by Heather Paton | Apr 15, 2021 | Arts, Community, COVID19, Culture, Place, Power, Uncategorised
I can’t quite believe it’s been a year since I took a seat at my dining room table and mastered the virtual meeting world to join Renfrewshire Leisure’s Arts Team for a vital discussion: what are the needs of the Creative and Cultural Sector in Renfrewshire?
Conversations of concern and despair from arts professionals across the team were the focal point. After discussions with local organisations, artists and seeing the impact the pandemic was having on the arts nationwide, it was clear – something radical had to be done and done quickly. We had to try and support the creative and cultural sector in Renfrewshire, giving local artists and organisations a chance to adapt, to recover, renew and to keep spirits up, raising hope through the arts, creativity, and culture. (more…)
by Centre for Culture Sports & Events | Apr 1, 2021 | Arts, Community, COVID19, Cultural Heritage, Culture, Digital, Events, Music, Place, Public Space, Research profile, Uncategorised
At CCSE, we began our conversations series in the autumn of 2020. The seed for these discussions was planted at our virtual conference in May 2020. This event – Festivals, Events & COVID19 – was an opportunity to explore and discuss the impacts of the pandemic across on aspects of arts and cultural praxis. At CCSE we were keen to find a way to continue these discussions, and to provide a platform for ongoing consideration and discussion of the ways in which the pandemic could and would change the ways that we approach and experience arts, culture, sports and aspects of travel and tourism that insect with the areas of interest for CCSE. (more…)
by Sophie Mamattah | Mar 25, 2021 | Arts, Community, COVID19, Culture, Digital, Events, FESTSPACE, Research profile, Uncategorised
As Easter approaches and as we enter the second spring in which the restrictions brought about by the onset and continuation of the COVID19 pandemic, it is interesting take a moment of pause to reflect on the activities undertaken and progress made at CCSE.
Though the majority of colleagues active within CCSE have now been working from home for a year, through the Centre they have nevertheless continued their active engagement in areas of research, practice, policy and study that are of principle importance for CCSE’s remit. Furthermore, much of the activity undertaken has been recorded in posts to our weekly blog. (more…)
by Jess Orr | Mar 11, 2021 | Arts, Community, COVID19, Culture, Digital, Events, Uncategorised
Following a successful and exhilarating first festival in February 2020, this year’s digital edition of Paisley Book Festival had to adapt quickly to fast changing circumstances. Looking back now, it’s hard to believe that last year’s event was staged in entirely normal circumstances, when just a few weeks later we were plunged into lockdown. The months that followed were a rollercoaster of uncertainty that would alter our perceptions of what a festival like this could and should be. (more…)
by David McGillivray | Mar 4, 2021 | Arts, COVID19, Culture, Events, FESTSPACE, Uncategorised
I was invited to contribute to a conference organised by The Cockburn Association titled ‘Whose Festival is it Anyway’ on Saturday 31st January. The conference featured panels exploring Edinburgh’s Festivals – past, present and future. I participated in a panel chaired by well-known broadcaster, Stephen Jardine, focused on Cultural Tourism and the Festivals: What will be the ‘new normal’? The panel discussion can be accessed on the Cockburn Association’s YouTube channel. This conference built on a large public meeting held in January 2020, City for Sale? The Commodification of Edinburgh’s Public Spaces which I also spoke at. The theme of festivals, public space and the city is the focus of a large research project, Festspace, that I lead, which is funded by the Humanities in the European Area (HERA). (more…)
by Lil Brookes | Feb 25, 2021 | Arts, Community, COVID19, Cultural Heritage, Culture, Digital, Events, Lonliness, Uncategorised
In late March 2020 I watched with disbelief as my diary of project meetings, stock deliveries and workshops was wiped as the corona virus pandemic hit, leaving me wondering what next for my small business?
I’ve worked hard over the past five years to establish Gatekeeper Art with two main strands of business, as a selling artist and as a social historian delivering community heritage projects.
Following the initial clearing of my diary I salvaged some of the workshops in the projects I was working on then and adapted them to an online format and thus I was introduced to the wonderful world of “Zoom”. This is a new world for me and I have to admit to being both terrified and excited at the prospect of online delivery but willing to take on the challenge of a steep learning curve! (more…)
