Scotland's Independence Referendum - Furore in the Arts

The "Scotsman" website features an article by Brian Ferguson entitled "Scottish Independence Focus of National Theatre of Scotland 2014 Programme".  The article quotes the newly appointed National Theatre's Artisitc Director, Laurie Sansom, as stating that Scotland's 2014 referendum on Independence affords a "brilliant opportunity" for the artistic interpretation of this "unusual and remarkable event".

But the Director's interpretation, as he puts it, is under scrutiny due to the fact that Sansom is not Scottish, he is English.

The appointment of Sansom is viewed as controversial by  Celtic Nationalists, and in his interview with the Scotsman, Sansom dismissed the criticism leveled at his appointment by the eminent Scottish writer and artist, Alasdair Gray.  Gray has been widely quoted, and disparaged, because he challenged the "colonisation" of Scottish Arts by non Celts. In an attack on Gray, the Daily Telegraph (London) posted the following  blog comment, by James MacMillan: "The writer Alasdair Gray sparked a furore at the weekend with an essay for a book on Scottish Independence describing English people living and working in Scotland as "settlers" or "colonists" .... The fact that Mr. Sansom is English will no doubt be a source of annoyance to the usual incoherent  bar-room scrooges in these parts."

blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/jmacmillan/100067552/we-scots-should-be-ashamed-of-anti-english-bullying

www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/performing-arts/scottish-independence-focus-of-nts-2014-programme-1-2980428

bellacaledonia.org.uk/2012/12/17/why-alasdair-gray-matters-and-why-he-must-be-smeared