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Plans for a Photography Centre housed in the former High School now look more promising
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Photo Centre banks £1m
Sponsorship deal beefs up plans for the transformation of Edinburgh’s former Royal High School. Words: Katy Ross
lans for the Scottrsh Natronal Photography Centre appea'
to be back on track. thanks to a fundrng boost from
ele(.:tr'onrcs grant Sony. lhe amhrtrous project has moyed a step closer to berng realrsed alter Sony recently pledged more than l‘lm rn tundrng. The sponsorshrp deal rs thought to he the largest ever by a consumer elt-xztronrcs company rn Scotland.
Transformrng the former Royal Hrgh School on {urnhurglr's Calton Hrll rnto Scotland's leadrng vrsual arts centre rs a ser‘rous undertakrng. hut rt the Scottrsh Executrve had contrnued wrth .ts orrginal plans for the burldrng. the cost and upheaval courd haxe been srgnrtrcantly larger.
The landmark srte was rnrtrally earmarked for the Scottrsh Parlrament burldrng rn 1978 rn advance of a referendum on devolutron. ln rts excrtement the would-be Executrye got (:r‘ackrng rmmedrately. convertrng part of the school rnto an rmrnessrye and costly debatrng chamber.
But referendum voters opted agarnst (lt—zvolutron and. hy the trrne rt was trnally put rn place rn 1997. the Royal Hrgh School was not regarded as herng adequate tor the Executrye's needs. Its planners clearly had somethrng grander (ill-10m granderr rn mrnd Erther way. therr loss has been the Scottrsh Natronal Photography Centre's tSNPCl garn.
Welcome to Art Idol
‘Srrrt. UK}; :...r,r:r;rt A; a fgi'r'tr‘ah'. .t‘tz' or “'lirllt‘“ w T' ' ‘_"-w yrsual arts .r‘. Sr‘otla'td.' sag. l): Mthaav: Shy-a. char'rr‘ar‘ lT'Iw SNF’C. 'lhe'r: :; a gratrtyrng stray: rt utterest :n [h .ttrarar “. "l the UK. .‘..‘.'l extvhrtrcrts (lt?i|‘.ttlrllrl trerr‘rhrtous audrenw- Urdu-- and .'.rt,h r‘ex. centres tor photography openrng; throulih .1 Europe. Sr'iltianrt's drstrnrtt photograr>.hr:~ Legac. (resume. .r' punt tr cererrate and atlxarrtie thrt; ll‘llf;l «tern, rat-a "a. conterr‘pcrar‘. art ‘:>rrr‘:;.'
Regardless r>t thrs the SNP() ls strrl a long way trorr‘v .'r ;~.~,-t lhe pro,e<:t contrnaes tr: face a srgnrlrcant tundrng l trrr..r:r~.;o: all“ t, tlesprte llil‘.rlltl heen planned tor more than t‘.'.'<; years. strir "17'." r. to raese more caprtal hetore work can hegrn on the srte.
(:‘ir‘aerr‘e hlltadorih. the SNPC chrel executrye. sa,s' 'li'w' "mt stage ‘.'.ri: he to rrrake our case for tundrrrg tron‘ the rat ar': l)l'l‘.éll(} sectors. We see the centre as an rrrlportant hart M It»; strategzc cultural de.eloprnent tor the yrsual arts rn Srr llltrll’l. whrle rarsrng (l‘.'.’£ll(?ll(?Sf; of our (‘ourrtry ‘s photograan l‘t-htgrief
It everythrrg goes as r::artr‘e<:. [illl‘rtftr'itlt .'.'r|r «:.l:r‘,'_...rl. r ~- horrte to one Ht the UK}; rr‘ost srgrrrtrrarxt .rstra; arts .é'l well as an (L‘Xllllfllll‘ll sr race. the SNP() .'.rll .nululle a ’}.i.rr’r"., ar‘ educatronar torurr‘ arxl «unsettatrtln 'fit:l‘.ll(:. And Scotland",
photograph: legar‘. .‘.rl! nam- the sho.‘.¢a:.e .t rrr hr. ‘l‘:‘)‘_:l‘.': .
Aspiring artists are the latest to get a televised shot at stardom — or humiliation. \l/ords: Katy Ross.
he contemporary art world. whrch rsn't
known for rts abrlrty to take a Joke. rs
abOut to make rts frrst foray rnto the unhrp world of realrty TV. But whrle Frve's new serres 819 Art Challenge rs essentrally a Pop Idol wrth art. rt appears to have captured the imagrnatron of the normally too-cool-for- school art world. wrth over 4000 artrsts — rncludrng professonals. amateurs and students — apply'rng. Heats are Currently herng held for the 400 most promrsmg 'regronal hopefuls' at Glasgow School of Ah. the Lowry
crassness of a teiexrsed art cerrlpetrtroh. Ourte why art (:rrtrt‘ Brran Seweil. desrgrrer \l‘.’ayne Helhrrlg‘.‘.ay and ar’trst .Jane l.'y‘rls<)n haye chosen to stake them rep-.rtatrnrts an thr- programmers another n‘atter. But as the Judges. they wrll no doubt garn the kind of notOrrety that ‘.'.'rll preclude therr‘ .'.crr.rng about whether tnerr content;>orar.es thnk they've sold out. And pe'naos with the' rnyolyement a budurng Douglas Gertie." (,r Chrrstrne Borland rhrgnt rust tolerate tne
group that lr‘ahages to transcend the
1 Ross Noble Comedy The kinetic Geordie cowboy hits Glasgow with his popular display of free- form joke freakery. See feature. King’s Theatre, Glasgow.
2 Lashed
Clubs Lisa Lashes. the queen of the hard dance scene. hosts her very own night with a little help from her friends. See Clubs. Arches. Glasgow.
3 The Sonny & Cher Ultimate Collection
DVD Nine hours of clips from The Sonny and Cher Show. Pure madness but deeply addictive — and look at those clothes. See Buy It This Week. BMG DVD retail £24.99.
4 The Bourne Supremacy
Film Sequel to 2002's The Bourne Identity with Matt Damon as hardcore amnesiac special agent Jason Bourne. This looks like it's going to be a great. if rough edged. adventure movie franchise to rival James Bond. See Film. General release.
5 A Tale of “no Sisters
Film Spooky Korean horror film about two girls and an evil stepmother. Familiar and yet not. See Film.
rn Manchester. the Orrel rn Cardrff and Selected release. London's Central Hall. The 910.000 prrze rs the marn attractron. but
the real appeal lres rn the panel of Judges; a
naffness of the progra't‘rr‘e f1" rem; e'x:..g}t‘ wrn themsest sonte thDSli.
I The 'rlst 8g A? Our ewe Fae. Try. Oct
4 THE LIST 12—19 Aug 3004