North Highland Cultural Diary For December 2008

2nd December 2008

The Diary is written by Adrian Clark
Area Cultural Officer, Caithness, Sutherland and East Ross
Tel 01349 885114

SOME CULTURAL NEWS NORTH HIGHLANDS
NAIDHEACHDAN CULTARACH CEANN A TUATH NA GÀIDHEALTACHD
December 2008 An Dubhlachd 2008

EXHIBITIONS & VISUAL ARTS

St Fergus Gallery, Wick
6 December ~ 3 January (excluding Public Holidays)
China
American photojournalist Eve Arnold was one of the first western photographers to enter communist China. She made her visit in 1979, at a time when its government was opening up to the otside world, and the exhibition shows a remarkable set of 40 of photos from this trip.
The images are a candid look at the country and its people and range from militia training in Mongolia and rice gleaning in Hsishuang Panna, to performing artists and noodle making.

www.highland.gov.uk/stfergusgallery
M, T, Th 12 to 5.30pm, Fr 2 to 8pm, Sat 10.30am- 1pm

Swanson Gallery, Thurso
6 December ~ 3 January (excluding Public Holidays)
Wasps 2008
This exhibition shows the eclectic mix of work that is being produced by both Aberdeen Wasps studios, whose primary purpose is to support the careers of Scotland's visual artists and crafts makers by providing good quality affordable studios.
Set up in 1977, Wasps now has a 30 year track record of supporting the visual arts community. It has grown to become one of the UK's largest studio providers, supporting 560 artists each year at 16 locations from the Scottish Borders to the Shetland Islands.
Along with the partner charity, The Wasps Trust, Wasps strives to improve the working conditions for artists and arts organisations in Scotland. To date, Wasps has raised £15 million to invest in arts facilities and now own 7 buildings, ensuring the workspaces of some 300 artists across the country are good quality, affordable and secure for the long term.
www.highland.gov.uk/swansongallery
M, T, W - 1 to 5pm, Fr - 1 to 8pm, Sat - 10am to 1pm

Small is Beautiful - - - - at No 12 Castle St, Thurso

The intricate miniature prints by Kathleen Lindsey are indeed beautiful examples of the art of wood engraving. They are to be found are in an unusual venue - her sister's home in Thurso, during the months of November and December.
This Exhibition of Limited Edition Prints can be seen at No 12 Castle Street between the hours of 1- 5pm, on the following dates:
Fri 28 Nov, Sat 29 Nov, Sun 30 Nov Fri 5 Dec, Sat 6 Dec, Sun 7 Dec Fri 12 Sec, and Sat 13 Dec, Sun 14. However private viewings are available by appointment, tel 01848 894875.

Kathleen is a Member of the Society of Wood Engravers and has a degree in Fine Art. She uses the medium of wood engraving to interpret and record the special places and wildlife of the Highlands and Islands. If you are a lover of the Highlands of Scotland you will be moved by her inspirational work. This is a Show not to be missed that truly epitomises "Small is Beautiful."

Kathleen's work is currently showing in Scotland in the Highland Print Makers Exhibition, and touring England in the Society of Wood Engravers' Annual Show.

timespan Gallery, Helmsdale
Iron Stars

Brand new light installation for Helmsdale's Christmas light garden.
The work will be unveiled 06 December at the official lighting of the garden.
Film Wednesday
Every Wednesday, the young people of Sutherland aged between 12 and 16 are invited to attend film showings in Timespan's mini cinema. Admission free, free drinks, pop corn 60p.
Saturday 6th December: Later Sutherland emigrations
December - Continuation of Oral history project
http://www.timespan.org.uk/
Timespan is supported by The Highland Council

North Lands Creative Glass
http://www.northlandsglass.com/

Browns Gallery, Tain

Northern Lights
An Exhibition of contemporary glass in association with Northlands Creative Glass
21 Nov to early 1009
Mon - Sat 10am to 5.30pm (other times on request)
01862 893884

Caithness Broch Centre ~ Ionad Bhroch Ghallaibh
Work has just commenced on transforming the old Northlands Viking Centre at Auckengill into an interpretative centre about the people and the brochs. It is due to open in the spring.
Collaboration between Caithness Archaeological Trust and Highland Council
Supported by HIE, Heritage Lottery Fund, Highland 2007, Highland Council

Independent Museums supported by The Highland Council

Dunbeath Heritage
http://www.dunbeath-heritage.org.uk

Historylinks, Dornoch
http://www.historylinks.org.uk

Tain Museum/ Tain Through Time
http://www.tainmuseum.org.uk

Tarbat Discovery Centre
http://www.tarbat-discovery.co.uk

Strathnaver Museum
http://www.strathnavermuseum.org.uk

Ferrycroft Visitor Centre
Closed for the season. However the Ord Hill mobile phone audio tour continues. Phone 01549 488082 (Eng); 488083 (Gaelic). (Local rates apply)

Writers' Workshop

29th November we are putting on a writers' workshop with Janet MacInnes published writer and storyteller par excellence, at Balintraid House near Invergordon.

