Sir Sean Connery lambasts Scots ministers over arts

007 is absolutely furious with 006. Put another way, Sean Connery has condemned the Executive’s sixth culture minister in as many years for failing to support the arts in Scotland - reports The Scotsman.

The former James Bond actor, in an exclusive interview with Scotland on Sunday, bitterly complains that the nation has had six culture ministers since devolution but there is little progress in developing the arts.

The actor’s attack was prompted by the long-delayed attempts to establish the Scottish National Photography Centre (SNPC), of which he is a patron.

In comments that will embarrass the current culture minister, Patricia Ferguson, Connery says he has directly approached his own friends for funding help and urges political leaders to get off their "arse".

In the next two months the SNPC will submit detailed plans to the National Heritage Lottery Fund for the former Royal High School on Calton Hill. The school, which belongs to Edinburgh City Council, has been empty for several years.

Before Holyrood, it was considered as an alternative site for the Scottish Parliament. The SNPC hopes to transform it into a world class photography museum.

It is an appropriate place because Calton Hill is where, in the 1840s, Hill and Adamson - regarded by many as the founders of Scottish photography - did so much of their work. Last year the SNPC unveiled a £400,000 sponsorship deal with Sony - the largest ever by a consumer electronics company in Scotland. But the project needs a further £15m to £20m if it is to achieve its aim. This will come from the lottery fund, the Scottish Executive, City Council and a number of other public and private enterprises. Connery believes it is only the Executive that is dragging its heels.

He said: "What has got up my nose a bit is that obviously it needs financial support. I had done films with Sony and I know Howard Stringer who is now top banana. He’s a Welshman and it is a Japanese company. To cut the story short we got the money and the sponsorship from Sony.

"There is a major amount to do in the building and it is interesting that someone from Wales and Japan finds it sufficiently stimulating to put up that kind of money and interest and we have a Scottish Executive who are still sitting on the fence. It is part of our heritage and the building itself is going to be something fantastic, but they have to get off their arse and participate.

"We have had six ministers of culture in Scotland for the six years since devolution and they don’t seem to get anything done - they don’t seem to deliver, and this is something that can be internationally rewarding for the whole city.

"They talk about art, they talk about education, education, education. Well this [the museum of photography] is indigenous to Edinburgh and the fact that it is of international importance is quite a well kept secret."

Connery’s comments come after a tumultuous 18 months for the Executive’s culture department. While Wales has unveiled a new Opera House, Scottish Opera has made its chorus redundant and has been forced to cancel major productions for a year.

Yesterday author Ian Rankin said he agreed with Connery and said the only reason more people in Scotland did not speak out against the Executive was because they relied on its funding.

Rankin said: "The cultural strategies do not seem to be leading anywhere. What the art world desperately wants is decisions to be made and a minister who is going to stick around for more than 12 months.

"We need continuity in this young Parliament. But what are we on now, our sixth cultural minister. We need someone who has experience of the arts world and you only get that with time.

"Meanwhile we see other smaller countries doing much more with the arts. Look at Wales and their brand spanking new opera house. In Scotland we don’t even have an opera chorus. We spend too much time squabbling and shoot ourselves in the foot before we start."

Scotland holds a unique place in the birth of photography. By 1842, three years after photography was invented, Scotland played host to some world class photographers - not least David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson.

The centre will house the history of photography in Scotland and be a centre of excellence for photography north of the Border. It is planned that thousands of archived images will be displayed alongside the work of contemporary photographers.

It is also hoped the centre will house the national photography collection, currently at the National Portrait Gallery in Queen Street. The collection comprises around 32,000 photographs. Included in this is the largest collection of Hill and Adamson’s photographs anywhere in the world.

Jamie McGrigor, the Scottish Conservatives’ culture spokesman, said: "The Executive hasn’t achieved very much. They like to talk the talk but do not walk the walk. The whole arts sector feels slightly let down. They saw devolution as a new beginning for the arts but nothing has been done."

An Executive spokesman said: "Scotland has fantastic museums and galleries. Our investment in the arts is at record levels."

Thanks to `` for the alert.

Discuss this news here...