Tag: Scottish Storytelling Centre

Celebrating Traditional Dance on Screen

Friday 25 April at 18:30 – Scottish Storytelling Centre

The opening night of this year’s Pomegranates Festival of international traditional dance (25 – 30 April), kicks off with a packed programme of ten short films celebrating traditional dance on screen.

Traditional dance is rarely presented through the genre of screen dance, and this exclusively curated programme aims to fill in this gap. It honours multiple types of trad dance styles and diverse cultural heritage traditions, including Scottish Step and Highland, Indian Classical, East African, Chinese, Hip Hop, and Breakdance.

The programme includes three diverse films directed by award-winning Canadian dance filmmaker Marlene Millar, Firstly,  To Begin the Dance Once More – the newly revisedTraditional Dance Forum of Scotland’s first-ever screen dance production exploring Scottish and Egyptian stories of motherhood, featuring choreography by Vincent Hantam, andset to the new epic poem about Beira and Bride (the Queen of Winter and the Goddess of Spring) by Scottish storyteller Donald Smith. 

Secondly, Offering – inspired by traditional dance processions from the Quebec-based Migration Dance Film collective, world-renowned for their innovative use of vocals and body percussive movement.  Offering is directed by Marlene Millar in collaboration with choreographer Sandy Silva with the guest appearance of street dance sensation Omari Motion Carter. And thirdly, Bhairava filmed on the ancient site of Hampi in India, directed by Marlene Millar and Philip Szporer (Mouvement Perpétuel, Montréal) with cinematography by Kes Tagney.

Kes Tagney’s recent short Home featuring Scottish step dancer Sophie Stephenson accompanied by musician Ronan Martin is also featured in the programme. 

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The Bright Fabric of Life directed by Mare Tralla

Other highlights include The Bright Fabric of Life directed by celebrated Estonian artist and filmmaker Mare Tralla; Deer Dancer which was first released as a major commission at the Edinburgh Art Festival in 2019 and features three dances, including Highland Fling, by Hanna Tuulikki exploring male masculinity in dance; two breakdance shorts Autocorrect commissioned by Sadler’s Wells and directed by this year’s choreographer-in-residence MC, hip hop dance artist Jonzi D; and Second Guessing by Glasgow Bgirl Emma Ready which explores the harm experienced by coercive control.

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HOME directed by Kes Tagney

Two other rarely screened films include Chinese short Crowned by Flame directed and performed by Lyuxian Yu; and Echoes of a Taiko Drum which was produced by Billingham Festival Director Olga Maloney, and features a unique fusion of Taiko Drums, Georgian, Irish and Indian Kathak Dance.

This 80-minute shorts film programme will be followed by a Q&A with featured creatives, including Scottish Bgirl Emma Ready, Estonian filmmaker  Mare Tralla and Canadian filmmaker Kes Tagney. 

Iliyana Nedkova, who together with Wendy Timmons is co-founder and curator of the Pomegranates Festival said: “I  am very pleased that this year’s Pomegranates Festival’s opening evening show is all about world traditional dance and music specifically devised for the camera, not for the stage.

“I believe that magic happens where cinematography meets choreography. Following years of curating, judging and producing short dance films and screen dance festivals, I always wondered why we don’t have a dedicated platform for trad dance on screen.

“Well, while waiting for the dance film festival circuit to create such a platform, we decided to launch our own global programme and perhaps sow the (pomegranate) seeds of world trad dance on screen by selecting some of the best and rarest examples in this emerging new genre.”

Mare Tralla, the Estonian-born and Edinburgh-based artist, as one of the creatives featured in the programme said: ‘I can’t wait for the launch on the big screen of the latest Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland’s screen dance production The Bright Fabric of Life at the opening night of the Pomegranates Festival.

“I designed the set and costumes, shot and edited this new film in the summer 2024 with a great team of creatives using the body language of traditional African dance choreographed specifically for the camera by the esteemed Vincent Hantam. 