10 am - 4pm £45 / 40 conc
teas / coffees (and biscuits!) bring a packed lunch

Booking essential (option to order food in)

Accommodation (self-catering) available from £14pppn.

More information & booking on 01349 854446 / 07917710279 balintraid.house[AT]virgin.net www.balintraidhouse.co.uk

4-6 December
www.cromartyfilmfestival.org

SCOTIA REVIEW
at Tempest Surf Café, Thurso Harbour
Wed. 3rd December [AT] 7.30pm - FREE

WRITERS READING
Come and listen to some of our work. Better still -
Bring some of your own & read it in good company
over a coffee or glass of wine. [BYOB]
Tel. 0791 8171 347

editor[AT]scotiareview.org www.scotiareview.org

Fèis air an Oir
Naidheachd! Newsletter Oct 2008

Saturday 6th December 10am -1pm

Don't miss the final Fèis of the year with surprise special guest!!

Feis workshop in Bettyhill School with tutors. (as above)

Come along and try a new instrument or learn some new tunes on an instrument you already play! Children £3 Adults £5

The Alberts V

Short Films from the Highlands
Book Early Stay Late
Sat 6 Dec
Arts in Motion
Evanton Industrial Estate
Submissions £20; tickets £10
www.artsinmotion.co.uk

LOCAL PROMOTERS
Assisted by The Highland Council

Lyth Arts Centre www.lytharts.org.uk
Tue 2nd December 6.30.pm Midgie Nation 2: Winter
An enchanting family show for children of all ages. Two amusing characters tell us all about where midgies go in winter. http://www.eden-court.co.uk/brochures/edenguide-sept08.pdf

www.StrathpefferPavilion.org

Thurso Players presents
Hansel and Gretel
By Michael Buchanan-Smart
At Thurso High School
10 - 13 December at 7.30pm and Sat 13 matinee at 2pm
Tickets £7/5 from MacBeath's Jewellers, Traill Street, Thurso

Wick Players Christmas Production
"Widows' Paradise" by Sam Cree
Directed by Drew MacLeod & Claire Sturrock
Friday 12th Dec, Saturday 13th Dec and Monday 15th Dec
Assembly Rooms, Wick
A fun filled comedy. - Set in a caravan, five ladies arrive to spend the weekend away for their men. However they discover they are in the wrong caravan when a group of anglers return for a fishing expedition!

Alness Really Marvellous Entertainers present
'Robin Hood ~ Men in Tights'
Alness Academy 4, 5, 6 December ~ 7pm

Invergordon Academy presents
ANNIE jr
8 - 10 Dec, 7.30pm

SOLSTICE FAYRE
SUNDAY 21st DECEMBER
COME ALONG AND JOIN IN WITH A RANGE OF FESTIVE ACTIVITIES
ON THE SHORTEST DAY!

2 - 3pm, Community Wing [AT] Milton Primary
'The Story of Father Christmas' - a puppet show by Zenwing Puppets, Magical woodland creatures take care of an abandoned baby.
They help him discover his life's work - to become Father Christmas!

3 - 6.30pm ...in and around the log-buildings in Milton Community Woodland
Celebrate the shortest day and get ready for Christmas, with card making, hyacinth bowls, music, log splitting & cross cut sawing and of course hot chocolate, mince pies and soup!

UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN
Dunbeath Heritage Centre - WEDNESDAY - 7.30pm
(Sponsored by Dunbeath Preservation Trust)

15 April 2009 DOWSING IN ARCHAEOLOGY
Captain Peter Donaldson
Details from Meg Sinclair - Dunbeath Heritage Centre - 01593 7312233

Community Room, Golspie High School - WEDNESDAY - 8.00pm

25 February 2009 CYCLING ACROSS TIBET: ALTITUDE WITH ATTITUDE
Gordon Casely

Details from: Lawrence Jamieson - Community Learning - 01408 633500

High School, Kinlochbervie - WEDNESDAY - 7.30pm

25 March 2009 EMIGRANT SCOTS Dr Marjory Harper

Details from:Michael Otter - 01971 521729

STRATHY
Strathy Hall - 8.00pm
(In association with Strathy and Armadale Local Studies Group)

Wednesday
11 March 2009
ARCHAEOLOGY RECONSTRUCTION IN THE NORTH
Paul Humphreys
Details from: Robert Mackay - 01641 541219

