Changin Scotland - Scotland’s alternative festival of ideas, culture and politics - 1st - 3rd November 2013 - Newbattle Abbey College

Changin Scotland

Scotland’s alternative festival of ideas, culture and politics

Friday 1st November - Sunday 3rd November 2013 

    Newbattle Abbey College, by Dalkeith

This November Gerry Hassan and Jean Urquhart are at Newbattle Abbey College just South of Edinburgh for a weekend on how to do social change, activism and campaigning in a different way!

This weekend will be a departure in feel, style and setting – and is facilitated and led by Stephen Duncombe and Steve Lambert of the Centre for Artistic Activism who are based at New York University.

This will be a participatory weekend bringing together community politics with cultural and civic engagement. It will look at how to be a creative kind of activist, build alliances, and beyond tactics and strategy, start to envision a different kind of politics and world!

We cannot promise to change the world in a single weekend but we can make a start! The weekend will address how cultural activists and practitioners can develop a better political intelligence, and political campaigners nurture a more informed cultural awareness, and the two influence and cross-fertilise each other.

This weekend will be stimulating, demanding and challenging, enjoyable and fun. We ask that people come rested, open minded and willing to collaborate with others.

Weekend Details:

The weekend runs from Friday 1^st starting with a meal at 6.30pm, all day Saturday and Sunday concluding 4.00pm. Extra attractions include an intimate gig with acclaimed folksinger Karine Polwart on Saturday night.

Tickets for the weekend are £60 (accommodation and food extra). Please contact for booking: Newbattle Abbey College Reception: 0131 6631921.

What previous participants say about the Centre for Artistic Activism:

‘It’s magical. Recalibrating reality.’ ‘It made me rethink my politics and challenge people who say, “I am not political”’. ‘Culture is everywhere. We all do it and this helped me embrace how to do a more creative politics’.

What they say about Changin Scotland: ‘The alternative Davos’ National Collective

We have a limited number of places so book early!
Next Changin Scotland dates: March 28-30 at The Ceilidh Place, Ullapool

Changin Scotland : A weekend of politics, culture and ideas …. And fun!

Friday November 4th-Sunday November 6th
The Ceilidh Place, Ullapool

Friday November 4th
8.15pm Welcome
Gerry Hassan and Jean Urquhart

The Future of Scotland: The Union and Independence
Elaine C. Smith, actress and campaigner and Alan Cochrane, Daily Telegraph

10.00pm Live Music in the Bar from Babelfish

Saturday November 5th
10.15-11.30am Why did the SNP win?
David Torrance, author, ‘Salmond: Against All Odds’ and Ewan Crawford, former SNP Adviser

11.45-1.00pm A Decade of the Scottish Parliament and its Future
Robert Brown, former Lib Dem MSP and minister

1.00-2.15pm Lunch

2.15-3.30pm Being Second Generation Irish in Modern Scotland
Phil Mac Giolla Bhain, journalist and campaigner, author of ‘A Rebel Journalist’

3.45-5.00pm After ‘The Scheme’ and ‘NEDS’: How Do We Portray Poverty?
Nick Higgins, filmmaker with Morag Gillespie, Glasgow Caledonian University and Peter Mackie Burns, filmmaker

8.30-10.00pm Classic Films of Modern Scotland
Allan Hunter, Co-director of Glasgow Film Festival introduces the second in his series of recent Scottish films

Sunday November 6th
10.30-11.30am The Rise and Fall of the Scottish Left: Life After Tommy Sheridan
Gregor Gall, author, ‘Tommy Sheridan: A Political Biography’

11.30-1.00pm The State of the Scottish Media
Douglas Fraser, BBC Scotland, Kirk Torrance, SNP social media adviser and Joyce Macmillan, freelance journalism

Places are limited! So book early to avoid disappointment!
A weekend ticket £60 Individual sessions £8

To book tickets please phone: The Ceilidh Place Reception 01854-612103
Accomodation available from £25 per person per nite

Exhibition making as Activism – Whose Politics?

Taking place during the Frieze Art Fair, Frieze Talks was a daily programme of keynote lectures, panel debates and discussions presented by Frieze Foundation and programmed by the editors of frieze magazine.

Exhibition making as Activism – Whose Politics?

12pm, Sunday 17 October

A myriad of approaches are taken by artists, writers and curators whose work responds to complex social issues and political situations. To what extent do the political and personal intersect? Can art be effective activism and vice versa?

* Jeremy Deller (Artist, UK)
* Galit Eilat (Writer, Curator and Founding Director of The Israeli Center for Digital Art, Holon, Israel)
* Emily Roysdon (Artist and Writer, USA)
* Chair: Negar Azimi (Senior Editor, Bidoun magazine)

The talks can be listened to or downloaded from the following website:

http://www.friezefoundation.org/talks/

UK Immigration Policy alienates visiting academics and students

Tara Beall alerted AHM to the article, 'Points-based visa system alienates visitors to UK' (see link) in the Times.

Tara adds that "In addition to the serious concerns raised in the article regarding the difficulty that visiting academics and artists now face when attending conferences or giving lectures in the UK, there is a second and equally important problem with the new points-based visa system, which is quietly devastating the creative landscape of Glasgow: These visas are now awarded based almost solely on income. (For a Tier 1 Visa, applicants with Masters Degrees must be earning a minimum of between £20-25,000 annually). As you will all be aware, this is particularly difficult for recent graduates from most creative disciplines.

As a result, many recent GSA graduates have already been forced to leave Glasgow because they do not meet these new requirements. We can be assured this trend will continue unless the points-based visa system is reviewed."

Manifesto Club have launched a new campaign. You can do a number of things to help the campaign:

* Forward the link to The Times letter to your local MP, and any other MPs or Lords whom you have contact with, and tell them that you support the call to review the visa regulations and the points-based system.
* Visit the campaign page, they have a range of suggestions for further action: http://www.manifestoclub.com/visitingartists