School of Social and Political Science

Description

The SPS Community Arts Project is a School-wide initiative coordinated by a group of volunteers (academic and professional services) from across SPS. Its main goal is to encourage processes of community rebuilding in the wake of the Covid 19 pandemic, which has greatly – yet heterogeneously – affected staff and students.

Through this collective project we hope to provide space for people to share their stories, strengthen bonds of solidarity through creative processes, and to learn and share skills in a social setting. Some outputs will be ephemeral, others will be digital and material, but hopefully all will enhance the School environment and provoke discussion for many years to come. We intend the project to both look backwards and to think our way forwards in the wake of this transformative experience. 

Sub-projects

The project features a variety of sub-projects – listed below – that aim to provide opportunities for colleagues to come together on a voluntary basis and engage in shared creative endeavours. Both process and outcome are key – and we hope many will join this collaborative project. 

It is possible that colleagues joining in any of our activities may experience feelings of sadness, anxiety or grief. Participation is purely voluntary and colleagues can withdraw at all points. We would also like to remind colleagues of the support services available at Edinburgh, for staff and for students. 

Creative Writing Workshops

Over two creative writing workshops, the University of Edinburgh’s Writer in Residence - Ryan van Winkle - will provide attendees with some tips and strategies to get the creative process started. We’ll work with both poetry and fiction in a manner that is accessible to all skill levels. 

Ryan Van Winkle is an author, artist and producer based in Edinburgh. His second collection, The Good Dark, won the Saltire Society’s 2015 Poetry Book of the Year award. 

He is currently Writer in Residence at the University of Edinburgh and the Schools Writer in Residence for the Citizen project at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. 

He is also the Creative Director of Golden Hour Productions which has been producing innovative live literature experiences since 2006. As a producer at Highlight Arts he has organised festivals and translation workshops in Syria, Pakistan and Iraq. 

His poems have appeared in The American Poetry Review, Modern Poetry in Translation and New Writing Scotland. He was awarded the Jessie Kesson
fellowship at Moniack Mhor in 2018. 

Dates:

• 3 November 2022, 1pm - 2:30pm
  This workshop has taken place.
• 9 February 2023, 1pm - 2:30pm
  This workshop has been cancelled.

Woodwork Projects

Our woodwork projects are based on a collaboration between our woodworker, Dr Jimmy Turner, and members of the SPS community, who will participate on a voluntary basis. 

Dr Jimmy Turner

Dr Jimmy Turner works for The Binks Hub and focuses on developing the use of artistic and creative practices within social science research. Jimmy is a researcher in anthropology and gender studies, and prior to coming to Edinburgh they collaborated with Brazilian academics, NGOs, and artists to investigate ‘Masculinities Otherwise’ in Rio de Janeiro through graffiti, dance and contemporary art. This was the first time that they brought together their academic research and passion for woodworking, producing their first ‘true’ artwork, a flower carved from a piece of discarded construction timber entitled Portrait of a Possible Man, which featured in a collective exhibition in the art gallery Bela Maré.

Woodwork sub-project 1: Cabinet of Memories
During the Covid 19 pandemic, various objects have gained special affective valences. Jimmy will build a customised Cabinet of Memories to give a home to such objects, whose complex meanings cannot be captured easily through language. The cabinet will be built in response to the objects submitted and in conversations with their owners.

Due to space constraints, we will need to curate a selection of objects and to limit objects’ size to ​a maximum of 20cmx20cmx20cm​, with no minimum dimensions. Exceptions to the size rule might be possible, in conversation with the woodworker.  

To kickstart the curation process, we would like to invite colleagues to submit the following materials:

• One to three photos of the object they would like to see displayed. Please include at least one photo of the object next to a common household object (for example, a mug, a pen, a novel etc), just to give a visual sense of scale. 
• A brief description of what it is and why they are submitting it. 
• Any instructions about whether the object should be accompanied by a label in case it is displayed. 

Once the final selection of objects is completed, owners will be in dialogue with the woodworker to decide how the object should be displayed. Please note that the objects selected for the cabinet will need to be available for an extended period. 

The deadline for submitting these materials is 31 March 2023 (Extended from 31 January 2023). 

Add details of your items here.

Woodwork sub-project 2 - Framing
Our woodworker will build several sculptural frames for some of photos produced and submitted under the Collective Chronicle sub-project. The frames will be built in consultation with the photographers and will be displayed in CMB and adjacent buildings. 

Collective Chronicle  

The Collective Chronicle is intended to be a dynamic online repository of text and images produced during and in response to the Covid 19 pandemic. We invite submissions deploying various genres and styles, from literary and visual arts – very broadly understood – that we hope to curate into a multivocal and pluri-media chronicle of the pandemic. Photographic images, text, videos, audio recordings are just some of the many submissions you can send us. 

