Creative Scotland Awards (Part 1)

If I had paid a bit more attention, I'd probably be able to comment on how the selection process for Creative Scotland's inaugural rewards had operated - and make a stab at guessing how the format dictated the outcomes. At the moment, all I have is The Daily Record being involved, and something I heard about the panel - who took the votes and made up the short-list - being all men. Until I get round to doing some research, I'll just list the awards and add my own comments on the artists.

The Best Visual Award is an easy place to start, thanks to my original Young Critics' Sessions: made up of visual art students, they taught me a great deal about what was going on beyond the stage. Of the nominations, I am backing Karla Black: her installation in GOMA was a highlight of the Glasgow International and her use of sawdust was monumental and strangely touching. 

However, I do know something about the other candidates. The Harry Papadopoulos/Street Level Gallery: What Presence! Exhibition captured the bands of my childhood in classic rock'n'roll black'n'white: it felt nostalgia, as so many of the rebellious young rockers in it have become well-kent faces in the art establishment: the retrospective of George Wyllie I haven't managed to see yet,  but it's garnering rave reviews from my friends on Facebook.

Elph – and I admit that I was not aware of him - is a  graffiti artist. Further research is required.

I doubt my opinions on the Music Award would be much help to anyone, but my choices - The Said Ensemble, for putting contemporary classical music into bars, Tut Vu Vu for having Raydale Dower in the line-up and Curses for introducing me to very slow r'n'b probably only reveal how out of touch I am. The actual three choice -  Admiral Fallow, Frightened Rabbit, Rachel Sermanni are examples, to me at any rate, that the folk-tinged revival is looking popular and healthy. I might be pushing it to suggest Frightened Rabbit are folk.

The Scottish Film & TV Award is a tough one for me to judge: I don't watch TV as I am too busy making sure I am a face on every scene that happens around the city - an unwanted and unwashed face, but I do my best. Fortunately, Glasgow Film Festival is one of the choices, a programme that I not only intended but have watched grow  from a bijoux winter oasis into an international force.

 I'll back this to win, simply because I haven't seen the other two contenders  (Ken Loach's The Angels’ Share and The Perfect Fit about the making of the perfect ballet show) and I have complete respect for the GFF's emphasis on getting people into the cinema to see something other than blockbusters.

Thank God for the Theatre Award: this is my turf. Further than the Furthest Thing was a popular choice at the CATS earlier this year - the script is already appearing in translations around the world and the set was spectacular. It's no surprise to see both Pass The Spoon and Whatever Gets You Through The Night  on the short-list: both products of The Creative Spark funding, they have that fashionable cross-platform thing going on, and were both greeted with critical and popular acclaim. 

I am not going to pick a favourite here. To be honest, I've been picking the things I knew best in each category and I have actually written about all of these choice, and interviewed the creators. Nicholas Bone (Pass The Spoon) and Cora Bisset (Whatever) have both been good enough to come on the Radio Hour, so I'd like this one to be a draw.

Well, that's the easy categories out of the way. I'll hit up the Community Awards and all later - it is taking ages to find websites to link all these nominees. I'll say that there are no massive surprises here - even the things I have no idea about represent trends that are working through the arts. I'm interested to see how GFF can be judged against individual films - even I apply different parameters to assess the impact of a festival against an art work. 

I think the research might be a good idea.