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Film Review: Queen of Glory by Nana Mensah

By Erin Aitchison

Queen of Glory, dir. by Nana Mensah (Bohemia Media, 2021)

This month, Reel to Real Cinema returned with Queen of Glory (dir. By Nana Mensah), in recognition of International Women’s Day. This feature-length film; written, directed, and starring Mensah, follows Sarah Obeng, a cancer-curing PhD student and brilliant daughter of Ghanian immigrants who is trying to navigate life after her mother’s sudden death. Mensah manages to explore themes of maternal/paternal relationships, heritage, grief and acceptance all in a neat 79 minutes – no mean feat for her directorial debut. Being an F-Rated film, (meaning it’s created by and significantly features women), Queen of Glory is perfect viewing for this year’s IWD.


Sarah Obeng is preparing to move to Ohio with her already-married lover (Adam Leon), when she receives a phone call that her mother has died following an aneurysm. Sarah is the sole inheritor of her mother’s estate, and the new owner of her Christian bookstore ‘King of Glory’ in the Pelham Parkway section of the Bronx.


Sarah is left to organise both a wake and a Ghanian funeral, decide the fate of the bookstore, wait on her dad (Oberon K.A. Adjepong) who is visiting from Ghana and placate her aunties who despite her scientific success keep telling her to lose weight and have some babies. During her endless tasks Sarah develops friendships with the lone bookstore employee, tattoo clad ex-convict and talented baker Pitt (Meeko Gattuso), and the multi-generational Russian-American family who live next door.


The film opens with close-ups of vibrant, rich textiles accompanied by the sound of West-African drums. Archive footage from Ghana is interspersed throughout the film, representing Sarah’s ongoing conversation with her heritage and her journey to celebrating it. The intermittent archive videos show both an insight to Ghanian culture and the repetitive cycle of the human experience as the videos echo what is happening in Sarah’s life.


Rich with these references to heritage and a powerful overarching conversation with grief, Queen of Glory also finds itself punctuated with pockets of humour. Memorable moments of laughter were the effects of Pitt’s pot-brownies, Sarah answering the door to a flat-viewer in a risqué outfit intended for her boyfriend, and the chaos of her neighbour going in to labour as three generations of people rush to find the blasted car keys.


At the second funeral for Sarah’s mother, we revisit the same drumming sequence which opens the film. From this we gain an appreciation of Sarah’s journey and the many women (and men!) who have influenced it. Sarah adorns her natural hair and a vibrant funeral dress, marking the inevitable end to her journey as she dances and finally weeps over the loss of her mother.

Voices of aunties, neighbours, customers and mothers guide Mensah’s character through this story with a feeling of familiarity and genuine warmth. Like the bright West-African fabrics shown in the title sequence of the film, Queen of Glory feels like it is carefully woven together by the voices of women.

Queen of Glory is currently available to watch via Amazon Prime and can be rented/bought online from various streaming services.

Erin is our Marketing Assistant at The Stove but is no stranger to watching and talking about film. Erin graduated with an English and Film Studies degree in 2022, and is delighted to share her thoughts on the films shown at our monthly Reel to Real screenings. 

You can find out more about Reel to Real Cinema here.

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Musings News Project Updates

Creative Spaces – Dundee

By Emma Forsyth

At the end of January, the Creative Spaces team, alongside multidisciplinary artist Marly Baker, travelled up to meet with the team at Creative Dundee. We have made contact with this organisation at the Know One Place conference in September 2022, and have been eager to connect with them and see what they are doing in their city. 

We arrived at the V&A to attend the event Plastic Lab: Material Matters. It was four makers from different disciplines talking about the materials they work with. They discussed their relationship to the chosen material, their history and how they see their practice becoming more sustainable as we move forward to a more eco-conscious world. It was very interesting and fun hearing makers talk so passionately about their work.

After the talk, we went through to the Lab section, where we got to ask the designers questions, “meet the materials” and explore samples of their work. 

