Scottish Storytelling Centre

Posted on August 19, 2017 by artsnfaffs

Want entertainment in its purest form? Look no further than the Scottish Storytelling Centre (SSC) a creative hub off of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. This bespoke building focuses mostly on spoken word performance, stripped of microphones and scripts. Bustling year-round, SSC is particularly busy in festival season.

Marketing and Communications Manager, Lindsay Corr said: “Each summer we become a venue for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and our tagline this year is ‘local talent, international context’. All our shows and performers are based in Scotland, many in Edinburgh, but all deal with international themes.”

These themes include migration, fake news and LGBT rights. SSC has broken ground by breaking down many of these issues for its younger audiences.

Corr explained: “One of our Fringe shows was At A Stretch – a phenomenal mime and movement piece – about two girls who fall in love and don’t really know what is happening. This show is targeted at ages six plus. At A Stretch is a kids friendly LGBT+ show; we think it’s important to cover diverse stories in a way that is accessible to children.”

Making narratives accessible to everyone is something that SSC is passionate about, as Corr said: “People can dip their toe into storytelling at our Café Voices events, which are running during the Fringe. These events are hosted by a storyteller, but are also open floor – meaning the audience doesn’t have to get up and narrate, but they are welcome to.”

This spirit of inclusion runs throughout SSC’s 17 Fringe shows, including Is this a Dagger – Andy Cannon’s historical analysis of Macbeth, (More) Moira Monologues – with Alan Bissett discussing Brexit and Indie Ref 2 from Scotland’s working class woman perspective – and The Loud Poets, who perform poetry for the masses, accompanied by a live band.

“The Loud Poets believe storytelling is for everyone and is something everyone can do – you don’t have to have gone to Oxford University to practice it and it doesn’t have to be pompous,” Corr said.

True to this sentiment, SSC has worked throughout its history with outreach programmes, bringing storytelling to disadvantaged groups.

Corr recalled: “Over the years the Scottish Storytelling Centre has had lots of outreach projects on the go; including Living Voices, which helped older and younger people find common ground amid the digital divide. The project taught older people digital skills and younger people the art of storytelling, to bring their two words together.”

Another project SSC undertook, in partnership with BSL:UPTAKE at Heriot-Watt University was Stories in the Air. In this project SSC worked with BSL interpreters, to boost their narrative skills and make storytelling more inclusive for deaf audiences.

Corr added: “We are also now running a sensory storytelling project for children with additional needs; The Story Kist creates a relaxed space with props that children can touch and smell while experiencing a story, which is run by two highly trained and interactive storytellers.”

A relaxed environment is key to any storytelling and it was this realisation that led to the founding of the SSC building.

Corr said: “The Scottish Storytelling Centre started life as part of an arts centre. Within this centre there was a group of storytellers that had been performing all over the country, but they wanted to have a stand-alone national hub that promoted storytelling, instead of it being an add-on in venues such as theatres.”

So after sourcing £3.5m, recruiting Malcolm Fraser Architects, and undergoing a five- year development, the SSC opened its doors on 6 June 2006.

“The SSC building is gorgeous,” Corr enthused.

“It’s the first purpose-built architectural frame for a centre of storytelling, which has been important in providing good acoustics that cater to different storytelling styles and flexible spaces for events,” she added.

To truly appreciate the Centre, Corr encouraged people to drop in.

She said: “The best way to understand what we do is to attend one of our events. Storytelling is entertainment in its purest form, without the barriers of technology, and we want to help people enjoy it.”

Edinburgh Fringe for All

Posted on July 16, 2017 by artsnfaffs

Part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe thrill is navigating its many shows and people to find hidden gems. However, if you are a visitor with additional needs this can be daunting. Imagine tackling Fleshmarket Close with a cane or deciphering a Princes Street poet via hearing aid.

