Nicola Benedetti in 'decline of civilisation' statement over drastic Scottish arts funding cuts

Violinist says flagship event is having to ‘fight pretty hard’ for the arts

Nicola Benedetti has warned Scotland is at risk of a decline of civilisation unless there is a rethink over public funding for the arts.

Speaking ahead of the Edinburgh International Festival’s (EIF) opening weekend, Ms Benedetti admitted the cultural sector was having to "fight pretty hard" to make the case for investing in culture.

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Ms Benedetti, who is in her second year leading the EIF, said the 77-year-old event was having to be "mightily creative" in how it managed its budget as she stressed the importance of being able to keep taking risks and championing little-known artists.

Nicola Benedetti is the current director of the Edinburgh International Festival. Picture: John DevlinNicola Benedetti is the current director of the Edinburgh International Festival. Picture: John Devlin
Nicola Benedetti is the current director of the Edinburgh International Festival. Picture: John Devlin

The award-winning violinist said organisers of other international events were "surprised" at how low the EIF's budget was given its global reputation. But she is hopeful a change of government in Westminster will lead to the arts becoming more of a political priority.

Edinburgh’s main summer festivals season is getting underway this week against a background of anxiety over a projected funding gap of nearly £50 million to meet demand for long-term Scottish Government funding ahead of a crucial round of Creative Scotland decisions later this year.

The Scottish Government has come under fire over the past year for imposing a 10 per cent budget cut on Creative Scotland and failing to deliver on a subsequent promise to “more than double” spending on the arts to help organisations cope with the impact of rising costs.

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Creative Scotland is still without a budget for a coming three-year funding programme, despite the Government pledging an additional £100m for culture over the next few years. The EIF does not have any confirmed core government funding after this year.

Nicola Benedetti is in her second year as director of the Edinburgh International Festival. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA WireNicola Benedetti is in her second year as director of the Edinburgh International Festival. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire
Nicola Benedetti is in her second year as director of the Edinburgh International Festival. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

Francesca Hegyi, the EIF’s chief executive, warned last month that Scotland faced a “house of cards” collapse unless the Government committed new investment for culture ahead of the funding decisions, which will affect a host of the country’s best-known cultural events and venues. Ms Hegyi said the value of the festival’s public funding had dropped by around 50 per cent since 2008, but had seen a 200 increase in its costs since then.

Ms Benedetti said: “There’s no doubt about the responsibility for myself personally, but also for the festival is one that we need that we need to step up to and into. The history and consistency of the festival itself is a great reminder and a beacon of what to strive for.

"You’ve seen the change of hands of the festival, and so many people who have been dedicated to attending or working for the festival for such longer periods of time, often decades. That’s an inspiration in itself.

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“The level of disappointments is directly related to your expectations. One of the things all of us working in the sector have to grapple with is to be relentlessly hopeful about what is possible while being calmly accepting about what would otherwise be disappointing news.

“I was always very proud that, from a music education perspective. It felt that you were not speaking a foreign language to those in positions of authority within Scotland.

"Coming at it from a different perspective, from those of us who are in the business of performing, and keeping festivals alive, concert halls open, audiences thriving and ticket prices down, we are still having to fight pretty hard to make our case understood.”

Ms Benedetti suggested there was a lack of understanding about the “economic reality” of what is needed to ensure the EIF sustained the level of international productions and performers in its programme.

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She said: “We are having to get mightily creative with how we balance our budget. If you take an international perspective, most of our counterparts around the world are surprised at the budget that we operate on.

“I just return to the basic question of taking a helicopter view of a country and look at the things that they are able to prioritise, to pay for, to uphold, to invest in and to sustain.

"If you remove creativity, arts and culture from that, you’re just looking at a general decrease in the level of civilisation and what you can be proud of. I would implore us to continually ask ourselves whether we really want to be part of that decline.”

Ms Benedetti said it was crucial for the festival to retain the ability to take a “gamble” on little-known artists and performers, even if their shows did not sell out.

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She said: “People speak of it as a risk, but for me it is a necessity. If you want to genuinely develop audience taste and trust in you programming things that they may not know of, you cannot do that through fear. You’ve got to have the boldness to say ‘we believe in this thing’.

“You’ve always got to weigh up what the gamble is and where you want to let that rest. If you look back on the programming of previous directors and look at some of the things people are still talking about today, I know they were on in venues which were not sold out at the time.

"The artistic power of those moments has allowed for events to be talked about for decades to come. You always need to try to produce those moments, even if they are not sell-out concerts. If I were to look at our programme and only see blockbusters, I would be concerned.”

The EIF recently announced it would be continuing to work with investment firm Baillie Gifford, one of its biggest corporate sponsors, despite controversy over its links with the fossil fuel industry.

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Ms Benedetti said: “Where you get your financial support is and should always be up for discussion and debate. It is something that you should scrutinise as often as possible. We should all be striving for an ethical framework that we feel represents our values. However, you also need a very cool and calm approach while listening to your gut.

“I’m incredibly proud of how the festival conducted itself. There was care, attention, scrutiny and willingness for open dialogue with those who sit on all sides of the debate.”

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “Despite the challenging financial situation faced by the UK, ministers have increased Scotland’s culture sector funding significantly to almost £200 million this financial year, as the first step to investing at least £100 million more annually in culture and the arts by 2028-29.

"This included £6.6 million to Creative Scotland to reinstate their National Lottery shortfall funding for 2023/2024 plus an additional £6.6 million.

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“This meant Creative Scotland’s regularly funded organisations faced no reduction in funding this financial year.

“The Edinburgh International Festival received £2.1million in 2024-25, alongside an additional £100,000 from the Scottish Government’s EXPO Fund to help showcase Scottish artists and performers to international audiences.

“As is the case every year, the Scottish Government will not have the detail of our own funding position until after the UK Government’s autumn statement. We will bring forward our draft budget to be published by the end of the year and Creative Scotland, as is normal practice for all of the public sector, will be informed of its indicative budget.”

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