The Crocodiamond
The Crocodiamond, a project in conjunction with Scottish Chamber Orchestra, involved P6 pupils from Sandaig Primary School, Glasgow, working with the award-winning illustrator Debi Gliori, a storyteller, and four musicians, over a series of six sessions. The pupils set out to create imagery in response to the story and music of The Crocodiamond, written by the award-winning children’s author Anthony Horowitz and set to music by innovative composer Jonathan Dove. The pupils’ images then featured throughout the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s performances of the piece in Glasgow and Edinburgh, which the children attended with their families.
The project culminated at the 2016 Edinburgh International Book Festival, where the children’s artwork was displayed as an exhibition, the centrepiece of a series of events set around the project. The pupils spent an afternoon at the Book Festival where they attended Debi Gliori’s schools event as well as enjoying their work on public display.
“It’s been good because some of the music’s interesting and mysterious and it’s cool to make unexpected things and you get really interested in the story.”
Graphic Lyrics
Graphic Lyrics involved an S4 class from Shawlands Academy, Glasgow made up entirely of Romanian, Slovakian, Iraqi and Czech pupils. Graphic Lyrics saw the class working with Scottish hip-hop artist Dave Hook from Stanley Odd and graphic novelists Metaphrog, to first choose a traditional story from their own culture or another, put their own slant on the tale, write rhyming lyrics, and then record them as raps. Dave and his bandmate Samson then worked alongside the pupils to put their recordings to beats. Working with Metaphrog, the pupils then adapted their stories into comics, breaking down and illustrating the action.
The pupils then came on a trip to see Stanley Odd’s event as part of the Book Festival’s Schools Programme in August 2015, and the project culminated in January 2016 with an Alternative Burns Supper celebration event at the Glad Café in Shawlands. Family and friends were invited to a showcase of the project with an unveiling of the graphic novels and rap pieces, as well as the pupils talking about their experience of the project.
“I felt so good that I learned how to rap.”
Heard It. Seen It. Done It.
Heard It. Seen It. Done It. saw Edinburgh-based spoken word, film and music duo Neu! Reekie! work with The HaVeN Voice Hearing Group in Dundee, introducing them to artists working in various mediums to inspire the group creatively. The group developed their skills and ideas over the course of seven sessions in order to curate and/or perform in a one-off cultural showcase featuring live music, spoken word and short films, held at the University of Dundee in partnership with Literary Dundee.
“I thought it was very inspiring, informative, and wonderful to be a part of. It was really a great experience.”