Government to make unseen art more accessible to public

THE Scottish Government is to list all state-owned works of art in its offices so they can be made accessible for public viewing.

Cabinet Secretary John Swinney said details of all artwork at Victoria Quay in Leith is now available at the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, and officials are currently cataloguing the government's other offices.

Mr Swinney said: "Requests for any item to go on public display would be considered positively."

He was responding to a question from Lothians SNP MSP Ian McKee, who asked how many public works of art were kept in private offices. He said: "One can only speculate as to why these publicly owned artworks were never listed in the eight years of the Lib/Lab Executive or decades of the Scottish Office before that." Who knows what may have been left gathering dust?"