Scotland: Celebrating the Arts at St Ninian Institute, Dundee

Archbishop Conti addresses St Ninians - photos by Andrew Mitchell

Last weekend saw the launch of the first annual Catholic Arts Forum at the St Ninian Institute in Dundee. To celebrate the feast of its patron saint, the Institute organised a number of workshops directed by Stephen Callaghan, well-known amongst Catholics as the organising force behind LENTfest and AGAP in Glasgow, and as a writer of plays with a strong Catholic message. Schools from across Dundee participated in the event, in which students from as young as eight were given master classes in acting. They were given the opportunity to perform what they had learned in front of a packed audience on Saturday.

This followed a performance of Passionate Voices, one of Stephen Callaghan’s plays, which was enacted by eight professional actors on Friday night. Archbishop-Emeritus, Mario Conti of Glasgow, founder of AGAP and LENTfest, continued his strong contribution to the Catholic arts in Scotland by delivering the first St Ninian Lecture on the importance of architecture to the Faith. Again, there was a full house with the Italian community prominently present and providing a choice of great Italian deserts for lunch.

The Arts Forum was the first of two artistic celebrations at the Institute, and will be followed on 22 November by a National Music Day organised together with Musica Sacra Scotland, which will feature amongst others the Master of Music from Westminster Cathedral, Martin Baker, and internationally renowned composer, James McMillan.

In the meantime, the St Ninian Institute is also recruiting students for courses on the Catechism and New Testament Studies, in association with the Maryvale Institute in Birmingham. Enrolment is ongoing and will continue until January.

For more details, see: www.musicasacrascotland.org.uk and www.stninianinstitute.ac.uk