Creative process
Happy New Year! And the process of creating Creative Scotland continues to drag as slowly in 2009 as it did in 2008.
Now more than 400 artists, performers and writers want to see the scheme abandoned altogether.
According to crime writer Val McDermid, novelist Louise Welsh, actress Alison Peebles and more than 400 writers this new body shouldn't be born at all.
In a petition to MSPs, they're calling for the whole merger to be abandoned. They say the cost of the merger - which has still not been formally confirmed - could lead to cuts in any grants they receive.
"Whilst many of us have been critical of the existing institutions, Creative Scotland does not offer improvement on the current provision managed by the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen, and will impact negatively on Scotland's international reputation," says the petition.
Which comes as close to an endorsement of the Scottish Arts Council as you're likely to hear.
But despite rumblings behind the scenes - with staff in both Scottish Screen and the Scottish Arts Council's respective headquarters unsure of what will happen next - it seems the troubled merger will still go ahead.
Having been voted down by MSPs last June, it's due to be reintroduced as part of John Swinney's Public Services Reform Bill later this month. And according to the Scottish Government, they're not for turning.
"The Scottish Parliament voted unanimously in favour of the establishment of Creative Scotland as a statutory body," said a Scottish Government spokesman.
"And we will proceed with the democratic legislative route, not least to enshrine the important arms-length principle on arts funding."
"The culture minister has agreed to meet a number of representatives from across the sector to hear and address their concerns about the transition process and remit of Creative Scotland."
But she may not have heard the end of the debate. According to the organisers of the artists' campaign, they hope to gather further support and stage more events to highlight the issues.
Not London’s South Bank, but the south bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow - every bit as lively in cultural terms as its namesake. I’m Pauline McLean, BBC Scotland’s arts correspondent, and I’ll be blogging here about arts events and issues happening across the country.
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