“The film tells stories of motherhood and kinship, love and loss from Sub-Saharan Africa and Scotland. Also on the night we will celebrate the paperback release of Mhairi Collie’s book which inspired our film.

“The book, just like the film, explores the dramatic life story of Sylvie, an Ethiopian patient and Juliet – a Scottish surgeon.’

The dance films featured in the World Trad Dance on Screen programme at the Pomegranates Festival are:   

AUTOCORRECT (2022, Dir. Jonzi D)
Commissioned by Sadler’s Wells and directed and performed by Jonzi D, AUTOCORRECT features three male hip hop dancers from New York, London and Kampala. The short film takes inspiration from the cerebral poetry of Saul Williams, supported by Soweto Kinch’s textured soundscape.

Bhairava (2017, Dir. Marlene Millar and Philip Szporer)
This short evokes facets of Shiva, the Lord of Dance, as both the destroyer of evil and the guardian of time. Carried by a strong and deeply evocative musical score and by the singular energy of the ancient site of Hampi, dancer and choreographer Shantala Shivalingappa embodies the presence and distinctive qualities of Bhairava. With her technical mastery and refined expressivity, she alternates between moments of precise symbolic gestures and more abstract body language surging from the powerful and omnipresent persona of Bhairava, creating a vivid incarnation of the deity.

Crowned by Flame (2024, Dir. Lyuxian Yu)
In this work,  the artist uses cigarette boxes (the world’s smallest drum), fire, and the traditional Ji Guan Headpiece (Cockscomb Headpiece)—key symbols of the Chinese ethnic minority Yi culture—to tell a powerful story about navigating cultural heritage and personal freedom. The performance contrasts black modern props with vibrant, traditional ethnic objects, creating a striking collision between cultural pride and the push for liberation.

Deer Dancer (2019, Dir. Hanna Tuulikki) 
A cross-artform project that grew out of research into the Deer Dance of the indigenous Yaqui of Sonora, Mexico, and their Pascua Yaqui descendants in Arizona, USA; the Highland Fling of the Scottish Highlands; and the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance of Staffordshire, England. The piece was further informed by experiential research into hunting practices and by direct observation of deer in their habitat and explores the mimesis of male deer behaviours, from the capering fawn, to the rutting stag, and how they can inform a ‘performance’ of masculinity by male dancers, and the implications of these gendered performances in society today.

Echoes of a Taiko Drum (2022, Dir. Olga Maloney)A new short screen dance and music film, produced by Billingham Festival Director Olga Maloney, featuring a unique fusion of Taiko Drums, Georgian, Irish and Indian Kathak Dance.Winner of the Best Audience Award at the European Short Film Festival in Berlin in 2022.

HOME (2024, Dir. Kes Tagney)

Shot in Scotland and Cornwall, HOME premiered last year at the Inverness Film Festival. It features Scottish step dancer Sophie Stephenson accompanied by musician Ronan Martin. Inspired by Stepheson’s love for Scotland, at its heart is a real sense of belonging and feeling of deep connection with the place you call Home.

Offering (2023, Dir. Marlene Millar)
Using the traditional dance procession choreography, Offering creates a meaningful and joyful conversation between the body percussion artists featured in all Migration Dance Film Projects to date and new emerging artists from street, hip hop and gigue dance and circus arts. Special guest appearance by the British hip hop artist OmariMotion Carter. 

Second Guessing (2023, Dir. Emma Ready and Therese Lynch )
Second Guessing investigates coercive control from the victim’s perspective. Emma Ready is a Bgirl, choreographer, and creative educator. During her 25 years of breaking, Emma has established an international reputation as an inspirational, and empathetic motivator. 

The Bright Fabric of Life (2024, Dir, Mare Tralla)Using the body language of traditional African dance choreographed specifically for the camera, The Bright Fabric of Life tells stories of motherhood and kinship, and love and loss from Scotland and Sub-Saharan Africa. It captures the poignant story of Sylvie – a beautiful Ethiopian girl, whose dreams are destroyed when a disastrous childbirth leaves her broken both emotionally and physically, facing rejection and isolation.

