Even Here, Even Now: The Next Chapter
A national network for Scotland's island creative communities.
Even Here, Even Now is an artist-led programme connecting, supporting and advocating for creative practitioners living and working across Scotland’s islands.
It builds on the Even Here, Even Now manifesto created by island artists and is developing into a practical inter-island network focused on visibility, opportunity, collaboration and influence.
Foundation
Even Here, Even Now grew from Culture Collective activity managed by Shetland Arts and delivered in partnership with Taigh Chearsabhagh, An Lanntair and The Pier Arts Centre. It is identified in the Scottish Government Islands Plan and supported through Creative Scotland and Scottish Government investment.
Why it matters
Island artists make a vital contribution to the cultural, social, and economic wellbeing of their communities. Their contributions enrich the distinctive creative landscape of Scotland’s islands, highlighting unique artistic practices, languages, and intangible cultural heritage. However, these practitioners often face significant challenges due to their geographic location. Barriers such as distance, limited transport options, reduced visibility, digital connectivity issues, and restricted access to broader networks can impact their ability to fully participate in and contribute to the wider creative sector.
Even Here, Even Now responds to that challenge by creating structured opportunities for artists across islands to connect, develop, collaborate and be heard. The programme recognises that island culture is not peripheral: it is central to Scotland’s cultural life, community resilience and sense of place.
Growing the network
The next phase will relaunch in Shetland, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides in Autumn 2026. During 2027, the programme will expand into three more island communities, creating a wider inter-island network of artists.
We’re now looking for Artist Associates and Creative Advocacy Group members to join the project. Find out more in the opportunities section of our website.
What the programme will do
It will deliver on inter-island connectivity across cultural sectors, providing support and funding for:
- Development of island based creative practitioners
- Showcase events nationally in Scotland
- Facilitating connections between island-based artists
- Advocacy of island-based artists and their work across our islands, highlighting their value within our communities and beyond.
To deliver this, we have several roles and opportunities across the coming years, including, but not limited to:
- Delivery of a Mainland Showcase
- Participation of a PRACTICE lab
- Artist Associate roles
- Creative Advocacy Group member roles
- International Opportunities
- Arts Marketing roles
Featured Articles
We’re delighted to see that Even Here, Even Now has been picked up by national media.
- The Scotsman: Even Here, Even Now: What draws artists to Scotland’s islands? And what makes them stay? (Published 13 December 2024)
- The Scotsman: Even Here, Even Now: Why it’s crucial to recognise the impact of Scotland’s island artists (Published 5 December 2024)
- The Scotsman: Campaign in seaweed, wool and stone splashed across Scottish islands to highlight plight of artists (Published 2 November 2024)
- The Scotsman: Even Here, Even Now: artists living in Shetland, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides launch ‘manifesto for change’ (Published 5 November 2024)
- The Scotsman: Is there an ‘island aesthetic’ linking artists in Shetland, Orkney and the Hebrides? (Published 12 November 2024)
Contact for more information
If you’d like to find out more about Even Here, Even Now, please contact Kathryn Gordon [email protected].
Current project