There was also information about different types of plastic, and how people are trying to create things out of a material that takes thousands of years to decompose. The Lab was very interactive, with people allowed to leave comments on slips on the wall. There had been schools in the Lab before us, and the young kids had filled out some of them with their inventive ways to help the plastic problem.

I was lucky enough to be introduced to John-David Hendshaw who owns production and venue company Sweet Venue, and organises Dundee Fringe. We chatted (and ranted) about accessible theatre, and bringing back old Scottish traditions that can make theatre more attractive to those who have written it off as ‘too artsy’. It was a real meaningful chat to have, and I’m so glad to have made that connection. 

After we left the V&A, we were given a tour of the city centre of Dundee. Walking through the public gardens, Gillian, Claire, and Eilish told us about their role in Creative Dundee, and the projects that they’d been involved in across the city. Their aim is to showcase the creativity in the city, connecting it to the people that live there. We could draw commonalities between The Stoves work and Creative Dundee’s, as both aim to collaborate with their local community to showcase diverse creativity.

They showed us Union Street in the centre of the city, which has now been pedestrianised; the McManus Art Gallery and Museum, a beautiful building in the centre of town; The Keiller Centre home to alternative gallery spaces, and ended in the Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre, a hub for people to create. They have a large print studio with amazing facilities which we got to wander around after seeing the Creative Dundee office and having some lovely snacks.  

Overall, it was a very meaningful experience in Dundee. Being introduced to different creative spaces that have popped up in Dundee was fascinating, exposing people to art in alternative places. The connections made were meaningful and provided a lot to think about and build upon. Thank you to the Creative Dundee team for being such good hosts and showing us more ways creativity can better people’s view on a place.

Emma is one of three Associates currently engaged in a 10-month commission through Creative Spaces at The Stove Network. Creative Spaces is a project for the under-30’s that supports the development of those seeking a career in / currently working in the creative industries or community engagement and encourages artistic responses to cultural issues that impact young people in Dumfries & Galloway. Find our more about Creative Spaces here.

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Musings News Project Updates

WRITE!

The Open Hoose project that lets your imagination guide your hand.

Unsure what WRITE! is about? Author and organiser, Karl Drinkwater, responds to ten questions about his practice and the monthly creative writing workshop.

What is WRITE! all about?

Specific time set aside to be creative in a short and inspirational burst, surrounded by friends.

Which authors inspire you and your practice?

Rather than individual authors, it tends to be individual books which have some wonderful element that is worth studying to see how the writer achieved their effects. So I might be inspired by the style of The Road (McCarthy), or the scope of The Descent (Long), or the storytelling of The Shining (King), or the characterisation in Jane Eyre (Brontë).

What motivated you to start the group?

When I went on residential writing courses I learnt a lot, but it was often the sessions when we wrote silently to prompts that stuck with me or led to trying out new styles and ideas. I wanted to come up with a format focussing specifically on that feeling. 

How effective do you think writing can be as a form of expression?

It allows you to explore ideas, to be different people, to create something beautiful that may inspire others. To hold our lives up to the great magnifying glass and see them for what they are.

Can you tell us of a time that you were recently inspired to write creatively?

To be honest, as a full-time author, I tend to have my projects scheduled up to a year in advance. For me, the inspiration comes from setting out a plot full of conflict/drama, which has enough detail to provide guidance, but not too much to take away the fun of discovery as I fall through the page and write. 

What is your advice for overcoming writer’s block?

Planning. Without a structure, writer’s block will come and knock.

Where is your favourite place to visit locally to inspire creativity for writing?

I like writing and editing in a pub. The requirement is that it is warm, friendly, and does not have a distracting TV. So normally that would be The Dougie, Coach & Horses, Riverside Tap, or the snug in The Globe.

What do you see for the future of WRITE!

