Tag: Penny Stone

RESISTANCE: North Edinburgh Fights Back

NORTH EDINBURGH ACTIVISTS GO TO TOWN

NORTH Edinburgh community activists are taking their message to town this afternoon with two events taking place at art galleries in the city centre.

The events have been built around artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen’s RESISTANCE photo exhibition, which runs at the Modern 2 gallery on Belford Road until 4th January.

First up, community stalwarts Anna Hutchison and Willie Black will reflect on campaigns past and present in a panel discussion in the National Gallery at 12.45.

With so many years of campaigning experience Anna and Willie have a host of stories to share and, having known the pair for the best part of thirty years, I’ll be there to try to keep the event running to time!

The free event is sold out, but you can still register to watch online.

Later in the afternoon, two North Edinburgh groups have been working together on an ambitious project that encapsulates North Edinburgh’s spirit of resistance.

The result of the collaboration is the Solidarity Wins: Creative Resistance in North Edinburgh exhibition, which opens at The Portrait Gallery on Queen Street from 2pm today (details below).

It promises to be very good and it’s free – don’t miss it!

The details of today’s events:

RESISTANCE|NORTH EDINBURGH PANEL DISCUSSION

Free – Booking essential SOLD OUT

Book tickets

PICTURE: Craig McLean, Outside Drylaw Police station, community campaign GRASP protesting against Police harassment and violence, 2001

The Resistance exhibition chronicles 100 years of protest across Britain from 1903–2003. Using the exhibition as a starting point, activists Willie Black and Anna Hutchison alongside chair Dave Pickering, editor of the North Edinburgh News and Information Worker at Granton Information Centre, discuss North Edinburgh community activism, campaigns and actions, and their relationship and solidarity with local, national and international protests and change.

All tickets for the live event have been snapped up, but you can watch the discussion online in a streamed version of the live event.

Ticketholders will be sent a joining link before the event to either watch live or view the recording later. 

SOLIDARITY WINS: CREATIVE RESISTANCE in NORTH EDINBURGH

Solidarity Wins: Creative Resistance in North Edinburgh Exhibition Launch

2pm – 4pm

National Galleries of Scotland, The Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street, EH2 1J

Celebration with food, song and creative activities in the Contemporary Space of the Portrait Gallery. Art works, archive films and research material gathered by Art for Grown Ups and Royston Wardieburn Arts & Culture Group.

Join us for an afternoon of creativity, community and conversation celebrating North Edinburgh’s spirit of resistance.

As part of the Resistance exhibition, the National Galleries of Scotland’s Community Development programme has been working with North Edinburgh groups to create responsive work inspired by the area’s long history of community resistance.

Workshops have included song writing, poetry, photo-montage and exploring photographer Craig MacLean’s back catalogue of North Edinburgh activism, all of which will result in an riso-graph exhibition at the Portrait gallery in November.

As well as this North Edinburgh Arts worked with Local Cinema to programme films as part of their ‘Local Resistance’ programme.

Each screening event included a creative element, one of which included the Resistance choir performing their collaboratively penned song ‘Solidarity Wins: A Song for Greater Pilton‘, along with some well known songs on power of solidarity and friendship.

Thanks to song writing facilitator and choir leader Penny Stone and Tinderbox Jed Milroy and artists Sam Rutherford, Jj Fadaka and Megan Rudden, and all those involved so far!

The programme is a partnership with North Edinburgh Arts Art 4 Grown Ups and Royston Wardieburn Community Centre’s Arts and Culture Group.

IMAGE (above): Collaborative piece by Art 4 Grown Ups members, framed by Muirhouse anti-racism campaign image, 1991.

If anyone is free 2 – 4pm today, it’s the launch of ‘Solidarity Wins: Creative Resistance in North Edinburgh‘ exhibition at the Portrait Gallery, which has been a collaboration between North Edinburgh Arts’ Art 4 Grown Ups project and Royston Wardieburn Community Centre’s Arts and Culture Group (writes HOLLY YEOMAN).

Together they have reflected and responded to North Edinburgh activism and campaigns over the years. There is a community lunch catered by Empty Kitchens, Full Hearts and we will be singing our anthem ‘Solidarity Wins: A Song for Greater Pilton‘ at around 3pm-ish(!)

The exhibition will run till April, and we welcome community groups who might want to visit. If interested please email hyeoman@nationalgalleries.org

Holly Yeoman

Be part of a Summer of Resistance!

TOMORROW: SONGS OF PROTEST WORKSHOP

TUESDAY 19 AUGUST: PHOTOMONTAGE ART WORKSHOP

ALL WELCOME!