To Begin the Dance Once More (2023, Dir, Marlene Millar) Four international dancers based in Scotland and Egypt reimagine the mythological world inhabited by the Celtic and Egyptian mothers of Earth. A beautifully compelling and vital piece of storytelling and movement for the screen. Featuring choreography by former Scottish Ballet Principal Dancer Vincent Hantam, and set to a new epic poem about Beira and Bride (the Queen of Winter and the Goddess of Spring) by Scottish storyteller Donald Smith. 

The Pomegranates Festival (25 – 30 Apr) is the annual platform for the diverse 250+ individual and organisational members of the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland to teach, learn and perform in new dance theatre and screen dance shows, as well as new productions and residencies. This is the fourth edition of Scotland’s annual festival of international traditional dance, initiated, curated and produced by the Traditional DanceForum of Scotland. It is presented in partnership with TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland), Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Central Library, Dance Base and the Scottish Storytelling Centre.

In 2025 the Pomegranates Festival is funded by Creative Scotland Multi-Year Funding through TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland); the City of Edinburgh Council and University of Edinburgh through the Edinburgh Local Community Fund. 

For tickets and more information visit https://www.tdfs.org/pomegranates/

Strange Town presents ‘The Dark Up Close’

Established in 2008, Leith-based charity Strange Town was set up to ensure that everyone, no matter their experience or their background, gets the opportunity to access life-changing activities in the arts.  

Founded by local Directors Steve Small and Ruth Hollyman, the organisation has expanded across the last 15 years and now reaches 2,000 local young people every year through youth theatre classes, holiday programmes, a touring company and agency support for young actors helping to develop the careers of some of Scotland’s best-known local talent including Tallulah Greive and Lewis Gribben.

Across all the charity’s activities, Strange Town creates high quality work that is daring and entertaining, tackling subjects of importance to young people’s lives, such as consent, knife crime and climate change anxiety.

The organisation tours local schools with educational performances that spark discussion, debate and often provides local young people with their first experience of a theatrical performance.  

This week the charity’s Young Company (18-25) returns to the Scottish Storytelling Centre after their sold out shows there last year.  ‘The Dark Up Close’ by local writer Jack MacGregor has been specially commissioned for Strange Town’s Young Company.  

Open to everyone age 12+ the play will run for two nights Wednesday 26th and Thursday 27th March.  

‘Two teenagers digging graves, an island full of conscripts and puffins, the guns are silent on the eve of World War III.

‘These are scenes from a near future Britain, a country in crisis, with national service reinstated for all young people. The old world is dying, and the new world has been delayed indefinitely.’ 

Venue: The Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street, EH1 1SR

Times: 7.30pm (1 hour)

Tickets Prices: £12 / £10

Ticket Link: https://scottishstorytellingcentre.online.red61.co.uk/event/913:5893/

Arts activities enrich lives, but organisations such as Strange Town are seriously under-funded, and the future is uncertain. Strange Town relies on its fundraising activities to deliver fully accessible activities for local young people.  

Funders include the Backstage Trust, the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Cordis Trust, Crerar Trust and others.  

The charity also runs the 15for15 fundraising initiative where local people can donate monthly to support their life-changing work.  

More details here https://strangetown.org.uk/about-us/donations-info-page/

Clowndoctors assemble in Edinburgh!

  Hearts & Minds have welcomed to Edinburgh delegates to the General Assembly of the European Federation of Healthcare Clowning Organisations. The General Assembly was held at The Scottish Storytelling Centre in the heart of the historic city from 2 – 4 October.

The General Assembly is an annual meeting for Artistic Directors and Chief Executives and General Managers from the 20 healthcare clowning organisations across Europe.

The Assembly took place over three days and included presentations by member organisations, artistic workshops and discussion groups where efhco members shared what is happening within their own countries and discuss impacts and outcomes of healthcare clowning.