Fringe Community Engagement and Access Manager Lyndsey McLean said: “The city of Edinburgh is one of the Fringe’s biggest assets, but it also presents one of its biggest challenges; its medieval and Georgian architecture creates an immediate physical barrier, which in many cases cannot be altered. Venues for the Festival Fringe often appear non-traditional theatre spaces, so we work to help venues, performers and audiences improve accessibility.”

Improving venue accessibility can mean anything from installing a wheelchair ramp, to offering autism friendly shows. With such a variety of considerations, Edinburgh Fringe has once again collaborated with specialists at Attitude is Everything to optimise its efforts.

McLean said: “This year we are piloting a Venue Access Award, developed in partnership with Attitude is Everything. This provides venue managers with minimum standard of accessibility guidelines and offers different levels of achievement. This year audiences should start to see venues displaying Venue Access Award certificates.”

The certificates are a natural progression of the projects that Edinburgh Fringe has been undertaking since its founding.

In 2011, Edinburgh Fringe introduced its access bookings team to provide a personal service for disabled audience members. Now the team continues to build its access information database, and has trained customer service staff to provide improved booking services for disabled audience members.

Alternatively, customers who want to complete bookings online can establish a show’s accessibility via the Edinburgh Festival Fringe website or app.

McLean explained: “Audience members can filter their show search by accessibility. This allows you to see which shows are in venues that have level entry, wheelchair space, disabled toilets, and so on.”

She added: “Alternatively, if you find a show you would like to see – either online or in the printed programme – you can look for the access icons next to each entry. If you need more information then you can get in touch with the access bookings team, who will be happy to help.”

The Fringe booking process has also become friendlier with the introduction of free personal assistant tickets, allowing carers or friends of disabled customers to attend shows with them at no added cost.

After making it easier for disabled customers to see its shows, Edinburgh Fringe sought to give them more reason to want to see its shows. To do this the Fringe became an Attitude Champion.

McLean explained: “Being an Attitude Champion means setting goals that range from committing to ensuring that Fringe Society organised events are accessible to everyone, to creating an environment that encourages deaf and disabled people to work and/or perform at the Fringe.”

2017 Fringe shows that focus on disabled issues include include: Tom Skelton: Blind Man’s Bluff – a comedy in which Tom talks about his and many more blind lives; Blank Tiles – a show about life after an Alzheimer’s diagnosis; and Bella Freak: Unwritten – a comedy show on three disabled individuals’ stories. These are just a taste of the many accessible shows that Edinburgh Fringe has to offer, the rest can be found at the Fringe website.

McLean concluded: “The Fringe Society works to make sure that the Fringe is as accessible and inclusive as it can be.”

Scottish Poetry Library

Posted on May 3, 2017 by artsnfaffs

Hankering for a haiku or starving for a sonnet? Then look no further than the Scottish Poetry Library. Situated just off of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, it’s filled with people to help you find just the thing! Even if the thing you want is an opaque verse from childhood.

Finding missing poems is all part of the service, as the Poetry Library’s Communications Manager, Colin Waters, explained.

“People tend to call or email with a few lines of a poem they wish to track down, then our librarians call on our collection, before searching lines, trying variants and consulting colleagues to find it.”

Often people remember poems from milestones in their lives, but forget the title or the author.

Waters explained: “People often want a poem read at a wedding, funeral or indeed at a political meeting. In Scotland, when we experience important moments in our lives we like to hear what the poets have to say about them.”

This vice for verse is, Waters recons, the reason the country has produced so many world class poets.

He said: “The mature generation of Scottish poets – such as Don Paterson, Kathleen Jamie and John Burnside – have won every prize going; and the Scottish Poetry Library is the best place to discover more about this wonderful heritage.”

While Scotland’s poetry is centuries old, the Scottish Poetry Library is young, having been founded in 1984. A brain child of the poet Tessa Ransford, the library first inhabited rooms within Edinburgh’s Tweedale Court, before outgrowing this space.