Neil Gunn Writing Competition Homecoming Scotland 2009
This biennial competition is organised by The Highland Council and the Neil Gunn Trust; this is the tenth competition.
Purpose of competition
To celebrate the contribution of Neil Gunn to our literary heritage by encouraging writing about the contemporary world and the place of individuals in it.
2009 Theme: ...'Living with One Another '...
This theme has been drawn from the following quote and recognises the fact that this tenth competition is taking place in the same year as Homecoming Scotland 2009.
"For at the end of the day, what's all the bother about? Simply about human relations, about how we are to live one with another on the old earth. That's all, ultimately. To understand one another, and to understand what we can about the earth, and in the process gather some peace of mind and, with luck, a little delight." The Serpent, Neil M Gunn
How to enter
There are 4 separate sections to the Neil Gunn Writing Competition. The adult sections are open to all writers, the secondary and primary sections are open to pupils at Highland schools and to schools abroad with links to Highland schools.
Adult Prose 1st prize £500, 2nd prize £250, 3rd prize £100
Adult Poetry 1st prize £500, 2nd prize £250, 3rd prize £100
Secondary (S3-6) 1st prize £100, 2nd prize £60, 3rd prize £40
Primary (P5-7) 1st prize £50, 2nd prize £30, 3rd prize £20

One entrant will be judged the overall winner and awarded a residential week at Moniack Mhor Writers' Centre, which is situated near Inverness.
Further details and rules of entry are available by downloading the relevant entry form.
Entry forms:
Adult (PDF) Secondary schools (S3-S6) (PDF) Primary schools (P5-P7) (PDF)
Please send entries in an envelope clearly marked "Neil Gunn Writing Competition" to:
Highland Libraries, Community Learning and Leisure, Education Centre, Castle Street, Dingwall, IV15 9HU
Closing dates
Secondary schools - 19 December 2008
Primary schools and Adults - 14 March 2009
Judging
The principal judge for the 2009 competition is the award winning Scottish author James Robertson. Each section of the competition has two judges.
The award ceremony will take place at the Town House in Inverness on Thursday 25th June 2009.
Sponsors
The Highland Council and the Neil Gunn Trust gratefully acknowledge the following sponsors:
The Royal Bank of Scotland for sponsoring the junior prizes
HI-Arts for sponsoring the overall winner's prize of a residential week at Moniack Mhor

OPPORTUNITIES
The Young Quality Scot Award scheme recognises and rewards the efforts of young people to improve the quality of life in their communities.

The aim is to ensure that the contribution young people make to their communities is recognised and rewarded. Up to twenty recipients are chosen and will have the opportunity to attend a local training event (on 12th and 13th February 2008) designed to develop their communication skills and leadership qualities.

Following local training on, all award winners will be invited to a national recognition event, hosted this year by Aberdeenshire Council, to be held on 5th and 6th March 2008. At this event all award winners will receive a certificate that recognises their voluntary achievements. Previous winners, we know, have used this certificate to support their CVs and at job interviews.

The programme is open to all young people aged between 16 and 19 years of age, who are personally, actively involved in trying to make a difference in their community - on their own initiative, with friends or through a club or other organisation. This work should still be ongoing at the time of application. We are particularly keen to recognise the achievements of young people who have had to overcome personal challenges/difficulties to be involved.

Please can I ask you to consider if you are able to nominate a young person for the Young Quality Scot Awards. Further details are attached. Please feel free to pass on to your staff teams.

The following link takes you to information on last years winners. http://www.highland.gov.uk/yourcouncil/news/newsreleases/2008/March/2008-03-20-01.htm

The closing date for nominations is Friday 5th December. Please ensure that those nominated are aware of the dates for local and national events mentioned above.

A chance for young writers (and mature ones, too!)
We are inviting all age groups to submit short stories in English or Gaelic of up to 1500 words before 21st February 2009. The stories must incorporate at least one of the artefacts that were found on the battlefield more than 250 years after the fateful battle took place on Culloden Moor.

The winners will be invited to read their work at Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre on the afternoon of the annual memorial service on 18th April 2009. The winning submissions will also be published on our website.

Do you want to submit a story?
There are three categories in both English and Gaelic:
Under 14
14 - 18
Over 18

Stories should be clearly marked with their word count and age category, and sent by post to

Nicole Deufel, Learning Manager
Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre
Culloden Moor
Inverness IV2 5Eu

Stories of up to 1500 words can be submitted before 21st February 2009 in either Gaelic or English (only one submission per contributor).

Please visit our website on http://www.nts.org.uk/Culloden/Learning/competition.php for more information or contact me directly.

