(Image: PA)
Nicola Sturgeon has warned that Scottish culture is being held back by a “cringe factor,” excessive bureaucracy and a reluctance to take risks.
The former First Minister suggested the country was saddled with a sense of embarrassment about celebrating Scottish history and heritage.
She suggested there was more understanding of the value of modern Scottish culture overseas than in her own country.
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And she claimed Scotland is lagging well behind other countries, including Ireland, when it comes to international promotion.
Ms Sturgeon was speaking at a Scottish Storytelling Festival event in Edinburgh staged to mark 20 years of the National Theatre of Scotland.
Nicola Sturgeon has raised concerns that Scottish culture is being held back by a 'cringe factor', excessive red tape and a reluctance to take risks. (Image: PA Jane Barlow)
Ms Sturgeon highlighted concerns that there was an “inferiority complex” among working-class people about the arts in Scotland.
She also suggested there was “a sort of middle-class sneering” about the value of Scottish crime fiction and branded BBC Scotland’s decision to cancel River City, which was axed in August after a 24-year run, as an "absolute scandal".
The former First Minister raised concerns about the “weight of bureaucracy” being placed on artists and organisations trying to seek public funding.
She also raised concerns about decision-making becoming more “risk averse” due to a fear of being “cancelled or absolutely crucified on the front pages of every newspaper and on social media.”
Ms Sturgeon, who was interviewed by theatre critic Joyce McMillan at the event, was asked about the role of culture in representing Scotland overseas and the “temptation” to play up to Scottish “stereotypes”.
Ms Sturgeon said: “The richness and depth of Scottish culture is one of the biggest assets any politician seeking to promote Scotland internationally will ever have.
“I don't think we should ever shy away from using that to our full advantage.
“But when you travel to America or China, often the kind of entry point for people's understanding of Scotland is the more traditional parts of our national character.
“People love whisky, tartan and all of that. There can sometimes be a bit of a cringe factor on the part of you know Scottish people about that and we are a little bit embarrassed about it.
“I don't think we should be, because if that's what makes people engage with Scotland, that gives a huge opportunity to tell them more about modern Scotland.
“There is a lot about modern Scotland and modern Scottish culture that is much more understood and appreciated globally than we perhaps appreciate here.
“I think we underestimate the extent to which Scottish culture is enjoyed, appreciated, and understood.
“If it takes the tartan, the haggis and the whisky to get people into that I don't think that's something we should be overly bothered about.”
“We are better than we used to be at promoting the country globally, but I still don't think we're anywhere near as good as many other countries. Ireland does it way better than we do, so there is still a lot for us to learn.
“I'm a great believer that politicians and government ministers have got a particular role to play in that, but often it is best done when it's not overtly political and it is about actually using the sheer diversity of the culture of the country to do that.”
The NTS explored the impact of groundbreaking plays including The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil, by John McGrath, The Slab Boys by John Byrne, Black Watch by Gregory Burke and The James Plays series by Rona Munro.
Ms Sturgeon was asked about concerns that arts organisations are under increasing pressure to demonstrate wide-ranging benefits from their work.
She said: “As somebody who was part of a system and therefore probably played a part in doing that, maybe I can see that more clearly now.
“There always has to be thought and conditionality with the use of public money to make sure it is getting the biggest impact.
“But that can go too far to become a tick-box exercise and put such a weight of bureaucracy on organisations or artistic endeavours that it kind of stifles art. I do see that danger.
“I think there is maybe a need just to be a bit more confident in art and just allow it to flourish.
“That is not to say there shouldn't be any accountability for the use of public money. Of course there should be, but there should perhaps be a little bit of the lifting of that.”
Ms McMillan suggested it was “crazy” that people were being asked to describe the impact of new work before it had been performed.
Ms Sturgeon said one of the “big joys” in her life was that she no longer had to answer for funding decisions, including those made by Creative Scotland, the Scottish Government’s arts agency.
However, she added: “I am about to say something in defence of Creative Scotland.
“A lot of bureaucracy is probably imposed on it by government to some extent, but I do think it is the case that Creative Scotland allows art to flourish, maybe not as much as we think it should or could.
“But that we also live in a media culture today that I think, makes people very risk averse, and not just in arts and culture.
“The consequence for getting something wrong today is that you get cancelled or you get absolutely crucified on the front pages of every newspaper and social media.
“There is something I think about funding bodies and the caution that maybe characterises them being reflective of that sort of society that we are currently living in.”
Ms Sturgeon was asked about her views on “snobbishness in Scotland” by an audience member who suggested Scottish crime writing, and TV shows like Taggart and River City were “looked down on.”
“I think it works in two ways. I am going to generalise in my language, but I think there is a sort of middle class sneering about crime fiction.
“I think there is also a sort of working-class inferiority complex that theatre or opera or whatever is ‘not for us’.
“Diversity of culture is really important. One aspect is as value and precious as any other.
“I loved River City and it is an absolute scandal it is no longer on our screens”.