‘We’re in it to win it’ – town of culture could encourage Shetlanders to pursue arts careers
Lerwick 28 bid seeking as many responses to survey as possible
LERWICK being named the UK town of culture could inspire young people to pursue careers in the arts over the next decade.
That is the view of Mhari McLeman, who is a community liaison for the Lerwick 28 bid – which was launched on Wednesday afternoon.
Shetland’s capital is in the running to be named the first ever town of culture by the UK Government, with Lerwick one of six ‘small towns’ shortlisted.
An independent panel will select a best small, medium and large town to go through to the final round, with the overall winner receiving £3 million to deliver events and projects in 2028.
McLeman is defiant in her belief that Lerwick can be named the 2028 town of culture.
“We’re in it to win it,” she told Shetland News earlier this week.
“We’re wanting to win overall, for Lerwick and Shetland. We’re thinking about, when we get the £3 million how we spend it.”
The Lerwick 28 team launched a survey this week, encouraging people from across Shetland to help shape their bid to be town of culture.
Timescales are tight though. The survey is only open until 9 October, with the bid having to be submitted to the UK Government by 30 November.
McLeman said they wanted to get “as many responses as we possibly can”.
“We really don’t have long to put the bid together, so it’s going to be really intensive,” she said.
“We want to get thousands of responses if we can, not just in Lerwick but across Shetland.”
Her role will see her engage with any community organisations that want to contribute to the survey, or have questions about how they can get involved.
Though Lerwick’s shortlisting was announced in July, the Lerwick 28 team held off launching their campaign until they could meet with the UK Government.
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“We wanted to know the expectations of what a bid should look like,” McLeman said.
“I think it needs to be built from the ground up, that’s why this consultation is so important.
“We need a lot of responses from the community, hopefully lots from young people, which will shape the bid.”
So what could be named town of culture mean for Lerwick? McLeman thinks it could not only give a massive boost to local creatives now, but in the years to come as well.
“There would be commissioning opportunities that will open up, so there will be fairly sizable sums of money available if we get the bid,” she explained.
“It could also open up so many opportunities for our creative practitioners. It might encourage young musicians to pursue a career in music going forward.
“We’re trying not to think of it as just a year designation. We hope that over the next decade, young people can absolutely see creative futures as a Shetlander.”
Artists will be asked to begin developing major ideas for the Lerwick 28 bid, with the team reviewing commissions that have been submitted.
As many as three major, three medium and a number of smaller commissions could be needed.
Some of those will go out for a public vote next month, and McLeman added they really were trying to explain to the UK Government “this is how we will spend” the £3 million.
She stressed that there were no plans for one major festival or one-off event like previous UK cities of culture had organised.
“This is not about drawing tourism here, because we don’t have the capacity to do that.”
While the UK Government had suggested that the Lerwick team could focus on just six months of activities, McLeman said that did not really fit Shetland – given that fire festivals kick off the cultural calendar every January.
The suggestion instead is that the Lerwick 28 year would be split into three chapters – inspiration, play and launch.
While McLeman said it may seem odd that launch would close out the year, the hope was that the “overarching legacy” of the year of culture would be what comes next for Shetland’s creatives.
As festival programmer for the Shetland Folk Festival, McLeman has seen first hand what other countries can offer on the world stage. She thinks Shetland stands tall next to them all.
“I’m really lucky to get to visit lots of international festivals as a buyer, and I sit there and go, ‘oh my God’, what Shetland has to offer is so significant.
“But there’s not really any significant exporting opportunities.”
McLeman believes that Shetland adds a “disproportionate amount to the UK story”.
“The UK is a way more interesting place because of places like Shetland,” she said.
“There’s a lot to say about Lerwick, and Shetland, because we’re a really exciting place.”
Now she hopes that Shetlanders – who, she said, were “proud” of what they accomplish – would rally behind the Lerwick 28 bid.
“We hope every single classroom at Bells Brae, Sound and the Anderson High schools will have a chat about Lerwick and learn about it.
“It can make all the difference – we’re open to all ideas.
“Let’s have lots of fun, and let’s remind ourselves of Shetland’s culture.”
You can respond to the survey here, by 9 October.
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