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Queer Club introduces the ‘Queer Wheel of Fortune’

Learn about the ‘Queer Wheel of Fortune’ and how it operates in the monthly Open Hoose LGBTQ+ activism group.

Image by Patrick Rooney

Queer Club is ran by, with, for and about the local LGBTQ+ community in Dumfries and Galloway. It is a safe, inclusive and friendly space that meets monthly with a whole range of fun activities to take part in, whether you are an advocate or ally, queer or questioning.

Queer Club was established as part of the Open Hoose in 2022 and within its first four months it had already set up and begun managing Dumfries Pride 2022.

Like the rainbow flag itself, Queer Club is a big ol’ clanjamfrie of activism, creativity and entertainment from Queeraoke competitions, powerpoint roulettes, banner making and skills-swaps. Each event is different from the last, and in a new development for the group the activity at each Queer Club session is now decided by the awesome and almighty power of the ‘Queer Wheel of Fortune’!

The Queer Wheel of Fortune

How does it work?

Each month a special guest is invited to spin the Queer Wheel (Queel?) of Fortune, whichever activity the wheel lands on will dictate what the activity will be the next round.

The different activities that make up the ‘Queer Wheel of Fortune’ are as follows:

Queeraoke

Karaoke and lip sync challenges.

Talent Show

It’s time to shine! Whether you’re a side splitting dance Goddess, guitar virtuoso, DJ extraordinaire or simply have a weird story to tell, the talent show is the perfect opportunity to show off a

Book Club

As a collective, we will decide on a book/article or short story to read through the month for dicussion. Whichever book is pitched will make up the Queer Library of the Ewart!

What’s the News?

So, what’s gan oan in the world today? A discussion group to talk about everything new in the Queer Community.

PowerPoint Roulette

PowerPoint Roulette is an improv game where you give a presentation from a slide deck you’ve never seen. Presenters are nominated by the group.

Game Play

In this game, a series of volunteers will each give a PowerPoint presentation containing slides they have never seen, in front of a live audience. For each presentation:

  • The presenter is not allowed to see the slides before presenting.
  • The presenter must deliver each slide in succession without skipping any slides.
  • The presentation ends when all slides have been presented, or after six minute (whichever comes first).

When the presentation is over, the next player is invited to present a new unseen slide deck. Once all players have presented, it’s time to judge the round.

Skill Swap

If the roulette wheel lands on the ‘Skill’ section QC participants are invited to host a workshop/talk/discussion or any other activity to share with the group. It’s that easy!

Queer Crafts

Queerbrodiery, Zine Making, T-shirt printing, up-cycling, whatever takes over fancy!

Film

Simples. Let’s watch a film!

Mystery

At each Queer Club a member is tasked with providing a ‘Mystery’ activity for the group to do. If the pointer lands on ‘Mystery’ the nominated person will announce their activity for the group’s vote.

Learn more about Queer Club:

If you would like to attend the next session of Queer Club, visit the event page here.

As decided by the ‘Queer Wheel of Fortune’, the activity for the March ’23 edition of the group is Queeraoke!

Are you inspired by this Open Hoose group? Want to learn more about Open Hoose and find out how you can start or develop a project for the community? Check out our Open Hoose page for more information.

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Opportunities Project Updates

Creative Commission – What We Do Now: Lockerbie

WWDN: Lockerbie

(This Opportunity is Now Closed)

Lockerbie Old School (LOS) in collaboration with the Stove Network are seeking to commission a creative practitioner(s) to work with LOS, its board, and local partners in engaging the community through an arts project exploring themes of possibility, identity, and re-connection.

Fee: £3,500*

Time: Flexible. To be agreed in early stages of the commencement of the project.

*There is a separate production budget associated with the project for materials and other expenses.

The Brief:

The creative practitioner(s) will work in Lockerbie, based at their High Street location, and use their practice to develop a project/series of events/artwork which invites the involvement of local people. The creative practitioner(s) will lead this co-created process to inspire new connections between people in the town and through this for possible future identities for the town to emerge which can be part of LoS’s ongoing work for the local community to take charge of its own future.

Following the key themes of; Possibility, Identity, Re-Connection, the creative practitioner(s) will work with key partners, community members and the residents of the town, it is expected the creative practitioner(s) will connect with individuals and groups in skills-based activity and conversation to understand, interpret and explore the future identity of the town.

LOS are eager to collaborate with a creative practitioner with a ‘hands-on’ practice in textiles, design, or craft to engage the community in new skills, utilising a dynamic creative practice to inspire and awaken new perspectives, ideas and hopes for the future. The project, it is expected, may serve as a prototype for forthcoming arts and community activities involving the wider community locally and regionally.

The commissioned artist will work with the Stove Network and LOS in determining the direction and approach of the project through a research an development period agreed by all parties, outlining key interaction points and determining the most beneficial approach to realise the project’s aims.

WWDN: Lockerbie, contributes in part to the ongoing ‘creative place-making* network’ of Dumfries & Galloway entitled What We Do Now. A collaborative project placing creative practitioners with community anchor organisations across Dumfries & Galloway, working with communities in a co-created process to explore and develop imaginative possibilities for residents, communities, and groups across the region.