Well, a lot of that depends on The Stove! How can we reach more people? Can it spread across the whole county? (Some people travel a big distance to attend!) Could we run repeat sessions at a different day and time so more people have a chance to join in? I’d like to look at opportunities for publishing creative work from Dumfries & Galloway, open to all residents, not just those attending WRITE! (though obviously the latter would be a key audience for submissions!) Plus I have been working on ideas for a non-fiction book about the craft of writing, and some of the material I prepare for sessions could be my inspiration to get on with it!

Just for fun – what has been your favourite writing prompt shared during WRITE! And how did attendees respond to it?

Ah, there have been so many! I love seeing how the same prompt leads to totally different interpretations. Also, the Titles session (titles of books, stories, newspaper articles etc) was fun. We drew titles from a hat and used them as prompts. Some had been provided by attendees, and it was revealing to see where people’s imaginations went!

WRITE! is the creative workshop at The Stove that gives you the space to guide your imagination and transform it into writing.

Hosted by multi-genre author and editor Karl Drinkwater, WRITE! is designed to allow you to play with words and construct short or longer pieces of work, whichever you desire, and it is open to all abilities!

If you would like to attend the next WRITE! session, click here.

To learn more about Karl, and to visit his website, click here.

Open Hoose is a project at the heart of the Stove’s community venue. Ideas are given the space, time, resources and support of the Stove Network to launch ambitious projects to galvanise and gather our communities together. From climate cafes to bread clubs, jam nights and creative writing groups, Open Hoose offers an eclectic mix of different activities for everyone to take part in. Find out more about groups like this one on our Open Hoose page, here.

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Musings News

Let’s Talk Education

By Morgan Love

The Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) was implemented into the Scottish education sector in 2010, and to mark twenty-years since Scotland last held a national debate on the future of education, the Scottish Government invited groups of people to host conversations focused on the ways in which CfE has been successful, and to investigate what potential improvements can be made for the future.

The championing of education has been a pillar of my life from an early age. Having grown up with a grandparent who was unable to partake in primary education, due to a physical disability, it was sustained throughout my childhood that education is not only a tool that can be used to build a balanced and well-rounded life, but also a gift that should not be taken for granted.

It is for this reason that when the Let’s Talk Education* initiative was brought to my attention, I wanted to use it as an opportunity to gather together organisations working within the creative sector in Dumfries & Galloway, and begin to look at how how we can utilise our networks, skillsets and experience to make a difference in our region and pave the way for a new vision for Education.

Armed with official questions from the Scottish Government and a few topics of interest, I facilitated a discussion with a group made up of eleven practitioners from eight separate local organisations (alongside two educators), and embarked on a conversational journey that provided so much more than expected.

Initially, I set out to explore three topics that could be fed back to the Government, these were:

  • The barriers to accessing creative industries
  • The link between mental health and art
  • How we can aim to implement STEAM (science, technologies, engineering, arts, and maths) over STEM (science, technologies, engineering and maths).

While these three topics became the core of the conversation, the feedback from the participants and insight shared allowed the discussion to evolve, branching out and offering opportunities for further discussion on topics including; the limitation of time and resources for educators, exploring methods of teaching popular in Scandinavian countries, and how education and culture feed into one another.

The overriding takeaway I had from the discussion was that our town, and wider region, is filled with organisations and individuals who care passionately about the young people who live here and about supporting new ways of engaging with them and developing opportunities for them to express themselves through creativity.

My hope is that this conversation is just the beginning, highlighting what could be possible if likeminded people come together and talk about important issues such as accessibility and inclusion.

For me, by facilitating this event, it has become clear that continued involvement with established education providers is an important way for us to engage with young people, to showcase the possibilites and to role-model what is achievable when passion and devotion are at the heart of what you do.

Morgan is one of three Associates currently engaged in a 10-month commission through Creative Spaces at The Stove Network. Creative Spaces is a project for the under-30’s that supports the development of those seeking a career in / currently working in the creative industries or community engagement and encourages artistic responses to cultural issues that impact young people in Dumfries & Galloway. Find our more about Creative Spaces here.