Healthcare clowning is not unique to Scotland. It is an internationally recognised performing arts in health practice. Healthcare clowns always bring great joy and laughter, and the health benefits they bring are significant too. Research shows that the person-centred emotional engagement they offer each person they visit lessens loneliness and isolation, relieves distress and worry, and supports healthcare staff and families too.

Sean Donnelly, CEO, of host organization Hearts & Minds commented: “I am thrilled to have welcomed our colleagues from healthcare clown organisations across Europe to Edinburgh for this annual assembly.

“It is a fantastic opportunity for us to discuss and compare our work and the challenges we face and support each other with new ideas and shared research. 

“We are also delighted that while in Edinburgh we will introduce them to the history of Edinburgh’s Old Town and there will be a ceilidh where a few whiskies will be enjoyed”

Ticket sales up at Edinburgh Tradfest

Julie Fowlis and a stage packed with some of the finest musicians in folk, brought this year’s Edinburgh Tradfest to a close on Monday 13 May with an outstanding rendition of Runrig’s ‘Fuaim A Bhlair’. 

The 11 day festival of traditional live music, talks, folk film and storytelling, saw over 80% of tickets sold for the music programme and multiple sell-out shows at the Traverse Theatre, Cameo and the Scottish Storytelling Centre.

The festival enjoyed a massive jump in trad fans coming out in support of live music, with sell-out shows and packed houses on both weekends (Triptic, Martin Simpson Daimh, Rachel Newton, Nordic Fiddlers Bloc, and VALTOS).

There was also a full audience for this year’s new commission Everyone’s Welcome to Edinburgh curated by renowned fiddler Robbie Greig and performed by Robbie and a stellar line-up of musicians including Hannah Rarity, Jenn Butterworth, Signy Jakobsdottir, Duncan Lyall and Megan MacDonald. Plus, there was not a seat to be had for Malin Lewis’ debut album launch Halocline.

The second weekend’s workshops also saw great attendance and 92% of places sold, with Bruce Ncube’s Zimbabwean singing workshop bringing home an abundance of joy-felt harmonies from an amazing standard of participants.

, over at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, Svend-Erik Engh’s improve your patter session for musicians was an early sell out, as was Shona Cowie and Neil Sutcliffe’s premiere of their new show Rickle O Stanes which galloped through the story of Scotland, from its geological formation right up to its present socio-economic condition told through stories and song. 

Another big hit at the Scottish Storytelling Centre was an emotional Hearth Fire Session which saw an incredible blend of live storytelling from Traveller Jess Smith, folk musician Sam Gillespie and basket-weaver Katie Warner, all guided by host Dougie Mackay who gifted Jess with a willow basket full of the stories and songs of the evening, to acknowledge her contribution to storytelling.

Further afield the Folk Film Gathering celebrated its 10th anniversary with a popular programme of Scottish and international films, many accompanied by live scores or introductory talks. Screen premieres included the sold out Scottish premiere of Songlines – a new documentary from Pat Collins celebrating the songs and singers at the heart of the Irish traveller community; and Itu Ninu set in a dystopian ‘smart city’ from Edinburgh-based Mexican director Itandehui Jansen. 

Plus, to close this year’s folk film gathering, musician Aly Bain introduced a screening of Mike Alexander’s film Down Home with some great chat and tremendous tunes.

Douglas Robertson and Jane-Ann Purdy, co-producers of Edinburgh Tradfest said: “This year’s festival was just brilliant, we took a chance and top and tailed the music programme with two big gigs at the Queen’s Hall and the Assembly Rooms and it really paid off, with audiences returning again and again to hear more great music and support the musicians.

“The buzz around the venues was fantastic and our thanks goes to everyone who has supported us in making the festival possible. Next year we are back 2-12 May – and we can’t wait!”

Jamie Chambers producer of the Folk Film Gathering said: “2024 was a banner year for us. It was great to be back in synch with our friends at Tradfest and to be working again with Cameo Picturehouse.

