Clive Gillman

Currently the Director of Dundee Contemporary Arts, Scotland’s largest contemporary arts and media centre, I lead a large staff team and a critically acclaimed programme of contemporary art, cinema, research and production & education activity.
During a career spanning 25 years I have been closely engaged with many aspects of contemporary culture in the UK. From a background in working to develop artists’ access to production resources, I set up MITES (the UK arts exhibition technology resource) in Liverpool in 1992, an organisation that was key to supporting the growth of video and new media practice in the UK, supporting hundreds of projects that might otherwise not have been possible. I continued to sustain my practice as an artist during this time alongside working as a consultant, delivering on a range of innovative research and development projects with partners such as NESTA, BT and the Tate Gallery. Prior to moving to Dundee in 2005 I worked for 5 years on the development and delivery of the FACT Centre building in Liverpool, a major new £12m arts and media centre for the city. My role initially involved leading on client-side design for the building as well as developing a range of artists’ projects to be incorporated into the building. This role evolved to include the design of the organisational structures for the new company and an active management role as Associate Director of the new organisation.
My own art works include those that attempt to explore the possibilities of new media technologies in the public realm (Metroscopes and the Drake Street Observatory) as well as published game projects (Advent) and interventions in the public realm (Common Garden). In addition to working within the arts infrastructure in Scotland where I am deeply engaged on developmental activity on both a professional and governance level I am often invited to contribute thoughts and ideas on a wide range of topics concerning contemporary culture and the creative industries, media literacy and the role of artists and have contributed to strategic development initiatives in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK.

2005 Director, Dundee Contemporary Arts / In my role as Director of DCA I have overseen the delivery of over 50 major exhibitions of contemporary art, a cultural cinema programme of 2,700 screenings a year, a very active programme of production and workshop activity through our Print Studio and Education spaces as well as a range of festivals including the Discovery International Film Festival for Children and Young People which has grown from an annual project to a mainstreamed part of our annual programme with over 12,000 young people attending.
Recent developments include leading on the creation of the city-wide ‘Blue Skies Festival’ which builds on initiatives I have developed to link together cultural and community partners across Dundee. This festival builds on a collaborative approach to programming which has involved me producing theatre and music events alongside visual arts, bringing together partners from Dundee Science Centre and Dundee Rep Theatre to explore community-based activities celebrating ‘kite-flying, stargazing and rainbow-chasing’ in all their forms.
www.dca.org.uk
2005 - date
1999 - 2005 Associate Director, FACT / Following a long association with the Foundation for Art & Creative Technology (FACT) I was appointed in early 1999 to the role of Lead Artist on a new building project. During my prior association FACT had grown from being a small body organising the Video Positive biennial of video art into the UK’s leading institution supporting video and new media art. Appointed specifically to work on the FACT Centre project I became the client-side representative on the Design Team for the building and more latterly part of the Executive Team of the organisation. In the role of Associate Director I played a key role in managing the design and delivery of this new arts & media centre. Early involvement in the project led to significant inputs into the successful raising of the £12m needed for the project as well as subsequently leading the process of redefinition of the key aims and objectives of the organisation and designing the structure of the new staff team.
1995 - 2014 Other roles / Member of Visual Arts Panel, Arts Council England (1999–2003)
Member of National Touring Programme Panel, Arts Council England (2000–2003)
Advisor North West Arts Board (1993–2000)
Advisor West Midlands Arts Board (2000–2004)
Jury Member for BAFTA Interactive awards (2003)
Trustee, Open Eye Gallery Liverpool (1995-2002)
Vice-Chair/Chair of Governors, Weatherhead High School Media Arts College (2002–2005)
National Executive member of Visual Arts & Galleries Association (2005-2011)
Chair of VAGA Scotland advisory group (2005-2009)
Member of Learning & Culture Strategy Group, Dundee Community Planning Partnership (2009+)
Board Member Regional Screen Scotland (2008+)
Judge for Dundee Institute of Architects Annual Awards (2008/09/10)
Member of selection panel for ‘Artists Taking the Lead’ - Scotland’s largest ever arts commission for the Cultural Olympiad (2009)
Member of architectural selection panel V&A Dundee (2010)
Founding trustee of Scottish Contemporary Arts Network (2012+)
Core bid group Dundee City of Culture 2017 (2013)
1991 - 2005 FACT - other roles / Prior to working on the development of the FACT Centre I worked with FACT in a freelance capacity on the conception and implementation of a wide range of national initiatives aimed at the development of artists practice in video and new media. This included:
ITEM – Initiated, fundraised and led on a two year national research & development programme linking together artists and technologists, working with partners such as BT and NESTA (2003-5)
tenantspin
- development work to establish and implement a webcasting channel established through a partnership of FACT, artists Superflex and the high-rise tenants of Liverpool. (2000 – 2005)
Sensibilia - Initiated, fundraised and led a 3 year project exploring interactive interpretation methods for public cultural buildings with special reference to those with some form of sensory impairment. Funded by the RSA Art for Architecture scheme and delivered in partnership with North West Disability Arts Forum and architects Austin-Smith: Lord. (2000 – 2003)
Digital Mastering Service
- Initiated, fundraised and led on the procurement and design of the first DVD authoring facility in Europe dedicated to the production of artists’ works. (1998/99)
The Moving Image Touring & Exhibition Service (MITES) Devised and established a national exhibition support service for artists working with video and new media. Launched in 1992, MITES became an essential part of national arts strategy and supported over 1500 projects from 1991 – 2005, providing equipment, training, production and installation support.
1988 - 2003 Other work / New Media Strategy, British Council - author of report providing mapping and scoping of UK media arts activity, together with proposal for future support mechanisms, as part of organisational development at the British Council. (2003)
MIT Media Lab Europe, Dublin -
concept design and re-development of part of the Guinness factory estate in Dublin as a new media cultural venue. (2001)
West Midlands Digital Media Strategy -
professional mentor to the Photography & Digital Media Officer of West Midlands Arts. (1999/2000)
Emergent properties
- major research project for the Arts Council of England, examining models to support the development of new media capital projects. (1998/99)
Photo 98
- Development and planning of the technical and artistic logistics of the public arts programme of the Year of Photography and the Digital Image. (1997/98)
British Art Show
4 - Development and planning of the technical and artistic logistics of this major touring art exhibition. (1995)
Multimedia and the Tate Gallery Liverpool
- A development report looking at the opportunities and impact of multimedia upon the exhibition and interpretation of works of art. (1994)
Facility & Training Manager/Acting Director London Video Access LVA (subsequently LEA/The Lux) was established as the first and principal open-access video facility for artists in the UK. During this period I was employed at LVA I was responsible for working as Acting Director and enacting major re-structuring of the organisation. Main activities of job included working with video artists to assist them on the realisation of projects, managing an extensive professional training programme, liaising with major arts funding bodies such as the Arts Council, Channel 4 and Greater London Arts and developing the resources and profile of the organisation. After spending a period in which I was acting-up as Director of the organisation I led on recruitment of new key staff before leaving to work freelance.
(1988/91)