*https://www.gov.scot/news/lets-talk-education/

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Musings News Project Updates

Out of the Blue

By Alice Griffin

Last month, the Creative Spaces Team headed out on a ‘go see’ trip to Out of the Blue in Edinburgh. Situated in the heart of Leith, the old Drill Hall is home to a collection of artist studios, a café, exhibition & event space, and Out of the Blueprint.

Out of the Blueprint is a social enterprise print studio that uses Risograph and Gocco printing. As someone with experience using both processes before, I value the benefits of the low-cost, quick printing method, as well as the eco-friendly inks that are used. Overall, I was keen to learn more about how a print studio like this was created and continues to run.

Upon arrival, we sat down for a coffee and Johnny Gailey, the co-ordinator of the organisation. He detailed the journey that the social enterprise has been on in the last 28 years – starting as a modest gallery space on Blackfriars Street right up to its current home in Leith. OOTB also operate the Bongo Club, which acts as a revenue stream alongside it for the majority of its existence. In 2015, Out of the Blueprint expanded to the drill hall, and has now grown into a social enterprise, with any money that is made throughout the organisation going straight back into the project.

After chatting over a coffee in their warm, eclectic café, we headed to the exhibition space where Johnny showed us the selection of work that was for sale. He also explained some more about the binding facilities they use and how their current artist residencies worked. We all loved a zine called ‘Sun’ created by a young creative called Coocoora who completed a residency at the studio.

Next, we headed through to the print studio where Johnny introduced us to Beth Thompson, the print studio manager and editor of Counterpoint magazine (an independent Risograph-printed magazine). Beth explained how the Riso machines work and showed us some of the work that has been created at Out of the Blueprint.

Speaking with Beth was inspiring as her passion for Risograph was infectious and it was fascinating to see how artists from different disciplines understand and implement the process. A great example of this was a zine that we all loved titled ‘Drums and Silence’ created by Cal Mac, an artist working between sculpture, sound, print and video.  

Before we headed home, we were lucky to be able to see Maria Stoian’s exhibition of work in progress titled, ‘Forgeries’ that she created during her recent residency with Out of the Blueprint and pick up a couple of pieces from the gift shop.

This visit to Out of the Blueprint was so helpful for me to understand what possibilities there are for printmaking in Dumfries & Galloway. It’s exciting to see a sustainable, eco-friendly, and affordable print studio thriving and giving young people in the area the opportunity and resources to produce creative projects.

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Musings News

Creative Placemaking and How it is Being Implemented Within The Scottish Cultural Sector

Anthony Schrag and Caitlin McKinnon’s paper, “Exploring the Boundary-Crossing Nature of ‘Creative Placemaking’: The Stove as ‘Adaptor/Converter’” features in the internationally renowned publication, Field.

Field is a journal of socially-engaged art criticism and responds to the remarkable proliferation of new artistic practices devoted to forms of political, social and cultural transformation. Frequently collaborative in nature, this work is being produced by artists and art collectives throughout North, South and Central America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

Schrag and McKinnon’s paper explores, in depth, the concept of creative placemaking, and the role of The Stove Network in developing and spearheading this idea within its current methodology and its approach in Southwest Scotland. 

Creative Placemaking, is defined by The Stove Network through the WWDN project as: a community led approach that uses creative activity to support collective decision-making and positive change for people and the places they live. This paper explores the relationships between people, place, and creativity, (Creative Placemaking) and “how this ‘new’ concept of place-based creative works is being implemented within the (UK/Scottish) cultural sector, with particular attention placed on The Stove, in Dumfries.”

The Full Paper Can Be Accessed Here

Dr Anthony Schrag, co-author of this paper, recently contributed to ‘kNOw One Place’, Scotland’s first forum dedicated to the discussion and ambition of creative placemaking, produced by The Stove Network and supported by South of Scotland Enterprise and Culture Collective (funded by Scottish Government and coordinated by Creative Scotland). This future-thinking discussion on how communities can use creativity to lead the development of their places, featured a series of online webinars and a mixture of open space discussion and expert reflection, exhibition, and original artworks. Drawing people from public, private, independent, and charitable sectors together to share and co-create an agenda for creativity and placemaking for the future.