Highland 2007 Legacy Fund
Annual Budget £0.5m

There were around 200 applications in total (Area projects and Pan Highland projects); Value around £2.5m

Caithness, Sutherland and East Ross
42 Applications = £597k applied for; 16 Awarded = £144.5
In addition 11 Pan Highland Projects have been awarded funding, many of which will involve the North Area

Full list available after ECS Committee on 13 November

Next Deadline 6 February which may forward commit funding from following financial year
Advice: 01349 885114

Highland Leader Fund
Shadow Round closes 8 Feb
www.highlandleader.com
The Highland LEADER Programme will cover all of the Highland Council area, except for the settlement development area of Inverness (as detailed in the local plan) and the part of the Highland Council area within the Cairngorms National Park.
The aim of the Highland LEADER Programme is:
'To enable people in the Highlands to realise their ambitions to live in communities where they can fulfil their personal, social and economic potential'
At its meeting on 29th October 2008, the Strategic LAG (Local Action Group) decided that it would open the programme for a shadow round of applications. The shadow round is open to applications which are time critical and have ALL match funding confirmed. Shadow round applications will be accepted up until 8th December 2008 with approvals in late January 2009.
The programme will be formally open for all other applications as of 11th December 2008.

UP TO £5,000 AVAILABLE FOR WOMEN'S GROUPS
Do you run a project which supports and empowers women aged over 16? The Women's Fund for Scotland has been given £110,000 by the Scottish Government to distribute awards of up to £5,000 to women's groups in 2008/09.

Over the past six years, the Women's Fund for Scotland has awarded over £850,000 in grants to 400 community projects. Last year Wallyford Community Centre received a grant of £960 towards the cost of adult education class aimed at local women. Home Start Perth also received a grant. They were awarded £2,880 to provide support, friendship, and practical help to young mums.

To be eligible to apply, groups must be constituted, and have an annual income of less than £250,000. Grants are available for projects which support and empower women, and to fund organisations which are run predominantly by and for women. There is also funding available for events to celebrate International Women's Day on 8th March 2009.

The deadline for all applications is 12 December 2008. If you would like to apply, please visit the Scottish Community Foundation's website www.scottishcf.org/grantsforwomen for more information. Applications can be made using the Scottish Community Foundation's small grant (up to £1,000) and main grant (£1,000 to £5,000) application forms. Alternatively, please contact Annabel Bath for advice and support on 0131 524 0306 or Annabel[AT]scottishcf.org.

Scottish Arts Council - funding deadlines
The Scottish Arts Council are currently reviewing the performing arts programming fund and anticipate being able to invite applications for a deadline in January 2009 for projects taking place after 1 April 2009. Details of the fund and how to apply for it will be published in our guidelines and our website as soon as they are available. (www.scottisharts.org.uk)

GRANT SEARCH
The Highland Council has taken out a subscription to a grant search facility (Grantnet) for a year
This allows anyone to undertake a search if they are looking for funds
It is a free service
All you need to do is register (it is very easy!)
And you can then search for funds
Anyone can register including community groups, schools, small businesses etc
Please encourage as many people as possible to register and use the service
As the level of usage may well determine whether or not the council thinks this is a useful facility to provide in future
The Grantnet link can be accessed via this webpage

http://www.highland.gov.uk/learninghere/grantsandallowances/

The Peter de Haan Charitable Trust
Supports Arts Projects esp. with regard to young people
http://www.pdhct.org.uk/

As you may be aware Regional Screen Scotland is the new independent organisation set up to support the development of cinema provision in rural and non-urban areas around Scotland. It is currently being set up by Hi Arts at the request of Scottish Screen.

Ron Inglis has been appointed the director of RSS and will commence work from the 1st of October. He will initially be based in Inverness on roninglis[AT]regionalscreenscotland.org www.regionalscreenscotland.org

DIGITAL PROJECTION EQUIPMENT GRANTS
One of the functions of Regional Screen Scotland is supporting film clubs, community groups, and other bodies seeking to present a planned annual programme of DVD screenings. I have enclosed details of a funding programme of small grants of up to £5,000 which are available on a rolling basis up until the 28th February 2009.

I would be very grateful if you could circulate these details to groups that you think might be interested in your area.

List your events at
www.homecomingscotland.com

Free Listings
www.hi-arts.co.uk
www.wherecanwego.com

This is the 12th of an occasional Cultural Diary for North Highlands (Caithness, Sutherland, East Ross). It will mainly cover Highland Council activities but will also feature significant other events, activities and opportunities.

Please email information to adrian.clark[AT]highland.gov.uk

Area Cultural Officer, (Caithness, Sutherland & E Ross)
Education, Culture & Sport, The Highland Council
Community Learning Office, Ardross Road, Alness IV17 0QA
(01349) 885114