Community arts projects – Page 3

Light, heat and the Alhambra: a view from McDonald Road Library

Meet a man of parts. Sunday’s lecture in McDonald Road Library is by an academic combining a remarkable cluster of interests and talents. Tariq Muneer – poet and Professor of Energy Engineering at Edinburgh Napier University – will present Tales of Alhambra and Moorish Spain from 2-4pm on Sunday 18th July.

Poetry (garden) in motion

Is this poetry in motion or poetry parked? Either way, the Poetry Garden will bloom for a day in Castle Street on Friday 16th July between 10 am and 3pwith the help of a mobile library, some potted plants – and of course the essential poetry.

Leith drama workshops in the Festival of Politics

It’s official – if a little scary – we’re in the Festival of Politics along with Annie Lennox, Mark Thomas and John Prescott. Admittedly we’re not all on the same platform at the same time. But the News Group are delighted to be in the fantastic programme of events taking place at the Scottish Parliament in August.

In search of a safe place. Refugee Week in Edinburgh

What if we shut our doors to all the people traumatised by wars and persecution, would we live in a stable economy once we had selected our choice citizens?

A thought-provoking question is posed by Joyce Juma Phiri on a flyer advertising Edinburgh events during Refugee Week from 13-19 June. With luck the events will provoke plenty of thought and action too. Not least a film about young Afghan asylum seekers which could hardly be more topical.

Cafe culture brews revolution in Leith

The cafe was always a place where you could go and talk about changing the world. But now a bigger change is happening; something that requires less talk and more action…

Action points: there’s lots of exciting stuff simmering below the surface which we are not quite ready to tell you about. But one festival event is ready and raring to go public. Don’t miss The Legacy the latest Flashback Drama Group production during Leith Festival on June 17, 18 and 19 in Out of the Blue Drill Hall.

Smile please you’re in Leith

All smiles: Maria Masur-Grieve and just visible behind her Marek Pietryzykowski

Politicians take note. Sometimes the simplest ideas win the most hearts, minds and votes. Last night’s political drama in Fort Community Wing ended with a competition for a project to change life in Leith for the better. And the clear winners of a small cash prize to make it happen were Maria and Marek for an idea that costs nothing to put into action. Smiling Leith simply asks everyone to smile three times a day to a complete stranger.

Be the change (and win a prize to make it happen)

It’s not just make-believe. Actors in Change – the political drama coinciding with the general election campaign – will invite the audience to vote for changes they want to happen in real life. But this election involves community organisations who work for positive change and the winning votes come with a small cash prize. Which is why ACTive Inquiry is inviting local groups to performances, starting with Thursday’s event in Fort Community Wing (see also last blog). This is where you come in…

Change – a real life political drama at a theatre near you

‘I’ve never seen anything like it! It is such an interesting and dynamic way to explore issues. I really liked how the audience interacted with and influenced the play.’

While politicians debate, a Leith community theatre invites local people to explore what positive change means and how we can make it happen. Change is the name of a unique theatre project which opens with a first performance at Fort Community Wing on Thursday 29 April at 7 pm.

Defining change in the theatre of politics

CHANGE – a theatre project during the General Election
Saturday 10th April 10am-1pm, Pilmeny Youth Centre, FREE

So what do we mean by change? Can we do more to change things than just voting every four or five years?

With questions like these, Leith-based theatre company ACTive Inquiry invites local people to help create a piece of real-life theatre exploring change for performance and debate – deliberately timed to coincide with the General Election campaign.

Meet Jo (or Joe) the active citizen

Racing for life: picture by Nick Gardner

What is an active citizen? If I was being very flippant I would say it is the kind of person who comes out on a Saturday morning to talk about the big news stories of the day. No, not just talk. Active citizenship in the ACTive Inquiry sense means moving, listening, looking, feeling and doing. At one point I found myself crouching on the floor connecting with the lives – and deaths – of people thousands of miles away.

Don’t let that image put you off. The Newsgroup – the inspiration of Gavin Crichton of ACTive Inquiry – is an extraordinary experience, by turns moving, humbling and liberating. I must admit on that particular Saturday morning I had second thoughts as I rushed through breakfast to get to Pilmeny Youth Centre on time. By lunchtime I couldn’t believe three hours had raced by.

The workshop combines drama techniques with open space process. So this morning’s group – aged 16 to 60 and representing people from Japan to Joppa – begin by choosing the most pressing news story of the moment and end by discussing what active citizens can do about it. In the process we begin to build a picture of Jo (or Joe) the active citizen. (see Ben Stollery’s notes below).

We choose Haiti (other topics on the list were bankers, Murdoch’s media domination, surveillance by satellite, and the Iraq inquiry). Although at times I feel uncomfortable – what right have I to imagine how it feels to live or die through that devastating earthquake – it is much more than a dramatic exercise. I am left with a lasting connection which makes each news story more real, more relevant, more personal (though of course writing this some weeks later, Haiti has already dropped from the headlines). [See Mercy Corps for latest]

Perhaps everyone should join a Newsgroup, not least every politician and every policy maker – anyone whose decisions shape other people’s lives. It is a wonderfully stimulating, liberating and humanising way of looking at the world.

If the idea appeals to you, why not come to the next Newsgroup workshop on Saturday 6 March at Pilmeny Youth Centre on the corner of Buchanan Street and Dalmeny Street.

We’ll come back to the subject of active citizenship in future blogs. Right now, here’s Ben Stollery’s notes from the January workshop.

BUILDING A PICTURE OF JO / JOE

We considered the situation in Haiti after the recent devastating earthquake, particularly in regard of the impact of the country’s international debt. What could Jo/e do?

Learn about the country
Not to feel guilty about not knowing very much about the country’s situation already
Learn about any involvement our own country has had in creating the context for Haiti’s situation (foreign policies, holiday industry etc)
Examine what our on-going stake in this situation is; ie what are the long-term/institutional policies (such as aid, trade, exploitation of raw materials) that have influenced Haiti’s situation. Learn the difference between ’emergency’ and other types of aid
Learn what other organisations are already doing to address the debt issue eg. Jubilee Scotland
Improve our communication (with one another)
Be wary of rushing to intervene before reflecting on all of the above

It’s not just an exercise. Ben adds “I thought you might be interested in this update on Haiti’s debt situation (good news!) on the Jubilee Scotland “

This is an ‘Open View’ from Fay Young, co-ordinator Leith Open Space website and Opening Doors Shadow Scheme. Your views are welcome.