In the following video, Anthony explores Creative Placemaking, specifically focusing on the idea of a ‘boundary crosser’ using his recent paper as reference:

Matt Baker, Orchestrator, The Stove Network emphases the critical role that creativity can play in the development of community led planning.

“The focus of creative placemaking is to bring under-represented voices from the community into conversations about the future of the area in which they live, through active creative projects. To bring together people, communities, groups, and organisations, public, private and third sector agencies to develop common ground on community-led planning and enterprise.”

Watch Matt as he explains what Creative Placemaking means, in this context, and how it is making an impact through What We Do Now (WWDN), The Stove Network’s creative placemaking pilot project that has been underway for more than 12 months in Dumfries & Galloway. This ground-breaking, collaborative project works with artists, communities and organisations in Castle Douglas, Dumfries, Langholm, Sanquhar and Stranraer.

Caitlin Wallace, an Inspire Graduate with Dumfries & Galloway Council, has explored further the relationship between artists and Places through the strategic partnership Dumfries & Galloway Council has with WWDN.

Caitlin Wallace

Working closely with the project to understand the opportunities within Creative Placemaking for community-led planning and development, specifically as a tool for communities to develop their own Place Plans, Caitlin spent time interviewing the participants of WWDN about their projects and Creative Placemaking approach to working within their communities.

Caitlin’s Findings Can Be Found Here

Throughout the WWDN pilot Katharine Wheeler, Partnerships and Projects Development Lead at The Stove Network explains;

“Our focus for the project was to connect artists and community organisations together, to develop creative activities and projects in their communities with the intent for wider social change and wellbeing for those involved.”

Katharine Wheeler, Speaking at kNOw One Place in September 2022.

In this review, Katharine looks back on the first 12 months of the project and not only celebrates successes, but also identifies challenges and opportunities for the future.

Read Katharine’s Reflections Here

This approach to collaborative working practice, leads the way to a new future of creative placemaking in Southern Scotland. To discover more about WWDN and Creative Placemaking in Southwest Scotland, visit: whatwedonow.scot 

Exploring the Boundary-Crossing Nature of ‘Creative Placemaking’: The Stove as ‘Adaptor/Converter’

About the Authors

“Dr. Anthony Schrag is a practicing artist and researcher, and Senior Lecturer at Queen Margaret’s University (Edinburgh). The central focus of his work examines the role of art in participatory and public contexts, with a specific focus on social conflict, agonism and ethics. His PhD and current research examines the notion of ‘Pro-Social Conflict’ within participatory and social-practice projects. His most recent publication The Failures of Public Art and Participation (co-edited with Cameron Cartiere) was released in Sept, 2022. He is currently the Primary Investigator on a RSE project developing a Rural Art Network (Scotland). He has worked nationally and internationally, including residencies in Iceland, USA, Canada, Pakistan, Finland, The Netherlands, and South Africa, among others. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants including Royal Society of Edinburgh, The Hope Scot Trust, Creative Scotland, British Council, Royal Scottish Academy, the Dewar Arts Award, Standpoint Futures as well as a Henry Moore Artist Fellowship.

Caitlin McKinnon is an SGSAH funded PhD Candidate exploring Arts Management Education. Caitlin has sought to immerse herself in the arts and cultural world in a variety of different positions. Highlights include co-founding a community arts zine in her hometown, volunteering with a Toronto Artists Collective during their takeover of a vacant subway kiosk and working at the Lakeshore Grounds Interpretive Centre to run story-based workshops for the local community.  More recently, Caitlin has worked on several different research projects commissioned by Creative Scotland, British Council (Scotland), Engage Scotland, as well as organisations such as Out of the Blue, the Stove, and SESQUI Canada. As a developing researcher, Caitlin’s research interests include discourses of arts management, professionalisation, cultural policy, and relations of power in the cultural sector.”

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