Voices for Scotland: ‘Indy would lead to Scottish arts boom'

It could be the incessant wind and rain; Brendan, Ciara, Dennis, flooding, falling trees, never seeing daylight and feeling like a resident of Unthank, Alasdair Gray’s dystopian metropolis.

It could be the Government; eugenics, Johnson, Cummings, Sabisky, Patel, points systems, austerity, Brexit, bedroom tax, DWP, Universal Credit, Sir Iain Duncan-Smith.

It could be all of this in a maelstrom of the modern age, leading many to think that everything is screwed.

“It is hard to find hope, but we need people who can imagine a way out of this nadir and art has a huge role to play.”

Out of the rain, drying off inside a cafe in the southside of Glasgow, Anna Hodgart has an intense belief that through the darkness in which we find ourselves, there is hope: “Art is important in how we campaign for independence and how we discover a new, positive and creative identity in an independent Scotland.”

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Anna, a producer and event organiser at National Theatre of Scotland and Camphill Gate, speaks passionately about the transformative power of art.

“A nondescript hall can become a new world when a band starts playing, a white space changes when you put a painting on a wall. It stops you, holds you and can make you see the world in a whole new way. Art is this curious thing that allows us to tell stories or think about something from a new perspective in a way an argument never would.”

In the same way, that art can give us a different perspective on the world around us, so too can disregard for presumptions and an engagement in conversation. It is through dialogue and finding common ground that we can move past old arguments and begin to think about what we need and want as a nation.

Anna tells us: “The conversations in the run-up to 2014 were all about ‘can we keep this, do we get that…’, but that’s all changed because there’s nothing left of the Union to save, everything is broken. This gives us the opportunity to make something better, something more worthwhile. We can’t sign up to someone else’s vision of our future, we need to create our own future.”

One way or another, the independence question will again be put to the public. We can’t delay talking about the country we want to be and must extend this conversation beyond the closed loops of existing support.

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To achieve this we can look at how others forge their own opportunities against the backdrop of grinding hardship.

Over the last decade, Anna has seen support structures for creatives pulled apart: “Unless you work in the industry, you don’t see the reality of life as an artist. Consistent work is a rare thing, funding is being cut, resources are being cut. There’s a mental health crisis waiting to happen. People are so tired. The strain and pressure is getting too much.

“We’re coming from a place of austerity, where no-one has any money. The welfare system and support infrastructure has been dissolved, people are fed up, but we need to find an energy to campaign for a better future, we need to imagine hope.”

“The act of creating something sends out a ripple of energy which transcends into society. I’ve seen collectives spring up that support each other creatively and financially because the work the artists want to make is too important to stay in a sketchbook or a draft on someone’s computer.

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“People are beginning to get to grips with the reality of the current situation and aren’t going to take it anymore. All the structures that were put in place in the past have gone, so things are going to change, we’re creating new structures.”

This organic and grassroots-led approach involves people coming together to take responsibility for their own future. It’s a demonstration of a regrouping, a recognition of a new reality and the discovery of a new hope.

In the endless tirade of bad news, society feels like a place discouraging of activity that can make change, that we are individuals with a little voice, isolated and without hope.

We need to be reminded that across our communities, towns, cities and our country, there are like-minded people, desperate for change. There are people like you, who care about the future of this country and not only want to see change happen but to make change happen.

Anna continues: “Artistic projects are rarely done in isolation, they build togetherness, solidarity and community. There are those who feel alone in the beginning, but in bringing people together something new happens.

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“Making artwork is a process which affirms a feeling of possibility and an ability to make a difference.”

Whilst we may feel isolated at times, there are those who seek to galvanise and bring us together. Organising people to take control of their own future is what the Voices for Scotland campaign aims to do, and there are examples where artists are doing the same, examples from which we can learn.

It is important to have these conversations about the community and country we want to become. It’s important that they happen in our communities and amongst our peer groups. It’s important that they happen among people with a range of viewpoints and a diversity of backgrounds.

It’s only in doing so that we can see things as others see them, coalesce and build support around the idea of creating a better, stronger, independent nation.

If we discover ourselves as an independent country we will find a new confidence and realise our position in the world. It’s as true for the nation as it is for the individual and our political and cultural life.

“Independence would give artists the confidence to develop and re-look at art in Scotland,” adds Anna. “It would force us to think about our position in the world and lead to a creative boom like we’ve never seen.

“It could be amazing, we just need to imagine and hope.”