It is not for the First Minister to tell artists what to create, John Swinney has said.
He addressed invited guests at the headquarters of the Edinburgh International Festival as the capital’s festival season is set to begin.
Mr Swinney told the audience on Thursday he would be a protector of freedom of speech in his time in the top job.
“I also know that freedom of expressing is under greater and greater attack, both at home and abroad,” he said.
“I want to ensure that Scotland, the birthplace of the Enlightenment, remains a country of robust debate and inquiry.
“I firmly believe that art and culture must be able to challenge us, to ask us tough questions, and to force us to look at things from different perspectives.
“And, yes, it must, at times, be allowed to shock and offend us, but it can also heal us.
“Let me be absolutely clear – as First Minister, I will always protect freedom of speech in our country.
“It’s not the First Minister’s job to tell you what to create, nor would I ever seek to do so.”
Mr Swinney added that his and his Government’s role is to assist artists in any way they can.
The First Minister went on to make a plea to the crowd and to wider society – with a particular nod to tech firms – to look at how the arts can be better supported financially as the Government looks to boost funding to £100 million annually in the coming years.
“I’m asking that from crowdfunding to patronage, to philanthropy to local authority support and much more, we all ask ourselves how can we do more to support the arts from the grassroots up?” he said.
“How can we better support emerging artists that don’t necessarily fit the current mould?
“And how, in particular, can Scotland’s emerging businesses in new sectors become the new generation of patrons of the arts and culture in Scotland?
“How do we incentivise a new guard of custodians and investors in Scotland’s creative economy?”
Speaking to journalists after his speech, Mr Swinney said he is open to discussions about new legislation to support the cultural sector.
He said there is a sense that local authorities “might not have a particularly explicit statutory duty to support artistic and cultural activity”, suggesting this area “might need to be strengthened”.
