Incredible Distance Exhibition at WHALE Arts

WHALE Arts, SCO and residents of Wester Hailes have unveiled an original audio-visual installation which explores the sonic and visual identity of the Edinburgh suburb. The exhibition is a collaboration between residents of Wester Hailes, composer Suzanne Parry, musician Emma Smith, artist Ewan John, WHALE Arts and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

A day in the life of Wester Hailes as told through the eyes and ears of the people who live there. Incredible Distance is a creative and collaborative arts project with adults living in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, which has been unveiled as part of the Society of Scottish Artists 121^st Annual Exhibition and will also be exhibited at WHALE Arts (22 January – 9 February) and the Fruitmarket Gallery (12 February – 16 February).

Over six weeks of sessions at WHALE Arts working in collaboration with SCO  composer Suzanne Parry and workshop leader Emma Smith, participants have created an original audio-visual installation which explores the sonic and visual identity of the Edinburgh suburb, capturing snapshots of daily life through the collection of found sound, imagery, film and original musical composition. Woven into an intricate tapestry of sound and imagery by composer Suzanne Parry and artist Ewan John, the result is part tone poem, part dreamscape, which loosely reflects 24 hours in the life of Wester Hailes.

Through individual fieldwork and group sessions with each other and with SCO musicians, a 12-minute soundscape with accompanying imagery and footage has been created alongside four 30-second miniature musical representations of key “Wester Hailes sounds” performed by classically trained musicians. Together with accompanying scores of handwritten sketches printed on sheets of aluminium, a “cultural soundmap” of Wester Hailes has been created.

A 24-hour timeline was pinned to the wall of the room at WHALE Arts where the workshops took place and at each session a different three to four-hour window of time was explored and discussed. In between sessions, participants would reflect on that time period, capturing sounds and sights from their daily routines which they would upload into a shared Dropbox for the next session. In a hectic world, the project encouraged the participants to look up and around – to stop, to observe, to listen, to have a heightened appreciation of their surroundings and to explore how our everyday soundworlds can influence how we connect with our local environment and with other people.

Incredible Distance is on display at the Society of Scottish Artists Annual Exhibition until 17 January 2019, at WHALE Arts in Wester Hailes from 22 January – 9 February and at the Fruitmarket Gallery during the Connecting Communities Exhibition from 12 – 16 February.

The project is part of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s three-year residency in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh. From October 2017 to summer 2020, through creative workshops, projects and public performances with young people, adults and families from across the Wester Hailes community, the SCO hopes to open new worlds of musical learning and enjoyment for local residents and to inspire people of all ages to explore and develop their musical potential and creativity.

Kate Griffin, Creative Programme Manager for WHALE Arts says:

WHALE Arts is delighted to have been working in partnership with the SCO to offer this exciting and engaging project in Wester Hailes. We look forward to sharing the results with participants, the local community and across the city.”

Kirsteen Davidson Kelly, Creative Learning Director for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra says:

This project has been a fantastic opportunity for us to get to know Wester Hailes residents and for them to start to get to know the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. It has been a very rich opportunity for everyone involved to co-create a unique piece of work which articulates the lived experiences of all participants. We’re really delighted to be able to show Incredible Distance in two city centre venues and at WHALE Arts.

Notes to editors:

WHALE Arts:

Since being set up by local people in 1992 WHALE Arts has firmly established itself as the cultural anchor organisation for Wester Hailes. As a community-led arts charity and social enterprise, WHALE Arts’ mission is to be the creative heart of a vibrant, thriving community. WHALE Arts acts as a conduit between our community and creative opportunities through the direct delivery of projects, programmes and events and by connecting our community with city and national cultural partners.

Scottish Chamber Orchestra:

The internationally celebrated Scottish Chamber Orchestra is made up of a unique collection of talented musicians who inspire and connect with people of all ages. The SCO aims to provide as many opportunities as possible for people to hear their music by touring the length and breadth of Scotland and around the world as proud ambassadors for Scottish cultural excellence. In recent years, the Orchestra has travelled throughout Europe, the Far East and the USA.

The SCO makes a significant contribution to Scottish life both on the concert platform and beyond, working in schools, universities, hospitals, care homes and community centres through the its award-winning Creative Learning programme. The Orchestra receives core funding from the Scottish Government as one of Scotland’s five National Performing Arts Companies and is based in Edinburgh.

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s innovative and imaginative Creative Learning programme is designed to enable people of all ages and musical abilities to make music, learn and experience the joy of the Orchestra. We run creative music workshops and performances in schools, hospitals, community centres and arts venues around Scotland. See https://bit.ly/2GseCGZ for more details.

SCO Wester Hailes Residency: 

For more information about the SCO’s unique programme of creative music projects and performances in Wester Hailes see https://bit.ly/2itbHyV.

We are proud to say that this year we have seen a 31% increase in participants and a 40% increase in regular sessions compared with figures last year.

The full report gives a summary on each of our regular projects, community events we have been involved in and the income and Expenditure for the year. It also includes an update from our Chief Executive Leah Black, who joined our team in April 2018.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our participants, funders, volunteers and staff for making this last year a success.

Do you have an interest in our community? Ideas on how things can be improved? A desire to chip in and get things done? Then we want you to join our Board!

All you need to be a board member is meet the following criteria:

• Have a current or past connection to Wester Hailes.
• Be able to give up two hours of your time buy ambien cheap online every six weeks to attend board meetings.
• Have experience in digital marketing, creative technology, social innovation, facilities management, fundraising, creative industries, health and wellbeing, placemaking, experience as a practising artist or maker.

For more information, contact us at info@whalearts.co.uk, 0131 458 3267 or pop in to WHALE and speak to a member of our team.

WHALE Arts and Dance Ihayami  are delighted to celebrate their joint INSPIRE dance project with a performance at The Studio at the Festival Theatre on Friday 19^th October at 7pm.

The project, funded through CashBack for Creativity has enabled enable young people in Wester Hailes to participate in Indian dance, choreography, music and costume and set design.  The performance is the culmination of an Indian Dance Summer School and regular afterschool sessions at WHALE Arts Centre.

The programme will include pieces choreographed and performed by young people created in the INSPIRE partnership project plus work by professional dancers and friends from Dance Ihayami. The dances were created to be meaningful to the young people, working to their strengths and reflecting their imagination and creativity.

The performance, which is free to attend, has been supported by Capital Theatres and will take place at the prestigious Studio at the Festival Theatre. Creative Learning and technical staff at the theatre are helping transform the participants ideas into reality to create a dazzling show for families and dance fans alike.

Kate Griffin, WHALE Arts Creative Programme Manager said:

“ WHALE Arts is looking forward to sharing the fantastic work young people have done in creating, designing and performing such a beautiful, exciting and inspiring  dance performance with WHALE Arts and Dance Ihayami’s INSPIRE dance project.”

Karen Watts, Dance Development Officer, Dance Ihayami

“It has been great to see the young dancers participating and enjoying the new experiences, learning footwork, rhythms, hand gestures and facial expressions of Indian classical dance and Bollywood.”

Cat Sheridan, Capital theatres Learning & Participation Coordinator

“We are really excited to host this fantastic piece of work in our studio, showcasing the incredible work from these young dancers. We can’t wait to see the culmination of such a brilliantly creative project and we are delighted that we are able to develop our partnership further with WHALE Arts.”

More information can be downloaded here:

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