Waters recalled: “The Library’s collection grew, so in 1999 (after extensive fund raising) the Scottish Poetry Library moved to its current building at Crichton’s Close.”

But the work didn’t stop there; in 2015 the library underwent refurbishment to include a new entrance, sheltered terrace, further storage, recording room and event spaces.

Now the SPL is the only poetry library in Europe housed in its own specially-constituted building.

“The Library has evolved beyond bricks-and-mortar and we are exploring ways of making its poems easier to access beyond the building. We offer postal loans, our catalogue is online and people can download our poetry posters wherever they live,” Waters said.

The library has also increased its interactivity with fortnightly podcasts; as well as email, Facebook and Twitter campaigns. In 2011, the SPL’s Twitter feed was judged to be the fourth most influential in the library world.

Waters quipped: “The virtual door is always open.”

In fact, the Scottish Poetry Library website plays a vital role in recruiting its volunteers. Those interested in helping at the library can fill in an online form describing the skills they could contribute, as well as those they wish to gain.

The library also has a lot to offer recreational visitors.

Water said: “In July the Saltire Prize-winning poet Ryan Van Winkle will be hosting a SPL event at Jupiter Artland.”

He added: “The Scottish Poetry Library has a reputation for experimenting; in the past year its events have featured drag queens, throat singing, and film-poems. So far this year’s events have been somewhat more restrained, but we have interesting shows to announce this autumn.”

Fools and Heroes Glasgow

Posted on February 11, 2017 by artsnfaffs

LARP or Live Action Role Play is latest form of gaming to capture the UKs imagination. Using improv, costumes and outdoor settings, it is literally a breath of fresh air.

“It’s similar to games like Dungeons and Dragons, but instead of sitting around the table rolling dice you put on costumes and become the characters,” LARP veteran Claire Main said.

Main works as Glasgow Branch Liaison Officer to LARP group Fools and Heroes, in which she has gamed for four years.

She said: “LARPing has been around for quite a long time; in the eighties we spotted the first groups in the UK. In the nineties the Cuckoos Nest was set up as part of Glasgow University LARP society, but it has now become its own separate entity. Lots of LARP groups have now sprung up in Glasgow.”

Although one of many, Main explained that the Fools and Heroes group works as part of a wider network.

She said: “The society, as a whole, works by allowing members of one local branch to play in the games of others throughout the country. So you can play as your character and travel as them throughout the UK.”

Main recalled: “I had a phone call this week from a couple in the Plymouth branch of Fools and Heroes, wanting to match our LARP session dates with those of their holiday, so that they could join the game while on their break.”

She added: “I have friends all over the UK now that I wouldn’t have met otherwise; it is a wonderful social network!”

Although part of a national scene, Fools and Heroes Glasgow branch practices most in Mugdock Country Park.

Main set the scene: “The park has a lot of terrain to play with. It has an old World War II bunker that can be adapted to be a trap in the game; it also has open fields and marsh that can be farmland, battlefields or graveyards. Nature can set a wonderful backdrop to get your mind going. Some of the best games that I have had have been when the mist has come rolling in or there has been snow on the ground.”

She added: “Nature is however, only a starting point. Its up to the player to get immersed into the character and for the referees to set each situation up well, so that the game feels authentic.”

This authentic vibe is created by splitting the game and group in half; the first half sees one lot of fools and heroes assume characters on a noble quest, while the second lot will play the villains and damsels in distress. Then after lunch participants swap around, so that everyone gets a chance to play both signature and supporting characters.

Signature characters have become synonymous with LARPing, as many players use the medium to become their idols. However, Main explained that is not quite how it works in the world of Fools and Heroes.

She said: “All LARP groups are different, but Fools and Heroes sees you play one main character of your own design. You will start of as a primary character, such as a squire, then as your character grows in experience and wealth they can progress. For instance, after a while your character can join a guild, join a church, learn magic and develop into an epic hero.

