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Jason DuPonte name checking Tales of Things 38 minutes in.

Fishy Tales from Around the World

New exhibition opening on the 20th of October at The Scottish Fisheries Museum, Anstruther, Fife. This exciting exhibition brings together fishing communities from Canada, India, Scotland and Portugal through the use of information technology to explore what unites and what defines unique fishing communities and cultures across the world.

The project has been spearheaded by the University of Dundee where a number of researchers are collaborating in the “tales of things” (TOTeM) project. The researchers have visited remote communities and investigated how they can incorporate technology to improve their lives without sacrificing their identities. Indeed, one of the findings of this project is that identities can be strengthened and valued through the use of technology to record and share their individual characteristics.

The exhibition contains examples of objects, stories and recordings from the communities visited. Visitors can access these via a smart phone as they tour the exhibition (for those who do not have their own, there will be some available at Reception to borrow in return for a deposit).

Sambaa K’e Project Partners:

Scott Hudson and Paul Harrison – Trout Lake, Canada
Sambaa K’e (Trout Lake) is considered to be one of the most traditional communities in the Canadian Northwest Territories. There are approximately 100 Got’ine (people) living in this Deh Cho community. A strong spirit of self-determination coupled with a leadership with vision helps maintain a cultural integrity, sense of identity and an intimate relationship with the land. Hunting, trapping and fishing are still mainstays of the economy and the people of Sambaa K’e are still committed to living life according to Dene principles.

In the late summer of 2010 artist printmakers Paul Harrison and Scott Hudson were invited by Sambaa K’e Dene Band to develop a small print facility in Trout Lake. The aim was to establish a creative tool for the community that would enable residents (and visitors) to visually explore aspects of their culture and relationship to the land. One purpose of this undertaking was to utilise printmaking as a tool that Gavin Renwick could apply within the initial communal design envisioning process of a new cultural facility for the community. A facility which will now also incorporate a new purpose built printmaking studio as a development of the initial concept.
Further invited visits by Paul, Scott and Gavin continue to fuel this collaborative development with Sambaa K’e and nurture further links with Dundee/Scotland – as well as with the Printmaking Faculty at the University of Alberta. The print studio has been embraced by the community and the series of workshops have been incredibly successful – engaging with a broad section of the community and with all age groups participating.

In 2012 the Sambaa K’e print studio has begun to emerge on to the International stage with members exhibiting original print works and supporting material in the FAB Gallery, University of Alberta as part of ‘Counterpoint: The Aesthetics of Post-Colonialism’. Members have also facilitated print workshops at the ‘Open Skies Art Festival’ in Fort Simpson, NWT, Canada and the Studio is now being considered widely as a significant Centre for Print Arts in the Western Arctic.

Scottish Fisheries MuseumThe Scottish Fisheries Museum is operated by an independent charitable trust and tells the story of the Scottish fishing industry and its people from the earliest times to the present.

Exhibition dates: 20 October 2012 – 3 February 2013
Open : Mon – Sat : 10 – 4.30, Sun : 12 – 4.30, last admissions 1 hour before closing
Entry : FREE with museum admission, accompanied children FREE
Location : St Ayles, Harbourhead, Anstruther, Fife KY10 3AB
www.scotfishmuseum.org

The exhibition will be accompanied by a number of events from art workshops to illustrated talks.

Sadly our TOTeM research project is nearing the end, www.talesofthings.com will still exist but from December you won’t see many new projects on this site. To mark the culmination of the project we are holding a symposium on the 25th of October at the Talbot Rice Gallery in Edinburgh with some fantastic speakers:

Mark Shepard- Artist, Architect and Researcher, New York
Prof. Mike Phillips- Director of i-DAT, Plymouth
Torsten Lauschmann- Artist, Glasgow
Geoff Mann- Artist/Designer, Edinburgh
Prof. Irene Ng- Marketing and Service Systems, Warwick
Prof. Mike Crang- Cultural Geography, Durham

The symposium is free but ticketed, click on the link for more information and to book a place. http://iamseeingthings.eventbrite.co.uk/

Alongside the symposium we will have an exhibtion featuring work by Dunne and Raby, Geoff Mann, Martin Boyce, Max Phillips, Superflux and Tommy Dykes. If you haven’t managed to get a ticket to the symposium you can visit the exhibtion on Friday the 26th of October from 10am to 5pm.

For more information on the symposium and exhibition visit the project website www.iamseeingthings.com

Talbot Rice Gallery
The University of Edinburgh, Old College
South Bridge
EH8 9YL Edinburgh

Tested out the films in the Museum Auditorium today and they look great! Have to say that the cinema trailer “In the Clear” and “Cumbernauld, Town for Tomorrow” are my personal favourites.