Photomontaging Resistance Workshop and Community Lunch at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre

THURSDAY 5th & THURSDAY 19th AUGUST at RWCC

There is also a follow-up Songs of Protest workshop  TOMORROW morning (Thursday 31st July) from 10 – 12.30 at North Edinburgh Arts.   

Penny Stone will be introducing  more protest songs before we get down to writing a few more verses for a new North Edinburgh protest song!

Today: Songs of Protest workshop at North Edinburgh Arts

THURSDAY 24th JULY from 10am – 12.30pm

We’ve been doing a summer of resistance programme at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre over the last few months to tie in with Steve McQueen’s  ‘Resistance‘  photography exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art.

Its brilliant and couldn’t  have arrived at a better time. 

Anyway as part of our summer programme we have been organising joint sessions with North Edinburgh Arts groups.  The first one is songs of protest tomorrow morning with Penny Stone at North Edinburgh Arts. 

All welcome!

Lynn McCabe

I Am The Song: Boo Hewerdine writes a new song for Luminate’s Dementia Inclusive Singing Network

Luminate, Scotland’s creative ageing organisation, has just released a new song written by singer/songwriter Boo Hewerdine, for their network of dementia inclusive singing groups and choirs across Scotland to sing.  

I Am The Song was recorded last month at Castlesound Studios in East Lothian and includes vocals by award-winning singer Hannah Rarity, Boo Hewerdine and members of Musselburgh-based dementia inclusive singing group Let’s Sing. 

The music is performed by Iain Sandilands on drums/percussion and Boo Hewerdine on guitar. There is also music for piano accompaniment available for use which was provided by jazz pianist and composer Dave Milligan.  

Let’s Sing led by song leader, singer and composer Penny Stone, meets weekly and supports people living with dementia in the local community by learning and singing a cappella harmony songs together.

Working with Penny and Stephen Deazley, who is Luminate’s Community Music Consultant, the choir recorded the final version of I Am The Song in just two hours.  

Let’s Sing at Castlesound Studios with Boo Hewerdine, Hannah Rarity, Iain Sandilands, Penny Stone, and Stephen Deazley recording I Am The Song. Photo credit Louise Mather. 

I Am The Song builds on the success of Travel These Ways – an earlier collection of songs created by Luminate during the pandemic for people living with dementia. The collection included two songs by award-winning musician Karine Polwart and still continues to be used widely by Scotland’s Dementia Inclusive Singing Network today.  

The Dementia Inclusive Singing Network includes singing groups and choirs based all over Scotland, as well as other community groups and care providers who recognise the benefits of singing, and the positive difference it can make to health and wellbeing. 

The final recorded versions of I Am The Song, including an accompaniment for groups to sing along with, downloadable lyrics and sheet music, is free to use and available on the Dementia Inclusive Singing Network’s website (https://singing.luminatescotland.org/) on a Creative Commons licence. 

Singer/songwriter Boo Hewerdine said: “It was a profound privilege to write this song. I shall never forget our recording day. So joyful.” 

Anne Gallacher, Director of Luminate said: “There’s a growing wealth of evidence of the benefits of singing, and in particular of singing in a group. 

“I am delighted that Boo agreed to write a song for the Dementia Inclusive Singing Network, and I am sure that groups in the Network will love singing it.  We hope to commission more songs over the coming years, and to build up a bank of pieces for our members to sing.”

Song Leader Penny Stone said: “The writing and sharing of this song has meant so much to our community of singers.

“Every time we sing it, at least one of us wells up with the emotion of it all – and not in a bad way! The song has connected with different singers in different ways and feels really special.

“And the process of recording the song with Boo, Hannah and Iain was really special. Many of our singers had never been in a recording studio before, so it felt like a new and unexpected adventure, and it sparked beautiful memories for those of our singers who have made music throughout their lives.”

I Am The Song is available for groups to download from:

https://singing.luminatescotland.org/songs-for-singing-groups-and-choirs/i-am-the-song/

About Boo Hewerdine:

For the last 30 years Boo Hewerdine has been considered as one of the UK’s finest singer/songwriters. From front man of The Bible (Graceland – Honey Be Good) to The Patience of Angels, which was a massive hit for Eddie Reader, he has written for many of today’s stars including: KD Lang, Chris Difford, Kris Drever, etc.

His last album Before was recorded with supreme Danish multi- instrumentalist Gustaf Ljunggren and garnered multiple five-star reviews.

Since then, he has released a lockdown EP, Singularities and a new album on Reveal Records.