NEWSLETTER

CREATING OPPORTUNITY WORLDWIDE

OCTOBER 2015

www.scotland.britishcouncil.org

MomentumEdinburgh is the world’s leading festival city. Collectively, the Edinburgh Festivals attract audiences of over four million, more than 30,000 artists from over 70 countries and 1,000 accredited media professionals. Year-round, Edinburgh hosts 12 major international festivals and five of them are staged in August: the Edinburgh Art Festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Edinburgh International Book Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival and the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

Momentum is the Edinburgh Festivals International Delegate Programme, which takes place in Edinburgh during August and is delivered through a partnership between British Council Scotland, Festivals Edinburgh and Creative Scotland, with the additional support of the City of Edinburgh Council, Event Scotland and the Scottish Government.

Momentum provides a dynamic platform for key cultural figures from across the world to engage and build relationships with the world’s leading Festival City, the wider Scottish cultural sector, and the international community that flocks to Edinburgh during the peak Festival season. It is aimed at leading cultural figures including government officials, producers, funders, media, cross-art form programmers, curators and cultural entrepreneurs. It also welcomes other high-level cultural figures and in total provides relationships to, and shares knowledge with over 100 delegates from more than 20 different countries.

Created in 2013, Momentum builds on work over the last three years which has been a pioneering cultural diplomacy programme developed by Festivals Edinburgh, the British Council Scotland and Creative Scotland. The programme aims to encourage partnerships, investment and international collaboration. Momentum shares the wider Scottish cultural offering with delegates, and cultivates collaborative opportunities for our Festivals, Scottish artists and Scottish work internationally.

For the first time in 2014, Momentum piloted two art form specific delegations centred on visual arts and literature. These two programmes provide a space for peer-to-peer exchange where delegates

are exposed to creative programming and can make connections within both the Scottish and international sector. These art form specific delegations continued into the 2015 Momentum programme.

Created in 2013, Momentum builds on work over the last three years which has seen a pioneering cultural diplomacy programme developed by Festivals Edinburgh, the British Council Scotland and Creative Scotland.

Lloyd Anderson, Director British Council Scotland, wrote a lead article in the Scotsman on the importance of Momentum. Learners International is a new online resource jointly developed with Education Scotland, and in collaboration with teachers and education practitioners, to support schools in Scotland and beyond develop high quality, meaningful international experiences for learners of all ages focused on skills development.

BRITISH COUNCIL SCOTLAND NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2015

www.scotland.britishcouncil.org

© British Council 2015 The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.

Momentum literature delegates, August 2015 © Momentum

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The University of Glasgow hosted the Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE) 40th Annual Conference from 24 - 26 August 2015. The theme of the conference was Teacher Education through Partnerships and Collaborative Learning Communities.

British Council Scotland supported six delegates leading on teacher education in Pakistan, Malawi, Rwanda, and Kenya to participate in the conference. The delegates had an opportunity to share their experiences with delegates from Scotland and 45 other countries.

Susan Douglas, British Council’s Senior Adviser, Schools Team, presented during a round table discussion on ‘Teacher Education through Collaboration: International Perspectives’, with Lucy Young, Head of Education, British Council Scotland, who chaired the session.

Below Another Sky: New Art Acquisitions

The British Council has acquired Below another sky; over 70 print works by 20 artists for its collection. Curated by Alexia Holt on behalf of the Scottish Print Network, with support from Creative Scotland, the project saw 10 Scottish artists and 10 Commonwealth artists undertaking research residencies during 2013 and 2014. Exhibited in Glasgow in 2014 at the time of the Commonwealth Games, and as part of the Glasgow

2014 programme, the work has since been shown across Scotland and will now become part of the British Council’s International Touring programme. By touring the exhibition, British Council hope to continue the international exchanges started by and embodied in the Below another sky project.

Prints acquired by the British Council Collection include those by Turner Prize nominees Jim Lambie (2005), David Shrigley (2013), and Janice Kerbel (2015). A taster of Below another sky is on display at the British Council offices in Spring Gardens, London until 2 November 2015.

Coinciding with the exhibition in London, British Council has supported Annis Fitzhugh, the Director of Dundee Contemporary Arts Print Studio to present a paper “Means of Exchange” at the Impact 9 International Printmaking Conference in Hangzhou, China (22-26 September 2015). Anni’s paper explores the works of four Below another sky residents (Julia Dault, Emily Floyd, Robert Orchardson and David Shrigley) from a printer’s point of view.

