Arts of Independence

There is only one argument for Scottish independence: the cultural argument. It was there long before North Sea oil was discovered, and it will be here long after the oil has run out… We believe, as teachers, artists, a painter and a poet, both of us travellers in other lands, both of us residents in Scotland, that Scotland should be an independent nation. ALEXANDER MOFFAT AND ALAN RIACHArts of Independence takes a hard look at the most neglected aspect of the argument for Scotland’s distinctive national identity: the arts. The proposition is that music, painting, architecture, and, pre-eminently, literature are the fuel and fire of political change.Following the success of Arts of Resistance, this new work by the same authors takes the argument over Scottish independence out of the hands of politicians and economists and beyond the petty squabbles of party politics.

ALEXANDER (SANDY) MOFFAT RSA is an artist and teacher. Many of his paintings grace the walls of Scotland’s National Portrait Gallery, including the well-known Poet’s Pub and other portraits of significant Scottish writers. Born in Dunfermline in 1943, he studied painting at Edinburgh College of Art. He was the Director of New 57 Gallery of Edinburgh 1968-78, later joining the staff of Glasgow School of Art, where he became Head of Painting 1992-2005.ALAN RIACH is currently the professor and Chair of Scottish Literature, University of Glasgow. He was born in Airdrie in 1957, and studied English at Cambridge Universi-ty 1976-79. He completed his PhD in the Department of Scottish Literature at Glas-gow University in 1986. His academic career has included positions as a post-doctoral research fellow, senior lecturer, Associate Professor and Pro-Dean – Faculty of Arts, University of Waikato, New Zealand 1986-2000.