Arts & International Affairs: 2.3: Autumn/Winter 2017 | Page 18

ARTS & INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
was core to our mission in the arts to build mutual and friendly understanding in areas of
difficulty; and our faith was vindicated by the great reception the show received both in
the UK and Buenos Aires. It has returned in 2017, to Edinburgh as part of Spirit of 47, 4
as well as on an English regional tour.
The Spirit of 47 programme was a jointly conceived enterprise by the Edinburgh In-
ternational Festival and the British Council to mark 70 years of the festival and also to
mark the involvement of the British Council as one of the founding partners in it back
in 1947. 5 The festival was born through the spirit of European reconciliation after World
War Two, and as such it was distinctly consonant with the British Council’s own mis-
sion of building mutual understanding between nations through cultural exchange and
collaboration—in this case RE-building. In our jointly curated programme in 2017, we
tried to reimagine the festival’s founding vision in the context of today’s geo-political and
social world—global more than merely European, and what the festival might look like
if it had been started in 2017, not 1947: the diversity of Europe, the new power of the
East, the emergence of new cultural powers. Our programme featured Minefield, almost
as a signature statement, but also more than 20 other countries, including Iran, Ukraine,
Syria, Palestine and Pakistan.
And recently relations between the UK and Argentina have taken further steps for-
ward—I am convinced that this theatre connection has something directly to do with
this, through an increase in mutual trust at a high level. It’s not provable, but it definitely
represents cultural diplomacy in action through theatre on a challenging subject.
Equally important in changing attitudes is our work (closely with the Southbank Cen-
tre in London) on Unlimited, an ongoing programme of work involving disabled artists
and creatives. If, as I have, you’ve been moved by the extraordinary achievements of all
the Paralympic athletes in Rio, you will be equally moved by the work of these artists,
amongst them choreographer and dancer Clare Cunningham, and writer, artist and
play-worker Jess Thom. She co-founded Touretteshero in 2010 to celebrate the humour
and creativity of Tourette Syndrome, from which she herself is a sufferer.
Taking on the identity of part-time superhero Touretteshero, she has turned her tics
into a source of creative energy to spread the word about this frequently misunder-
stood neurological condition via a wide range of artistic channels. The company aims
to increase awareness of the disorder and its challenges without self-pity or mockery;
it makes work that turns the laughter associated with Tourettes into a genuinely funny
cultural alternative.
It’s this kind of work that Carole McFadden, who has so ably led the programme for
us over five years at the British Council, thinks can really change attitudes not only to
disability but also to the art forms themselves. Her evidence is the fact that so many
4
5
https://www.britishcouncil.org/arts/spirit-of-47
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdL68hZPbng&t=38s
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