Culture, Arts and Refugees
Ninian Perry
 | Ninian PerryCreative Director and Chief Executive, Paragon International |
Biography
Ninian studied at Dartington College of Arts, the Royal College of Music and York University and has lived and worked in Scotland since 1980 performing with orchestras, chamber, jazz and world folk groups in Scotland.
As a founder member of Paragon Ensemble he has been instrumental in establishing the group as one of the foremost new music organisations in Britain. His work in schools and the wider community is recognised as being one of the most successful programmes for bringing people from all walks of life together to create new music. He also teaches at Glasgow University, RSAMD and Strathclyde University and now leads Paragon as Creative Director and Chief Executive.
PLN Experience
The Peer Leadership Network has been a highly valuable learning experience giving me much greater knowledge and understanding of the scale of the UK arts and refugee practice. Having the chance to meet and learn about the sector’s cultural importance, the agencies connected with supporting the development of the work, and the opportunity to discuss and determine a unified strategy for its delivery with other leaders in the field has given me a great boost and confidence to take Paragon’s work forward into a new dimension.
The support from Creative Exchange, throughout the year, has been superb and allowed Paragon to host a conference in Scotland which brought together artists, participants, funders, agencies and students to assess the need for an arts policy in this sector. From the conference a new body has been formed, The Inter Cultural Arts Network (ICAN), which will act as a hub for all those involved in the sector in Scotland. It will offer information on personnel, ethics and purpose, best practice, communications, and other related studies concerning the growth and development of the sector. Paragon has accepted the invitation to lead the development of this new Scottish Network and this has only been possible thanks to the PLN.
Study Visit Report
Click here to read Ninian’s Study Visit Report