The Scottish Association for Asian Studies was founded to encourage interest in Asian counties, their languages, cultures and societies within Scotland. It was established by a group of members of Scottish Universities. Their proposed activities included the issue of a newsletter, organisation of public lectures and the holding of periodical conferences, with the first at the University of Aberdeen in May 1975.
The Scottish Arts Council (Scottish Gaelic: Comhairle Ealain na h-Alba, Scots: Scots Airts Cooncil) was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the Scottish Government as well as National Lottery funds received via the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The Scottish Arts Council was formed in 1994 following a restructuring of the Arts Council of Great Britain, but had existed as an autonomous body since a royal charter of 1967. In 2010 it merged with Scottish Screen to form Creative Scotland.