Scottish Arts Council unveils its Homecoming Programme

An exciting assortment of new dance, theatre poetry and visual arts projects gets fully underway this August as part of The Scottish Arts Council’s Homecoming Programme.

The £300,000 Scottish Arts Council Homecoming Fund supports an arts programme as part of the International Year of Homecoming.

Eleven projects of varying scales and covering a variety of art forms celebrate the themes of Homecoming: Robert Burns; Scotland’s rich culture and heritage; and the great contributions Scotland has made to the world.

Robert Burns – the artist, is at the heart of many of the projects. Presenting a contemporary face of Scottish culture, the selection of newly-commissioned and developed works all aim to reflect modern Scotland in innovative and creative ways. The national songwriting competition, Burnsong, is supporting the creation of contemporary music inspired by Burns, while projects such as the Scottish Poetry Library’s BurnsBanner have used the Burns theme to engage with local communities across Scotland.

Homecoming is already raising international awareness for Scotland’s arts. Visible Fictions, one of the first projects to get underway, has secured an international tour of two new productions: Jason and the Argonauts and Shopping for Shoes, following a successful Scottish tour.

Tam Dean Burn’s new anarchic celebration of Burns has also been internationally recognised and is currently making its way around Scotland, adding more and more shows to the line-up as its popularity grows.

Other projects funded as part of the Scottish Arts Council’s Homecoming programme will also leave a legacy beyond this Year of Homecoming. Shoogle Records secured support to record The Birnam Quartet’s new version of A Man’s A Man, which will allow the interpretation of Burns music to be enjoyed not only throughout schools, but by the wider community.

Everything from cross-cultural dance as part of the Mela Festival, to a new adaptation of Muriel Spark’s The Girls of Slender Means produced by Stellar Quines will celebrate the diversity and quality of Scotland’s arts and encourage participation all across Scotland

Homecoming funded projects include

Yatra – Journey Home

Where: Edinburgh, Mela
When: 7-9 August
What: A dance and music performance across 3 cultures by leading Scottish or Scotland based artists.
More Info: www.edinburgh-mela.co.uk

Arts Fringe

Where: Eden Court, Inverness
When: 22-24 October
What: Programme of arts activity to support conference: ’Scotland’s global impact – how one small nation changed the world’
More info: www.eden-court.co.uk/

Muriel Spark’s The Girls of Slender Means, Stellar Quines Theatre Company

Where: Edinburgh
When: 5-31 August
What: Adaptation of the play for Edinburgh Festival Fringe
More info: www.stellarquines.com/

BurnsBanner

Where: Edinburgh
When: August
What: A banner creating the first and last stanza of ‘A Man’s A Man for A’ That’ will hang throughout August. It will be created from painted letters created by over 100 participants around Scotland
More info: read the blog online www.burnsbanner.wordpress.com/about

Visible Fictions

Where: National/International
When: Ongoing
What: National and international tour of two major new productions ‘Jason and the Argonauts’ and ‘Shopping for Shoes’
More info: www.visiblefictions.co.uk

Burnsong

Where: workshops across Scotland
When: November
What: A national songwriting initiative inspired by Burns.
More info: www.burnsong.org

Tam Dean Burn’s new and anarchic celebration of Burns

Where: Touring across Scotland
When: ongoing
What: Performance involving poetry, music and new technology

Shoogle Records

Where: National/international
When: Ongoing
What: A recording of the Birnam Quartet’s new version of A Man’s A Man

Silver Darlings, HMT Aberdeen

Where: Across Scotland
When: 24 August – 26 October
What: New, large-scale theatre adaptation of Silver Darlings by Niall Gunn
More info: www.hmtaberdeen.com/