“Programme highlights for us included the combined voices of Jess Smith and Joss Cameron at the Scottish premiere of Pat Collin’s SONGLINES, celebrating the links between Scottish and Irish traveller culture; the sublime, emotionally overwhelming new score composed by Luke Sutherland and Semay Wu for Alexander Dovzhenko’s EARTH; the chance to host Finnish master musicians Lau Nau and Pekko Kappi, for the premiere of Katja Gauriloff’s moving JE’VIDA; and the powerful words of Palestinian-Scottish poet Nada Shawa at our screening of Michel Khleifi TALE OF THE THREE JEWELS.”

Daniel Abercrombie, Head of Programming, Scottish Storytelling Centre, said: “Tradfest continues to enhance our programme, it is a wonderful time of year!

“We were especially delighted that so many families and young people were involved in our song and story sessions, as well as joining together to celebrate the traditions of Beltane as May arrives. Looking forward to next year already!”

Edinburgh Tradfest is supported by The National Lottery through Creative Scotland and the William Grant Foundation.

Edinburgh Tradfest will return from 2 to 12 May 2025.

www.edinburghtradfest.com

Exhibition of Sustainable Tartan Fashion opens 23rd April

Vengefully Changed Allegiance by Alison Harm

Exhibition runs from  23rd  to 30th April 2024

Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh EH1 1SR

Vengefully Changed Allegiance is a solo exhibition of work by fashion designer Alison Harm, the founder of Edinburgh’s own Psychomoda clothing brand. Using industry scraps, vintage cloth and broken jewellery, Alison mixes different tartan patterns to create clothing items that challenge our opinions on tradition, and on what we should wear.

Curated specifically for the Pomegranates festival of international traditional dance (25-30 April), this exhibition of sustainable fashion also explores the living heritage of the tartan cloth still used by Highland dancers and for kilts.

By tradition, tartans are chosen according to a person’s clan however, Alison’s garments mix different tartan patterns together to create contemporary designs that question our need to safeguard our intangible cultural heritage, at the expense of innovation and fashion.

Fashion Designer Alison Harm said: “Fashion is cyclic, nothing is new. Just as today we might wear clothes of a bygone era to show our allegiance to a culture from the past, the Victorians did the same.

“A political Jacobite revivalist movement swept the UK in 1886, bringing a renewed interest in all things Scottish into the arts and fashion. Tartan cloth became a significant part of that movement. 

“Almost a hundred years later, the youth of the UK, against a background of political and cultural dissent, again chose tartan as part of their tribal uniform, with a naive style consisting of a home-made, make-do-and-mend ethos.

“An anti-capitalist statement by the wearer. The wheel has turned again and sustainability is now the focus of the fashion industry. People want to express their dislike of the fast fashion behemoth which is ruining our planet.

“I have returned to tartan cloth to express  this symbolism. By using industry scraps and remnants along with found objects, in the punk tradition, and irreverently mixing tartan patterns together to challenge the viewer’s perception of who can wear what, and to where – therefore suggesting they can step outside of societal expectations.”

Vengefully Changed Allegiance is part of Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland and TRACS programme of events showcasing Scotland’s traditional arts and cultural heritage. TRACS has been recently appointed as an advisor to UNESCO on Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in Scotland and this exhibition showcases ICH in practice through highlighting the sustainability in the fashion industry while exploring the role of tartan in Scottish trad dance.

Admission to the exhibition is free, and includes daily drop-in, on-demand artist and curator-led tours. 

Established in 2022, Pomegranates is Scotland’s springtime festival of Scottish and international traditional dance curated by the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland and produced in partnership with TRACS, Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh City Libraries, Dance Base and the Scottish Storytelling Centre.

The festival celebrates Scottish traditional dance and traditional dance practised by cultural migrant communities across Scotland.

It provides a platform to showcase new dance commissions, exhibitions and residencies accompanied by live music, poetry, and art; and invites audiences to participate in ceilidhs, workshops (both in person and live streamed), tours, and talks about traditional dance from Scotland and around the world.