“This development allows you to learn as the same time as your character, for instance the first time your character encounters a troll they won’t know what to do, so a more experienced character will need to step in and show you. Then as you learn and progress you will help those less experienced.”

This learning also expands players’ life skills.

Main explained: “It gets you exercising and encourages you to develop other skills on the side. I have learned to sew, knit, crochet all through LARPing.”

While the game is progressive, it is high contact, so not suitable for everyone.

Main cautioned: “Fools and Heroes LARP is a physical game, it involves running and combat so it would be more challenging for people with mobility restrictions, however there are all kinds of LARPing out there, so it is up to the player to find one that suits them.”

Likewise Fools and Heroes only allows full membership at the age of eighteen, due to its adult content, but Main explains that there are other groups out there that will cater to younger players.

She concluded: “It is hard to describe what LARPing is, so I would say to anyone that is curious about it to just come along and give it a go. It would lend itself well to team building and an alternative day out.”

Glasgow Paranormal Investigations

Posted on October 17, 2016 by artsnfaffs

Exploring the unknown in Scotland is Glasgow Paranormal Investigations, one of the country’s oldest ghost hunting clubs. Founded in 2008, GPI investigates places like castles and military bases; as well as businesses and homes.

In fact, it was haunted house that led to the club’s formation.

Investigator Billy Binnie said: He said: “One night I was at home watching TV, with my back to the door, when my wife went upstairs for a shower. I heard her come back downstairs, open and then shut the door and go back upstairs. I didn’t think anything of it until she came back to watch TV.

“I asked her what she had forgotten and she was confused; she said that she hadn’t been down the stairs until right then. But I had felt and heard the door open and close. So if it wasn’t her then what was it?”

Intrigued by their experience, both Billy and Kim Binnie attended a ghost-hunting group, where they met paranormal investigators Lisa Maxwell and James Hume.

Binnie recalled: “After going to a few of these meetings we decided we could do much better ourselves; so we broke off and formed our own group, which became Glasgow Paranormal Investigations.”

Now the four work with ‘relief investigators’ to track paranormal activity.

Binnie said: “We can help people understand what is going on their houses; we can track the paranormal activity and attempt to communicate with spirits through our technology.”

The group does not however perform exorcisms.

Binnie explained: “For that you would need a priest or a really good medium.”

He added: “If people have genuine poltergeist activity then they should seek help, not attempt to tackle it themselves. Care should be taken when dealing with spirits.”

Despite this warning, Binnie perceives ghostly activity as a positive thing.

He said: “Belief in the paranormal has given me more hope in life after death. It makes me think that when people die it is not just the end; that they continue on in another plane of existence.”

While firm in his belief, Binnie wants to find more evidence of ghosts.

He said: “Paranormal activity centres around personal experience, which can be hard to translate into solid evidence.

“For example when GPI went to Renfrew Baths, we heard a faint cry about four or five times in a row. Of the eight of us in the room, six of us heard it. No one in the room made the noise, but I am at a loss to say what did. I would say it was a spirit, but I can’t prove it beyond doubt because I didn’t have a camera on everyone.”

Video cameras are just some of the technology GPI use to track ghosts.

Binnie said: “We now use spirit boxes to scan radio frequencies and look for manipulation. This allows us to ask questions and hear answers in real time.”

As well as spirit boxes the club uses electromagnetic frequency (EMF) detectors, video and thermal imaging cameras.

Binnie said: “Thermal imaging cameras detect change in heat, so you can see hand and feet prints left by spirits. The cameras used to be thousands of pounds to buy, but now you can get ones that you plug into iPads and capture the thermal images through its screen.”

Evidence of the clubs’ findings can be seen on its website, but Binnie said this is no substitute for a live investigation.

He added: “Sometimes when you are just about to pack up the tracking technology goes crazy or you hear an unusual noise. Sometimes when you are chatting as a group the spirit can feed of your energy; or seek to get the energy directed back to them and let you know they are around.”

While exciting, Binnie said GPI work was hard.

