PLANS to close one of Scotland’s most acclaimed contemporary art galleries are being reviewed by ministers following a burgeoning campaign backed by thousands against the move.
Scottish Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop has announced she is to review the closure of Inverleith House in the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh (RBGE).
Actors including Val Kilmer and Ewan McGregor are among the nearly 9,000 supporters, including celebrities, artists and directors, who have signed the online petition to keep Inverleith as a gallery dedicated to contemporary art.
The RBGE created shockwaves across the art world in October by going ahead with the closure of the gallery as a space for displaying contemporary art after 30 years as an exhibition site.
More than 200 leading public figures connected to the arts joined the push to save the “national treasure and an international beacon of our culture”.
Writers Irvine Welsh and Ian Rankin, artist Tracey Emin, collector and patron Anthony d’Offay and Richard Armstrong, director of the Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation, joined the protest.
Now Ms Hyslop has said the move should be scrutinised by a working group as the report that sealed the venue’s present fate was made public for the first time.
A spokeswoman for RGBE said: “Following discussions between RBGE, the Scottish Government and Creative Scotland it has been agreed to establish a short-life working group to advise the RBGE board on the strategic direction of its programme for arts and cultural engagement across RBGE that would include, but not be restricted to, exhibition making at Inverleith House.
“The group will be convened by an independent chairman and will be tasked with establishing a clear vision for the development of an arts programme that would align with and amplify the core mission of RBGE and that would be achievable and sustainable within the current financial climate.”
Read more: Petition to save Inverleith House launched as dismay over gallery closure grows
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Culture Secretary held a meeting with chairs and chief executives of Creative Scotland and the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh recently to discuss options for the future of art in the Garden.
“The meeting was constructive and discussions are on-going.
“Ms Hyslop suggested Creative Scotland and RBGE form a working group with interested parties to look at the future of art in the Inverleith Gardens, and that suggestion has been taken forward.
“Membership of the group will be announced in due course.
“We encourage RBGE and Creative Scotland to do all they can to promote art and culture to as many potential visitors as possible as part of the overall visitor experience.”
The group is expected to include senior staff from RBGE, Creative Scotland and invited expert advisers.
They will be asked to “review the current position and approach of the RBGE with regard to exhibition making and other arts/cultural activity, to establish an informed view of programming possibilities and to test and establish a series of options for wider consideration by the trustees at their meeting in June 2017”.
Hundreds of campaigners massed to protest at the closure last month.
More than 700 protesters gathered in the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh last month to voice their opposition at the closure of Inverleith House.
Turner Prize winner Richard Wright has described the closure of the art gallery as an “act of vandalism” .
Campaigner and Herald arts columnist Neil Cooper said: “While the publication of the Creative Scotland-funded The Future of Inverleith House report is to be welcomed, its belated appearance leaves many serious questions unanswered.
“It also needs to be asked what sort of public consultation was taken by the RBGE’s publicly accountable board of trustees regarding the future of Inverleith House. Simply saying some kind of arts programme will continue is not enough.
“The board also needs to clarify whether any discussions have taken place regarding any future commercial use of Inverleith House, and whether future bookings have been taken.”
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