For tickets and more information visit: 

https://linktr.ee/pomegranatesfest, https://www.tdfs.org/pomegranatesfest2024/

Dance adaptation of Hamish Henderson’s poetry at the Pomegranates Festival

ELEGIES – Saturday 27 April, 7.30pm 
Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street

Hamish Henderson (1919-2002), was a soldier-poet and scholar-folk revivalist. Elegies is his first-hand account from the North African desert military campaign for which he won the Somerset Maugham Award.

His dedication of the book: “for our own and the others” sets the story within our own common bonds, fragility and humanity, in the setting of the ‘deadlands’ of Cyrenaica (modern-day Libya). The Elegies also reveal the shared helplessness of those loved ones at home waiting, praying – and dancing.

This production is led by a duo of dancers and choreographers Helen Gould and George Adams who together with dancers Nicola Thomson, Edwin Wen and Aimee Williamson embody and represent the characters from the ten elegies set both in the desert and the dance hall by using ceilidh, jive, swing and lindy hop – the popular social dance culture of the 1940s. 

Through their movement directorship Gould and Adams weave into the dance, the reading of the Elegies for the Dead in Cyrenaica by spoken word artists Morag Anderson and Stephen Watt; and specially composed and newly arranged trad music and song by Cera Impala. 

Wendy Timmons and Iliyana Nedkova, Elegies co-curators and producers from Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland said: “Elegies is a dance poem of serious reflection – a lament for all lives lost not only in WWII but in our world of conflicts, oppression and inequality.

“We were delighted by the positive reaction we received when it was first performed on Remembrance Day last year, and very proud of everyone who has worked with us on this revised adaptation as part of this year’s Pomegranates Festival.”

Elegies was originally commissioned for the Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2023, then extended and revised for Pomegranates Festival 2024. 

Trad Dance Session

There will be a post-performance lindy hop social dance session, led and accompanied by Pomegranates 2024 resident musicians from the Castle Rock Jazz Band, in the main atrium at the Scottish Storytellling Centre. All welcome. Tickets are Pay What You Can £5, £10 or £15 and available through the Scottish Storytelling Centre Box Office here

Edinburgh Youth Gaitherin’s Back!

Edinburgh Youth Gaitherin’ is back in partnership with Edinburgh Tradfest to  offer an exciting opportunity for young musicians in 2024, with support from  the William Grant Foundation. 

EYG Big Band is a three-day programme for ages 13–18. It will be led by some of  Scotland’s finest musicians, who will support participants to learn traditional music  together and create their own arrangements as a group. Band tutors are Kirsty Law,  Tom Oakes and Lori Watson, supported by Shea Martin and Jonathan Foster. 

New for 2024, there will be two optional taster workshops in advance of the EYG  weekend, where young people can try out some music-making together and get to  know each other and the tutors.  

This event is for young people who would like to develop their skills on their  instrument, play with other young musicians, sing, write their own songs and learn  tunes. There will be also be exclusive performances and Q&A sessions from some of  the acts appearing at Edinburgh Tradfest. EYG Big Band is all about creativity,  making friends through music and having fun. 

Taster workshops will take place 10am–1pm on 20th and 27th April at the Scottish  Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh. 

EYG Big Band will be based at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh from 10am–4pm on  4th–6th May. The group will perform on the evening of 6th May as part of Edinburgh  Tradfest’s special commission show, Everyone’s Welcome To Edinburgh.  

Tickets and registration: https://eygbigband2024.eventbrite.co.uk

Pay-what-you-can and fully-subsidised places available. 

FISHING – new exhibition of work inspired by the North East coast – opens 3 May

FISHING by Stephanïe Vandëm

Opens 3 May until 15 June

Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh EH1 1SR.

A new exhibition inspired by Scottish fishing communities and seascapes of the North East will go on display at the Scottish Storytelling Centre as part of the TRACS programme during Edinburgh Tradfest from 3 May to 15 June 2024.

Artist Stephanïe Vandëm imaginatively combines oils and mixed media materials salvaged from harbours, beaches and shipyards to create large-scale works that evoke the linkages between the communities of the North East of Scotland and their fishing heritage. 

