011),

Creative Scotland (2012) and Natural Scotland (2013), culminating in the second Homecoming

celebrations in 2014 – a year when Scotland also hosted two major sports events (Commonwealth

Games and the Ryder Cup). In 2015, there was a second year of Food and Drink and – in 2016 – a

Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design as a way of showcasing areas that are seen as part of

the arts but often under-represented in the arts; Andy Scott’s ‘Kelpies’ – a super largescale sculpture

of horses heads – brings outdoor sculpture within reach of the everyday citizen. In, Scotland these

themes continue to change; 2017 was the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology, 2018 was the

Year of Young People. The themed years will continue in Scotland though they will now occur a two

year rotation allowing strategic agencies and businesses to make more of the planning cycle

(Scottish Government, 2018). It is notable that the Scottish Government’s approach is linked to external relations, business and tourism development rather than the development of cultural

relations or soft power per se. This tendency is also reflected in in their placement in government

departments. While soft power, influence and cultural relations gains may well be outcomes of the

activities undertaken, this is not currently explicitly recognised in the objectives associated with

these events. It is, however, notable that the financial support for ‘Years of’ undertakings has been drawn from the international relations budget. Therefore, it is plausible to conclude that there is,

nevertheless, an implicit acknowledgment of the soft power potential of such activity and, that

promoting a soft power agenda through showcasing is part of remit for the Minister for Culture.

The limited available evidence concerning ‘Years of’ suggests that they attract additional investment because of they bring together diverse policy interests. Spending on Major Events and Themed Years in Scotland doubled between 2013/14 and 2015/16 and, £690,000 was redirected from the

International Relations budget for 2014-15 due to the increase in festivals and diaspora activity

associated with Homecoming 2014 and the major sporting events taking place that year, a further

£1.1m was added to the Major Events and Themed Years’ budget for 2015-16 to help with

international engagement associated with the Scottish Open Golf tournament. The 2017-18 budget

provided an additional sum of £17.7 million for major events, taking the total proposed budget to

£30.3 million. This included additional funding of £7.9 million for the 2018 European Championships;

£2.4 million for the 2019 Solheim Cup and £2.4 Million for the UEFA Euro 2020 Championships, all of

these events have a cultural and entertainment festival as an element of their overall composition.

In this way, it seems that the promotion of an artistic programme is now synonymous with sporting

events, perhaps as a means of justifying public expenditure to host-city citizens. Janet Archer, then

CEO of Creative Scotland explained that the focus for Creative Scotland was to be the 2018 European Championships, recently co-hosted10 in Glasgow using the facilities for the Commonwealth Games,

and themed years. Archer explained how Creative Scotland would seek to support work that would

engage young people in 2018:

“We are looking at how we can build on the fantastic work that happened in 2014 with the

Commonwealth Games and in 2012 with the Olympics. There are long-standing relationships to

grow” .

Archer continued, remarking that:

“2018 is also the Year of Young People, so we are considering how that theme can weave through

everything and how we might lift Scotland into celebrating the international context in which the

Championships are taking place and connect young people from Scotland with young people from

other parts of the world through that process. Those are some of the things that we are doing in that

space” (Scottish Government, 2017).

Here, the showcasing opportunities for creativity and culture are firmly aligned to the sporting

events and themed years in Scotland. Additionally, five curatorial themes were identified in a

framework document providing a focus for public communication and for the engagement of the

cultural sector. These were:

10 Berlin hosted the field athletics, Glasgow hosted all other events.

World Stage, headline events; - Commonwealth Collections, creative commissions in film,

visual arts, performing art, creative industries, music, literature, comedy and photography;

Commonwealth Collections, creative commissions in film, visual arts, performing art, creative industries, music, literature, comedy and photograph

Host, establishing and sustaining relationships between artists, organisations, communities

and Olympic nations through notion of hosting and welcoming;

Practise/Practice, projects exploring common territories and values between art and sport

and health; and,

Out of Place, projects that use buildings, cities, towns, villages and landscape in unexpected

or innovative ways (Creative Scotland, 2012)

These also comprised the initial curatorial themes for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games

Cultural Programme. These themes offered opportunities for artists to move beyond the sporting

context of the events and showcase the partnership between nations and artists. The McLaren

project was an international collaboration between Scotland and Canada (for which the Canadian

Film Institute provided a greater proportion of the financing than their counterparts in Scotland).

This project sought to digitise animations showcasing the work of Norman McLaren and,

concurrently, to strengthen ties between the two nations. This undertaking is a good example of art being showcased as cultural diplomacy/ cultural relations; bringing together key agencies, actors and

industry partners leading to a growth in the development of digital animation and partnerships in

the film sector between the countries while also increasing the popularity of such cultural forms

among young people in both countries.

Each ‘Year of’ is designed to give industry (chiefly tourism) an opportunity to showcase Scotland’s unique and authentic assets to the wider world. New partnerships (and collaborations) between

agencies that may have been unlikely to work together without political and financial incentives are

forged in the process. Proponents of the ‘Years of’ argue that this strategy is prudent, especially in a

period of economic turbulence where resources are limited and working together is likely to be

more fruitful than competing for the same, shrinking financial resources. The ‘Years of’ also provide

opportunities for sectoral interests outside the chosen theme to participate and, to secure funded

commissions. For example, Creative Scotland was a partner in the Year of Natural Scotland and, as

such, supported 14 projects offering opportunities to engage with natural surroundings in innovative

and exciting ways to the total value of £500,000. Such cross-sectoral partnerships, it was argued,

afford new credibility for artists who have worked on large-scale projects and now accrue greater

acclaim and wider recognition as a result of being commissioned to participate in a major event or