From Monday the 25th to Wednesday the 27th of February, the Scottish Arts
Council are
presiding over Creative Nation, a cultural summit promising "exploration,
discussion and
debate of pertinent issues in the context of the development of Creative
Scotland."
We are disappointed to find that, once again, the organisers of an arts event
boasting
cross-sectoral participation have set their booking fees far too high.
Attendance on all
three days will cost artists and freelancers £200 (£160 for early bookings last
year), fees
that do not not include travel, meals or accommodation.

These figures effectively exclude the vast majority of practitioners from the
event, the very
people responsible for the future of Scotland's culture and those who stand to
gain- or
lose- the most depending upon how Creative Scotland's emergence is handled.

As ever the SAU stands on the principle that the voice of artists must be heard
in arts
decision making. Our members need to know what is put forward at Creative Nation
and
as such will be sending a delegate from the Executive Committee on each day,
representing the 500+ SAU members. We think it is important that the
practitioner's
position is represented and that the organisers are held to account; if this
event does not
give participants the opportunity to directly influence the development of
Creative
Scotland then we'll be asking why.

Gauging reaction to the various key-note speakers, "break-out sessions" and
other
activities is essential as we will be posting a report on the event on the SAU
website at the
earliest opportunity. If there are any SAU members planning to attend any part
of the
event, please make yourselves known to the Executive Committee either by email
or in
person on the day and share your thoughts.