Drawing from the rich traditions of Renaissance and Latin American art, FISHING will present 13 semi-sculptural works that explore the pressing environmental and identity concerns of our time. 

Rubber gloves, ropes, nets, buoys, and crab shells are used to give tri dimensionality and texture to the works. Plastic sushi fish drained of their soy lifeforce cling to the surfaces making us ponder their infinite life expectancy and the material’s detriment to all sea and land-living creatures.

Screws, nails, and other metal bits left by the artist’s late husband populate the paintings’ surfaces recreating the colours and textures of a busy shipyard. Pinecones turned into lobster tails; twigs turned into crab’s eyes all used to create compositions that connect us emotionally to Time, Identity, Heritage, and the Environment.

Artist Stephanie Vandëm explains: “My work is firmly rooted in classical principles, merging time-tested oil painting techniques and semi-abstraction, to pressing contemporary themes and universal human struggles, resulting in monumental semi-sculptural paintings.

“The pieces resemble an archaeological find sedimented in cement, sand, metal and found objects. They create puzzles, connecting the personal, political, and spiritual elements of my own life and practice. Aberdeenshire’s motto, ‘from mountain to sea’ inspired me throughout this collection.”

Sculptural pieces in the exhibition include boxes encased in sand, cement and the ‘bones’ of a metal creel looking like they have been hauled from the sea depths, bearing witness to the many lives lost across generations and continents. 

The tactile and playful nature of the work invites audiences to interact with it by moving the ropes and nets, to create new images and build stories within stories to explore beneath the surface layers leaving space for personal interpretations.

Steve Byrne, Director of TRACS said: “As someone who grew up on Scotland’s east coast, I was immediately struck by the familiarity and strong imagery of Stephanie’s work.

“It resonated with me and the sense of place I feel about that part of the world. I recognised the shapes and colours of the kind of work taking place in harbours up and down the coast that have been a key part of local communities for decades. 


“In celebrating the contribution of fisher folk, the exhibition gives voice to those involved in a precarious industry that has so much heritage, tradition and craft to explore, which often mean a great deal to fisher folk and their families. 

“The works also challenge us to think about our impact on the environment through the inclusion of shore finds, opening up conversations around sustainability.

“At TRACS we look forward to helping safeguard that living heritage and lore, the traditions and customs of fisher communities through our developing work with Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in Scotland.” 

The exhibition will also be complemented by information panels on traditional craftwork related to fishing communities, in partnership with the Scottish Fisheries Museum at Anstruther. 

About the artist

Brazilian by birth and educated in Paris, London, New York, and Florence Stephanïe Vandëm worked extensively abroad before settling in the Northeast of Scotland. Her style lies between realism and abstraction, painting and sculpture with a strong sense of narrative derived from the artist’s Latin American roots.

The artist’s creative practice is a fusion of videography, soundscapes, installations, social media participation and mixed-media that creates engaging and powerful contemporary pieces.

With some awards under her belt, Stephanïe Vandëm works in her studio between the mountains and the sea in the idyllic Scottish countryside. The artist’s strong background in the world of portraiture also sees her work on many private commissions, including painting the formal portrait of the Bishop of Aberdeen.

Her pieces can be found in many national and international private collections such as the luxury Fife Arms Hotel, owned by international art dealer Iwan Wirth.

FISHING is part of TRACS’ (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland) programme of events showcasing Scotland’s traditional arts and cultural heritage.  

TRACS has been recently appointed as an advisor to UNESCO on Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in Scotland and this exhibition showcases ICH in practice through highlighting the unique ways of life, practices, and rich folklore of fishing communities on the east coast of Scotland. 

Making Magical Memories for Mercy

Mercy Cuthbertson from North Tyneside is a six-year-old girl who has enjoyed a very special experience day in Edinburgh after Newcastle-based train operator Lumo learned of her passion for the company’s bright blue trains.

Mercy is bravely fighting an aggressive paediatric brain tumour. Her parents Lorraine and Paul have already raised more than £113,000 towards a target of £120,000 for some life-saving trials abroad.