The call for submission remains open for the entire duration of the project – until June 2024. However, we will work with a few internal deadlines for processing the materials submitted and curating them for the online repository. These are: 

• 31 December 2022 
• 30 June 2023 
• 31 December 2024  
• 30 June 2024 

Submission info - what we'll need from you

• Text - format: ideally Microsoft Word format - no filesize minimum or maximum
• Photography - format: TIF, JPG, PNG - the key thing here is resolution and needs to be as high as possible. Guidelines: 300 DPI, 2480 x 3508 pixels
• Video - format: .mov / .mp4 
• Audio - format: .mp3

Submission info - where to send your content

All content should be added to the Sharepoint Directory in the Collective Chronicle folder. Create a new folder for yourself and add your materials. We'll also ask you to complete a wee permissions form to allow us to use and share anything you submit.

If you have any questions on materials / file size please contact the Communications and Engagement team.

Photography Workshop

We will be asking staff to dig out their favourite photos they took during lockdown and bring them along to the workshop (either digitally or in print). The workshop will then centre upon how to create a companion image to their lockdown photo. Over the course of the 90-minute workshop, participants will learn the fundamentals of composition, lighting and easy-to-use camera technical skills. All types of cameras are welcome, including smartphone cameras. With these skills, our participants will be suitably inspired to go out and take their own beautiful companion photos and submit them for entry to our SPS Collective Chronicle. Those selected for exhibition will be professionally printed and hand framed.

Date and Location
17 February 2023, 10am -11.30am
Violet Laidlaw Room CMB. 

The workshop is free but please register on Eventbrite here.

Rebecca Holmes – Photographer
Rebecca has been photographing professionally for over two decades, primarily in family and commercial photography but also teaching and facilitating photography workshops for corporate clients. She aims to take a fun and relaxed approach both as a person and as a trainer. She prides herself on converting tech-speak into easy-to-understand information, and working in a very hands-on way. Rebecca firmly believes photography doesn’t have to be difficult and that with just a small amount of understanding and a few tweaks to technique anyone can significantly improve their images. 

Her work can be seen at rebeccaholmesphotography.com.

Collective Playlist 

The SPS Pandemic Playlist - part of the School's Community Arts Project - is now open for submissions. The playlist will consist of music staff and students listened to and created during the Covid-19 pandemic.  During the pandemic, lockdown conditions changed how music was played and heard. Not only were people listening to more music at home, they were also participating in new musical occasions such as balcony concerts, live-streamed performances and self-isolation recording projects. This playlist will bring together a variety of contributions. The idea is to create a diverse compilation including:  Music that gained new significance for you during the pandemic Music you discovered during the pandemic Music you wrote about the pandemic Music you performed or recorded in lockdown Music you shared with others to support them during the pandemic All musical genres, styles and traditions are welcome. First-round submissions must be received by 19 May 2023 (there will be additional opportunities to submit your entry). All submissions will then be added to a YouTube playlist for you to share and enjoy. Find out more and submit your songs here.

SSPS Choral Music 

On 8 December 2022, the SPS Choir will perform several musical pieces that respond to the Covid 19 pandemic.

Never To Forget (H. Goodall) is a powerfully emotive choral work written in honour of the NHS health and care workers in the UK who died caring for others during the COVID-19 pandemic. The text comprises their names, each sung separately in turn, in a poignant and moving homage. The piece is designed as a living tribute, to memorialise their dedication and sacrifice through each performance. This is a work of remembrance, respect and gratitude for these courageous workers, never to be forgotten. 

The choir will perform three other pieces, which are meant to be uplifting ones about friendship (With a Little Help), hope (On a Clear Blue Morning), and light in the darkness of winter (Glow).

 Please join us in the CMB Foyer on 8 of December at 12pm.

Calligraphy Workshop 

This workshop with artist Panna Chauhan will use calligraphy to explore written word and pandemic experiences. Attendees will learn some basic skills in calligraphy with the aim of creating word art to complement the proposed School of Social and Political Science book of pandemic testimonies. Throughout the workshop participants will have the opportunity to use calligraphy in creative ways to express themselves and their experiences over the pandemic.

Panna Chauhan is a calligraphy artist based in Edinburgh. Since being taught calligraphy as a college student, all of Panna's art work has incorporated lettering of some kind, whether abstract or traditional, and whether it is legible or not. Over the last 3 years Panna has been expressing herself through book sculptures, which she has combined with calligraphy. This has led to a few exhibitions and also her own studio to work on creating paper sculptures with Edinburgh Palette.

In the taster workshop, we will be looking at the basics of calligraphy, starting with the holding of the pen, and learning the traditional Foundational Script. We will then progress onto creative ways to use the letters you have just learnt and play around with creating a beautiful abstract calligraphy piece too.

Date and Location
28 March 2023, 3pm - 5pm                                                        
Violet Laidlaw Room CMB

The workshop is free but please register on Eventbrite here.

 

Mural

This subproject is in development. If you are interested in participating, please get in touch with us here.

Quilted Banner

This subproject is in development. If you are interested in participating, please get in touch with us here.