First Minister Alex Salmond has said that Skye is creating the right atmosphere for bright Scots to light up the creative industries, as he opened a new centre for the creative and cultural industries on the island.
The Fàs Centre has been developed on the campus of the Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Gaelic-medium college in Sleat. The college is part of the UHI Millennium Institute and is intended to attract and support cultural enterprises, including media, publishing and Gaelic projects.
Salmond also announced £260,000 of Scottish Government funding to support the work of the centre – with £200,000 to provide digital TV production and post-production equipment, and £60,000 to support the college's ambitious plans to produce a Gaelic historical dictionary.
The new Fàs Centre, over four floors, will house 420 square of letting accommodation for businesses involved in creative and cultural industries; business start-up offices; new media and digital television training facilities; a learning centre; exhibition space; artists and musician space; Gaelic research offices; meeting space and a crèche for use by staff and the community, and will help to sustain 70 jobs.
He said: “Today half of Scotland's sixty thousand Gaelic speakers live in the Highlands and Na h-Eileanan Siar – with 30,000 elsewhere in the country, including almost 6,000 in Glasgow. There can be no doubt that Gaelic truly is a national language.
“Scottish language and culture are inherently linked. They are part of unique heritage and of a rich future. As Iain Crichton-Smith said; 'The Highlander who loses his language loses his world.'
“What we must do is create the economic and cultural opportunities for Scotland's Gaelic speakers – and the language itself – to thrive. Sabhal Mòr Ostaig College stands at the forefront of promoting and developing Gaelic in Scotland.
“The new Fàs Centre will allow the college's reputation to grow, and will be a home for artists, musicians, broadcasters, Gaelic adult learners and much more. That's why I am pleased to announce £260,000 funding to support its valuable work and to help creative talents to flourish.
“Having just returned from the successful Scotland Week celebrations in the US, I know that there is enormous interest in Scotland internationally and that Scotland is capable of global cultural success. By continuing to develop our rich culture, our talent and opportunities to showcase their potential, we can promote Scotland's creativity across the world.”
William Roe, Chairman of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), which is the single biggest funder of Fàs, added: “At £3.6m overall HIE's support was our largest-ever investment in a single creative industries project anywhere in the Highlands and Islands, and was critical in ensuring that the project would progress. High quality jobs are being supported and a world-class business environment has been created in a rural area.
“Developing quality learning infrastructure is fundamental to the long term growth and sustainability of the Highlands and Islands. The mix of cultural and business activity at Fàs will create a vibrant centre for creativity, promoting creative industry as well as creativity and the arts, in the context of Gaelic culture and language.
“We look forward to continuing to work with Sabhal Mòr Ostaig and Fàs in the future.”
Myles Campbell, the centre’s Writer-in-Residence added: “I'm looking forward very much to working in the new building Fàs and with my colleagues the musician Alan Henderson and artist Kate Whiteford and later in the year Ewen MacColl. I fully expect and hope that we will create new material together. FÀS is a very important building and project and I'm sure that it will be a beacon for Gaelic culture in the years to come.”
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