Nicola Benedetti warned of a crisis in the arts sector which would amount to a “major identity shift” if the Scottish Government fails to provide £100 million funding. Speaking to Holyrood Magazine, Benedetti, a violinist who has won multiple awards, warned the culture sector in Scotland faces a “very trepidatious time” due to funding issues. She said that arts and culture were key to the “wellbeing and health of the nation”.
It comes after then first minister Humza Yousaf told the SNP conference last year that he pledged the additional funding for Creative Scotland by 2028, calling it a “huge vote of confidence” in the cultural sector. However, it remains unclear when the additional funding promised by Mr Yousaf will be granted to Creative Scotland. Benedetti, who is the director of the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF), said: “It is a responsibility for government, unless you begin to think that arts, culture – and by that I mean all the activities that fall into the general psychological, mental, emotional wellbeing and health of the nation, of society and individuals, everything that falls into that category I would relate to a civic pillar you can call culture – if as a nation we start to believe that that’s not one of the civic pillars that we hold ourselves to, we are essentially changing our goalposts and our identity.
“We’re shifting what post-Second World War we believed was a society that was increasing in equality and elevating ci.