Alexia Holt, Curator of Below another sky will also give a public talk at Spring Gardens on Friday 9 October 2015 at 6:30pm focusing on the unique role the five print studios involved in the project play in the support, development and promotion of contemporary visual arts in Scotland. This talk will reflect upon the value of collaboration and the importance of research residencies and international exchange to the development of new work.

To reserve a space please email visual.arts@britishcouncil.org

BRITISH COUNCIL SCOTLAND NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2015

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© British Council 2015 The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.

RITISH COUNCIL SCOTLAND ATEE DELEGATION: MS SAADIA BASHIR (PAKISTAN), MS SHAMA SAEED (PAKISTAN), MR HASSAN SATTAR (PAKISTAN), JEAN BAPTISTE HABANABASHAKA (RWANDA), MR PETER OBWOGO (KENYA), PROF. ELIJAH I. OMWENGA (KENYA), MR MOSES BOKOSI (MALAWI) © PETER OBWOGOMADE INSTRUMENT AT CURRENT IN CHINA © SOPHIA HAO

ATEE 40th Annual Conference: Glasgow

JIM LAMBIE, SUN VISOR, SPRAY PAINT AND DIGITAL PIGMENT PRINT (2014), PRODUCED WITH GLASGOW PRINT STUDIO. © JIM LAMBIE

ARTS NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2006

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The 27th Annual EAIE ConferenceEurope’s largest international higher education conference with over 5,000 participants from 90 countries took place in Glasgow, Scotland on 15-18 September 2015. This innovative, cutting-edge conference included a session on ‘Internationalising the employability agenda: student entrepreneurship and global skills’ chaired by Lloyd Anderson, British Council Scotland Director. The session explored how, drawing on experiences from Scotland and Brazil, universities can connect with businesses to provide students with international work opportunities, where they can develop entrepreneurial skills.

adLIB! is a brand new international programme based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that brings together prominent speakers from different art disciplines including leaders, professionals, students, entrepreneurs and producers for an interactive experience. The first edition took place at Teatro Picadero from 19-20 October 2015.

The programme combines art, technology and the latest trends and aims to provide opportunities for attendees and participants to make meaningful connections, conversations, and discussions which may lead to collaborative outcomes.

DAY 1: WORKSHOP

Participants were given group exercises where they learned how to develop solutions to various challenges. They were required to manage tasks, resources, and overcome conflicts without losing sight of the ultimate goal.

DAY 1: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

International speakers, many leaders in their fields, shared their inspiring experiences with the audience. Topics covered included production, creativity, innovation, technology, strategy and trends.International speakers:Kath Mainland (Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society)Mark Miller (Tate Gallery) Sebastian Meza (Sonar/ Lollapalooza)

Local speakers:Sebastián Valdivia (TRImarchi)Alfonso Amat (Iamat)Sol Tossounian (FWTV)

Artist:Milo Locket

Approximately 200 participants were selected through an application process to attend the event. The audience included students and arts professionals at all stages of their career. For the ones who were unable to join the event, you can still be part of the abLIB! community by downloading the app on iTunes for free. The talks are also available online at FWTV.

BRITISH COUNCIL SCOTLAND NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2015

www.scotland.britishcouncil.org

© British Council 2015 The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.

Adlib!

JOSE FREIRE JUNIOR, SAO PAULO STATE UNIVERSITY - UNESP, BRAZIL; DAVID LOTT, UNIVERSITIES SCOTLAND, UK; LLOYD ANDERSON, BRITISH COUNCIL SCOTLAND. © BRITISH COUNCIL SCOTLAND

© ADLIB!

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Scottish Learning Festival 2015The Scottish Learning Festival took place in Glasgow from 23-24 September 2015. As usual British Council Scotland had a stand in the exhibition space, but we also delivered two sessions as a part of this year’s programme. Lucy Young, Head of Education, British Council Scotland, chaired a panel session: ‘Embedding international education in school: a whole school approach to raising attainment’. Speakers from Education Scotland, Glasgow City Council and Queen Anne High shared their experiences on how schools can successfully embed international education. Language Assistants team also presented on how ‘Modern Language Assistants can contribute to Developing Global Citizens for a Multilingual World’.

On the night of 30 September 2015, The Turner Prize was launched at Tramway, Glasgow. This is the first time The Turner Prize has been exhibited in Scotland. British Council are organising an international delegation of curators to visit the exhibition in Glasgow, the British Art Show in Leeds, and the Below another sky collection in London.

BRITISH COUNCIL SCOTLAND NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2015

www.scotland.britishcouncil.org

© British Council 2015 The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.

The Turner Prize

BRITISH COUNCIL STAND C90 AT SCOTTISH LEARNING FESTIVAL 2015 © BRITISH COUNCIL SCOTLAND