The role of art in the modern world is to challenge and provoke, to resist stagnation and to question complacency. All art, whether poetry, painting or prose, represents and interprets the world. Its purpose is to bring new perspectives to what life can be.
ALEXANDER MOFFAT and ALAN RIACH
arts n (1) any imaginative or creative narrative, or non-scientific branch of knowledge eg. literature, history, fine art, music; (2) ingenious abilities or schemes
resistance n (1) standing firm, refusing to submit; (2) a covert organisation fighting for national liberty in a country under enemy occupation.
There will always be a need for the arts to provide forms of resistance to any thing that dulls or numbs the intellect or the sensual understanding of the world. The artists and writers of the 20th century had to contend with an era characterised by rapid change in perspectives and technology, and the political force of their work informed, abraded and catalysed their contemporaries. In the 21st century, we live in an age of distraction. The arts are the greatest force for the best that people can do, and we neglect them at our peril. Arguing that to be truly international, you have to be national to begin with, the authors look at the power of nation - hood to create roots from which art can grow. Challenging the view that there is no Scottish art, they debate the contribution of poets, artists and others from the late 19th century to the present day, including William McTaggart, Hugh MacDiarmid, the Scottish Colourists and Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
Arts of Resistance includes...
Hugh MacDiarmid o Sorley MacLean o William McTaggart o Charles Rennie Mackintosh o Patrick Geddes o Sydney Goodsir Smith o Iain Crichton Smith o Edwin Morgan o Norman MacCaig o Liz Lochhead o George Mackay Brown o Steven Campbell o Ken Currie o Will MacLean o William Johnstone o Phoebe Anna Traquair o Peter Howson Robert MacBryde o Robert Colquhoun o William Gillies o Alasdair Gray o Joan Eardley o John Bellany o William Crozier o Douglas Gordon and many others.
ALEXANDER MOFFAT is an artist and teacher. Born in Dunfermline in 1943 he studied painting at Edinburgh College of Art. He was the Director of the New 57 Gallery in Edinburgh from 1968 to 1978. A year later he joined the staff of the Glasgow School of Art, where he was Head of Painting from 1992 to 2005. He is an elected member of the Royal Scottish Academy and the current Chair of the RSA's exhibitions committee. He has painted portraits of many of Scotland's greatest writers, culminating in the iconic Poets' Pub, now hanging in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
ALAN RIACH is a poet and Professor of Scottish Literature at Glasgow University. Born in Airdrie in 1957, he studied at Cambridge and Glasgow then worked in New Zealand at the University of Waikato, from 1986 to 2000. He is the author of four books of poems: This Folding Map, An Open Return, First & Last Songs and Clearances, and of critical books, including Hugh MacDiarmid's Epic Poetry and Representing Scotland in Literature, Popular Culture and Iconography. He is the President of the Association for Scottish Literary Studies and his radio series The Good of the Arts can be visited online.
LINDA MACDONALD-LEWIS is a poet, historian and storyteller. She lives in Oregon, USA, and has dedicated herself to bringing Scottish culture to America.