Open access train operator Lumo contacted Mercy’s parents offering a special VIP day trip to Edinburgh where the family were invited to an exclusive performance at the Scottish Storytelling Centre in the city’s Royal Mile followed by a visit to Edinburgh Castle.

Richard Salkeld, Head of Communications and Partnerships at Lumo, said: “When we heard about Mercy’s story and her love of our trains, we began to create a truly memorable experience for her and her parents.

“We teamed up with Imaginate: The Edinburgh International Children’s Festival, the Scottish Storytelling Centre and Edinburgh Castle to help organise what was a very special action-packed visit to Edinburgh.

“As a company proudly based in Newcastle, we’re committed to supporting the communities on our route so today has been a joy to help make happen for Mercy.”

As part of the visit Mercy was invited into the driver’s cab after they arrived at Edinburgh Waverley where she posed for photographs with some of the onboard team from Lumo.

Mercy Cuthbertson travelling on a Lumo train

Lorraine Cuthbertson, Mercy’s mother, said: “Today has been incredible. We’ve been made to feel so welcome and enjoyed some magnificent magical moments that we’ll never forget. Mercy loved her visit to the driver’s cab on the train and meeting the unicorn at the Scottish Storytelling Centre.”

The whirlwind visit to Edinburgh was Mercy’s first time travelling on the all-electric Lumo train. She posed with a specially made giant ticket as a memento of her day before boarding at Newcastle on Friday morning.

Paul Cuthbertson, Mercy’s father, said: “She’s had a brilliant day and has been treated like royalty. It’s been so special, and I think everyone had a tear in her eye when she reached out and stroked the unicorn who she named Twinkle. Thanks to everyone who helped make today so unforgettable.”

Mercy’s fundraising campaign continues to receive generous support from people in the North East but has also received donations from around the world as her parents work tirelessly to raise funds in a bid to do all they can to help Mercy.

For anyone wishing to donate to Mercy’s campaign, they can visit here.

TODAY: A Girl’s Own Guide to Surviving History

SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL STORYTELLING FESTIVAL

Would you know what to do if you were accused of being a witch in the 17th century? How would you cope if your castle came under siege in the Scottish Wars of Independence? Wouldn’t life be easier if it came with an instruction manual?

Thankfully, Gillian Paterson and Nicola Wright have found just such a book for their show at this year’s Scottish International Storytelling Festival, A Girl’s Own Guide to Surviving History.

Told in the style of a Boy’s Own adventure book, A Girl’s Own Guide to Surviving History is filled with hot tips about surviving life as a pirate, fighting the system, and being a master (or mistress) of disguise. Told using silly songs, and a ridiculous amount of props this show presents a light-hearted look at the serious subject of the challenges faced by women through the centuries.

Gillian Paterson originally from Arbroath has worked as a costumed historical storyteller at museums and events around the country. She has a knack for finding the funny side of history, taking irreverent approaches to subjects and bringing them to life through her passion for history and storytelling.

Nicola is equally passionate about history and delivers entertaining and engaging workshops to primary and secondary schools on subjects ranging from castle life and the cursed Stewarts to Jacobites and WW1.

Gillian Paterson said: “I love history and entertaining audiences with stories of derring-do, fighting the system and life across the ages.

“It’s a chance to tell all the best bits and I really hope that this new show about women’s history, particularly all those great feisty women that have been buried in the history books over the years, will be as fun to listen to, as it is to tell.”

The Girl’s Own Survival Guide to History with Gillian Paterson and Nicola Wright is on TODAY Sat 21 Oct at 4pm at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1SR,

Tickets are available at www.sisf.org.uk

The Scottish International Storytelling Festival runs until Sunday 29 October. Tickets to each event in this year’s programme cost a maximum of £10, with family events costing just £5 per ticket. For those planning on attending multiple events, the Festival Pass (£20/£10)  offers discounted tickets to many live festival events, online and at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, as well as a discount at the Scottish Storytelling Centre’s bookshop and Haggis Box Café.

Full programme is available here  or visit sisf.org.uk for more details.
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