He explained: “The club is not for everyone. There can be hours and hours of video footage and audio files to go back and examine after an investigation takes place.”

However, enthusiasts are always welcome to try the club.

Binnie concluded: “The best way to join GPI is to come along on our investigations and get to know us. We have very high standards/expectations from members. So at the moment it is a case of working alongside us as a relief investigator until everyone is happy.”

To join GPI gatherings enthusiasts can find the details on the group’s Facebook page.

Travelogue

Posted on March 17, 2015 by artsnfaffs

If you enjoy Nordic fiction, then why not explore the landscape through visual art? This voyage can be taken in Glasgow’s Briggait (studio) through Clive A Brandon’s Travelogue exhibition (running April 27 to June 5).

Travelogue showcases Brandon’s work from residencies in Norway, Scotland, Sweden and Iceland.

He explained: “I had visited Scandinavia several times before Travelogue and had a yearning to explore these countries more deeply. I loved the atmosphere and wanted to experience what it was like to live and work there, even if only for short time.”

In April 2013 Brandon left for a 20 month journey through Northern Europe, completing residencies that examined natural and manufactured elements of remote places.

He said: “I wanted to see how my work, which had become very ‘urban’, would develop in natural landscapes.”

Brandon explored these landscapes through excursions; making photos, sketches and watercolours that he combined with recycled materials and local information. These became a bricolage of material.

Brandon recalled: “When travelling I couldn’t carry very much, so I worked out a basic art kit with a watercolour travel set, acrylic paint, brushes, canvas, watercolour pads, moleskin sketchbooks, scissors, pens/pencils and graph paper. I made a rule that this all had to fit into an A3 folder and pencil case.”

On arrival at each residency, Brandon scoured the area for base materials such as cardboard. This often involved rummaging through recycling bins or asking strangers for shoe boxes.

He said: “I did get some strange looks, but if anyone asked what I was doing I just told them I was an artist, which normally excuses all sorts of behaviour.”

At the end of each residency Brandon would package most of his work and post it back home.

He added: “I left different things at each place; sometimes pieces just wouldn’t fit in postage, other times I donated paintings or sketches to my hosts.”

Meeting interesting people was – Brandon said – one of the highlights of his trip. He listed other highlights as: challenging his work patterns, having to be resourceful, seeing amazing countries and living like a local.

However living like a local was not always easy.

Brandon explained: “Before Travelogue I had never done any residencies; so arriving in another country without familiar studios, friends or materials was hard.

“The first day of each residency was a bit strange; I would arrive to an empty room and wonder how I was going to make something from nothing.

“My first actions were normally to get some ideas up on the walls, rearrange the space and make it feel like mine.”

After setting up, Brandon absorbed his environments by collecting materials and making sketches, this – he said – helped him to relax and built towards his final projects.

He added: “I’m really happy with the body of work I produced, which is why I was keen to collectively show it when I returned.”

Before his travels Brandon lived and worked in England, having studied an MA at Wimbledon and BA at Leicester De Montfort.

Upon returning to the UK Brandon started touring his exhibition.

He said: “I found that travelling can be a brilliant experience that can change your work forever.

“To any artist considering working abroad I would say: plan ahead, set goals (but have an open mind and avoid being too prescribed) then get to know the local people and arts scenes.”

International residency opportunities can be found at Res artists’, Transartists’ and WASPS studios’ websites.

WASPS studios hold special resonance with Brandon, as they are hosting his Travelogue exhibition.

Brandon said: “This is my first Scottish show and first solo show in the UK, so it’s a very exciting time.

“I hope people will get a lot out of Travelogue; it is a large body of work that allows viewers to immerse themselves in the sense of place. It shows how palettes change with the seasons, and landscapes shift from rolling hills, to forests to volcanic areas.”

Travelogue dates and locations can be found on Brandon’s website.

artsnfaffs

Julie Shennan

Tag Archives: Scotland