In case you would like to know what time your favourite film is on, listed below are approximate timings for throughout the day.

Time: 11.00, 13.28, 15.55

Film: A Cruise to St Kilda (1929). Rare footage of life on the remote island of St Kilda just a year before the islanders were evacuated off the island. Full film depicts the journey from Glasgow to the island via the Western Isles. Produced by Jay’s Screen Service.

Time: 11.07, 13.35, 16.02

Film: Birth of a Sewing Machine (1934). The manufacturing processes involved in making a Singer sewing machine at Clydebank, Glasgow. Full film is 70 minutes long and shows the entire process from castings to packaging the needles. Commissioned by the Singer Sewing Machine Co. Ltd. Silent   

Time: 11.15, 13.43, 16.10

Film: The Face of Scotland (1938). Examines the question “what and why is a Scot”, clip depicts scenes from WWI and a war memorial at Edinburgh Castle. One of a group of seven documentaries made for the 1938 Empire Exhibition. Commissioned by Films of Scotland.

Time: 11.19, 13.47, 16.14

Film: Dundee (1939).  Film made to celebrate Dundee’s rich industrial heritage, locals explain to the narrator how the city has changed over time. Film was premiered at the British Association in Dundee but had to be abandoned due to the announcement of the start of WWII. Commissioned by Films of Scotland.

Time: 11.37, 14.05

Film: Vital Statistics (1940). Glasgow appointed its first Medical Officer of health in 1863 to combat problems of overcrowding and disease. This film shows the work of the department from housing to schools to monitoring food stuffs. Commissioned by Glasgow Corporation Public Health Department.  

Time: 11.54, 14.22

Film: Future of Scotland (1948). Tom Johnston, the former Secretary of State  for Scotland and founder of the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board, talks about the benefits of devolution for Scotland. Clip from a larger film about Scotland’s industry and culture. Sponsored by J. Arthur Rank Organisation.

Time: 11.56, 14.24

Film: Housewives of Tomorrow (1951). A Domestic Science class as taught in a Glasgow school. Made in 1951 this film depicts very old-fashioned traditional roles for women as housewives; looking after the children, cooking and cleaning. Filmed at Albert Secondary School, Glasgow. Silent

Time: 12.10, 14.38

Film: In the Clear (1957).  Tuberculosis was once a major threat to Britain’s health and in the 1950s there was a campaign to get people diagnosed early by getting a chest x-ray. This cinema trailer, starring Jimmy Logan and Stanley Baxter, was made to encourage people to do just that. Commissioned by the National Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis.  

Time: 12.13, 14.41

Film: Young in Heart (1963). Film showing the making of the Hillman Imp motorcar from conception to production at its factory in Linwood, Paisley. The film offers a colourful insight of the workings of the factory which was built to help recover jobs lost from the declining ship building industry. Commissioned by Films of Scotland and the Rootes Group.

Time: 12.36, 15.03

Film: Songs of Scotland (1963). Part of a larger film of traditional songs from Scotland. This clip shows Dolina McLellan and Hamish Henderson singing “Bonnie Lassie I’ll Lie Near Ye’” in a local Edinburgh pub. Hamish Henderson was a Scottish poet and songwriter. Commissioned by Films of Scotland.

Time: 12.39, 15.06

Film: Making bagpipes (1967). Shows the whole process of making traditional bagpipes at Highland Bagpipe Makers who were located on Edinburgh’s Lawnmarket. Commissioned by Educational Films of Scotland. 

Time: 12.48, 15.15

Film: Cumbernauld, Town for Tomorrow (1970). Film about the New Town of Cumbernauld showing the optimism surrounding it at the time. Features the Reynolds Memorial Award, which the architects won for achievements in Urban Design. Commissioned by Films of Scotland and Cumbernauld Development Corporation.

Time: 13.15, 15.42

Film: Pure New Wool (1924) Made by the Scottish Woollen Trade Mark Association showing the production process in the 1920s.

Time: 13.19 , 15.46

Film: Morris Chair (1960) The making of a Morris chair using plywood at their factory based in Glasgow. Produced by Templar Film Studios.

Time: 13.23, 15.50

Film: Gold Star (1971) Educational film depicting welding and making of “Gold Star”, which at the time was the largest ship built in Scotland.

Time: 13.26 , 15.53

Film: Highlands (1971) Clip shows glass blowing at Caithness Glass, Wick. Commissioned by HIDB, British Aluminium Company and Films of Scotland.

All films courtesy of NLS Scottish Screen Archives