06 October 2009
Small Islands - Challenges and opportunities in the 21st Century
This year’s Council for Culture conference will be held on Saturday 28 November at Hautlieu School and will explore the impact of culture on small islands.
Keynote speakers for the event are Glenys Hughes, director of the internationally-acclaimed St Magnus Festival in Orkney and Stephen Harrison MBE, former director of Manx National Heritage and now the Isle of Man government’s adviser on cultural affairs.
Announcing this year’s conference, Deputy Anne Dupré, Assistant Minister for Education, Sport and Culture, said that she hoped the event would appeal to a wide range of interests in the Island:
"We want this conference to be inclusive and to appeal to all those who have an interest in the arts and heritage. It is an opportunity to come together to address some of the challenges which we face, stimulated by examples of approaches in other small islands.
"The conference covers topics from the impact that the arts can make to the visitor economy, to the importance of encouraging local arts and craftspeople. It also looks at the contribution that heritage can make to a sense of identity and individuality in the modern world.
"We want to generate discussion and thinking which will help inform the development of strategic policy to build upon the cultural strategy."
Following the example of the first conference in 2008, this year’s event will again bring together heritage and arts interests with conference topics chosen to illustrate some of the ways in which islands have used culture to develop communities which are, by their nature, separated physically from larger landlocked places.
In Orkney the St Magnus Festival was founded in 1977 by composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Since then it has attracted some of the world’s greatest musicians, as well as developing a strong community base with workshops and educational events that have increased cultural provision for residents. Festival director Glenys Hughes will discuss the festival’s impact, exploring a unique recipe for success which has put a community of 19,000 people living on 17 different islands on the international festival map, drawing coverage from the national press and visitors from across Europe .
A larger island to see the benefit of cultural expansion is the Isle of Man. Heritage expert Stephen Harrison will be looking at the way in which, through public consultation and community support, the museum service has helped generate a sense of pride and confidence in the ‘Manx nation’. Exploring the concept of the eco-museum – locating the museum service not simply in museum buildings but in landscape, sites and monuments – Manx National Heritage has succeeded in raising the importance of heritage on the island.
In addition to the 2 keynote addresses, there will be presentations introducing a new strategic approach to public art as an expression of community identity in Jersey, and the assessing the impact of the new arts commission in Guernsey where new developments in the visual arts have seen artists of international stature visiting the bailiwick.
There will also be participative slots that will encourage contributions from those attending the conference which it is hoped will appeal to a wide range of interests and age groups. The detailed programme will be published at the beginning of November.
Admission to the event is free but participants must register to reserve a place by emailing r.mcloughlin@gov.je or by telephoning 449285.
gov.je