The Irish News pinpoints this Northern Ireland renaissance to the 2018 Netflix inclusion of Catholic girls’ school sitcom Derry Girls which saw a huge increase in its international profile. The show’s setting of 1990s Derry at the end of the Irish conflict and subsequent peace process gave a widespread perception of the realities of living through such events.
Another example given for this larger profile and influence is the rise of rap group Kneecap. Despite being blacklisted from UK government funding, pulled from radio playlists, and condemned by politicians, the group’s popularity only continues to soar. Controversies only seem to bring people on side, drawing in an audience seeking to understand exactly what they’re about. A film surrounding their creation premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and could see success at the Academy Awards, having been nominated twice.
Outspoken rap group Kneecap has seen recognition and a rising audience in their home of Northern Ireland as well as internationally (Image: PA) Looking inward towards Scotland, arts and culture do tend to go untouched and undisturbed by the outside, despite our supposed (and perhaps a bit forced) reputation for being an outward-looking hub of international co-operation and recognition. Scotland has never been a particularly big cultural exporter, nor has it ever had its time in the sun or been in vogue internationally like other smaller nations that have managed to define an artistic and cultural identity and present it effectively to the world.
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Scotland’s biggest-produced TV show, the historical fantasy Outlander, is not even popular or of much interest to a domestic audience. Instead, the sights and scenes of our landscapes play as sets for the romanticising Tartan-clad American audience. It has rejuvenated the fortunes of flailing US network Starz and handed endless visitors over to the tourism sector, but there is little artistic or cultural benefit given back in its success.
One of the big international success stories of the 21st century so far is certainly Dumfries-born DJ and producer Calvin Harris, someone who was quick to leave the nest after initial buzz and establish himself as an entity unto his own across the world. Harris’s roots have been largely ignored from his official story, with a laundry list of hit songs and high-profile personal relationships writing the perception to others. And fair enough, what reason would Harris necessarily have to highlight that part of his identity?
Scotland has had its share of artistic and cultural successes, and some of the biggest and most talented have origins here, but it rarely feeds back into the country itself, when our cultural fabric is enriched and intertwined with the arts it cultivates.
Northern Ireland has seen the artistic and cultural benefits of exports like Derry Girls and Kneecap because it is uniquely theirs. It offers insight into the realities, the psyche, and the history of a place and its people. Derry Girls is a snapshot of an underserved recent history, connecting others to the essence of the people who lived through it rather than the typical hands-off documentary relationship such periods are usually treated with.
Kneecap is certainly anathema to an older generation who conservatively handwring about what the parameters of artistic expression should be, but the rap group is intentionally confrontational and makes no apologies for their bold imagery and pro-Republican views. The group help to provide insight into where the younger people of Northern Ireland are situated, for whom the conflict of its past is more difficult to understand than it would be to their predecessors, and where the battle lines of society and culture are now being rewritten by a new generational perspective.
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Northern Ireland has done this without much in the way of institutional support. It finds itself in an even worse situation in this regard, with less spent per head than Scotland, England, and Wales. Scotland at least has the privilege of some autonomy with Creative Scotland, while Northern Ireland is left to rest on the laurels of poor UK government spending. Scotland has more tools at its disposal, but it’s hard to say that those tools have been used and utilised effectively.
The recent cultural relevancy of Northern Ireland shows there is plenty of room to bypass institutional factors. Scotland cannot let itself be defined and tied down by the limited breathing space, it must find some way to present an artistic and cultural identity that is relevant, insightful, and enriching. It should not be placed at the mercy of politicians, who will frankly never be on the same page as creatives in the way they wish and require.
Northern Ireland looked outside and saw itself validated by the wider world. It has now created interest and set a trajectory. Scotland’s arts and culture sector should not be so immune to such out-of-the-box thinking.