A Brief History
Gaelic Arts Development
During the mid 1980’s a more diverse approach was taken to economic, social and cultural development, as different aspects came to be recognised at the national level, as important parts of Scotland’s life and culture. New organisations, like Comunn na Gàidhlig, were formed in support of this more decentralised approach. Within the arts sector, the work commissioned by the Scottish Arts Council (SAC) in 1986, Gaelic Arts: A Way Ahead, led to new recognition of the importance of the Gaelic arts within the national perspective and Pròiseact nan Ealan (PNE) was established a year later. Out of this recognition grew confidence and development, with individuals and groups providing support for creative development across the artforms. Many of these support organisations have grown and developed but their sustainability has often been under threat with many reliant on year by year funding awards from a variety of agencies or trusts and much of their energy expended on managing their survival.
In 2001, the Gaelic Arts Strategic Development Group (GASD) was set up to debate Gaelic arts issues and provide a response to the Scottish Executive’s initial Gaelic Taskforce Review and the ongoing discussion of the National Cultural Strategy. The GASD group comprises representatives of Pròiseact nan Ealan (PNE), Fèisean nan Gàidheal, TOSG, Comhairle nan Leabhraichean, An Comunn Gàidhealach and Seirbheis nam Meadhanan Gàidhlig (formerly Comataidh Craolaidh Gàidhlig), the latter being one of the most significant funders of Gaelic arts activity, since their inception in 1992.
This initial period of consultation culminated in the report of the Ministerial Advisory Group on Gaelic (MAGOG) in May 2002, that led to the establishment of Bòrd na Gàidhlig in early 2003. GASD also worked closely with the Scottish Arts Council (SAC) during the consultation process that helped shape the SAC Gaelic Arts Policy, published in November 2003. GASD has become an excellent example of real collaboration, providing a collective voice for the Gaelic arts community. It brings the main organisations connected with Gaelic arts together in a dynamic group without the trappings of unnecessary bureaucracy. In doing this it provides the collective strategic viewpoint to complement the specialist submissions of its members.
The benefit of this effective working together of organisations involved in different spheres of Gaelic arts has been much wider than the provision of coordinated responses to various public consultations. The group has enabled the sector to work internally and with others and identify priorities and opportunities for Gaelic arts as well as gaps in the existing infrastructure and support – in essence to take the strategic overview that its name implies. In order to inform this strategic approach, research was undertaken in January 2003 to chart the investment in Gaelic arts since 1986.
In November 2003 in recognition of the value of this effective collaboration, it was agreed by a widely representative group of those involved in the Gaelic arts, that the achievements of GASD to date should be endorsed and that GASD be mandated to continue in this important role.