The project, initially funded by Culture Collective, is one within a national network of socially-engaged, community-based creative practice across Scotland. LoS alongside the Stove Network are eager to hear from practitioners with experience in community-embedded practice, workshop facilitation and production.

*We define Creative Placemaking as: a community led approach that uses creative activity to support collective decision-making and positive change for people and the places they live.

About Lockerbie Old School:

The Lockerbie Old School Community Hub (LoS) are an anchor organisation for change within the town of Lockerbie and the DG11 postal region, aiming to put local people at the heart of regeneration efforts for their town. The Trust is run by a Board of volunteers who are working towards a number of significant projects in Lockerbie. Having been successful in gaining ownership of the former Academy through a Community Asset Transfer they have advanced plans to develop a not for profit but financially viable Community Venue where the people of Lockerbie can gather, learn and grow as a community. LoS are in the process of acquiring a permanent base on the High Street. It is intended that the space be a test-bed for future activity and will feature a community workshop space as well as act as a ‘front door’ to the Lockerbie Old School project for the local community to engage in.

How to Apply

To apply please send the following before 5pm, Wednesday 15th December 2022

  • Letter of Interest. This should tell us why you are interested in the commission, why you think you and your practice are suited to this opportunity and give us an outline idea of how you might approach the project if you were successful (NB we are NOT looking for fully formed project proposals at this stage – we are committed to arts practice whereby a project is formed by being in a place and working with the people there)
  • CV. This should tell us about your personal history, your experience and to date and give us an idea of the skills that you have.
  • Up to 5 examples of previous work. If you do not have 5 don’t worry – we are committed to making opportunities for people at all stages of their career, this is exactly the kind of thing we can discuss in an initial chat. We are looking for you to show us what you do in the way that you are most comfortable and happy with and can accept submissions in weblinks, photo files, sound files, or physical works (though please don’t send us original artworks!).

Please send your application to [email protected]

Submissions should not exceed 10MB in size. If you want to send or deliver a physical submission our address is: The Stove, 100 High Street, Dumfries DG1 2BJ

Selection Process

We are keen to hear from practitioners at all stages of development and from all disciplines. We’d encourage anyone interested in finding out more about the opportunity to get in touch for an initial informal chat – particularly people at earlier stages of their careers as we can explain more about what is involved in a project like this and what to include in an application. Please email [email protected] and we’ll arrange a time to talk (BSL interpretation is available)

It’s important that our people reflect and represent the diversity of the communities and audiences we serve. We welcome and value difference, so when we say we’re for everyone, we want everyone to be welcome in our teams too. Wherever you’re from, and whatever your background, we want to hear from you. We will accept applications from anyone and everyone who feels they have the skills required to fulfil this role.

OPTIONAL EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FORM

Categories
Musings News Project Updates

Free Improvisation

The Open Hoose project that lets local musicians colour outside of the lines

To find out what Free Improvisation is all about, we asked Free Improvisation’s organiser, Calum Walker, ten questions to get an insight into this unique and exciting group.

Photography by Kirstin McEwan

What is Free Improvisation?

The sessions are based on the group improvisations I’ve participated in, during my time studying. It is focused on listening and playing intuitively with a group, in a way that is open and unrestricted by genre-specific styles or technique. A big part of it is trying new ideas and then reflecting on the outcome.

How did you get into playing music?

I’ve played guitar since I was young, but I guess I wouldn’t have thought of myself as a musician until more recently. My friends and I started a metal band when we were young, and that kept us busy for a long time. Through that, I started to learn about other musical styles and wanted to write music for a wide range of orchestral and electronic instruments. More recently, I’ve been working to take my music further, by returning to full time education and working in new settings.

Which musicians inspire you?

There are thousands. For guitar, I’m really inspired by Guthrie Govan’s books on creative playing at the moment. The concept of the group sessions owes a lot to composers like John Cage and Terry Riley. I probably get the most inspiration from people I know personally. Being able to jam and talk music with great, knowledgeable players really compels me to practice harder.

Are there any musicians or bands that took the art of free improvisation into mainstream audiences?

There might be. Improvisation is everywhere in music but I think less stoic practices can seem a bit more abstract. It’s more popular in the contemporary jazz, electronic and classical worlds. However, loads of songwriters and bands will have used group improvisation as a foundation for a track. It’s no different to an ensemble picking up their instruments and just seeing what happens, without the pressure of it having to fit particular parameters.

Is it ever too late to start learning a new instrument or a new way of playing an instrument?

I can’t say for every case but I don’t think so. I think it can be a challenge if you have to start from nothing or unlearn old habits. With enough motivation and time I think anything is possible.

What got you thinking about setting up the Free Improvisation group?

In the beginning it was based on the sessions I attended at my college. They were much more ‘out there’ than I had expected, but I really got something out of it. Now, the sessions are more refined to suit the interests of the group. The format is great because it doesn’t matter about ability levels or having specific numbers or instruments. It’s not about shredding or proving that you’re the best, because it’s based on listening and group dynamics. It’s so flexible and anyone can participate in creating music in this way.

What do you like about jamming with other musicians?

It’s nice to have an objective, even if that objective is simply to be heard once in a while. The hard work and gruelling practice seems to all be worth it when you’re locked into a jam with players that share the same respect and enthusiasm.

What can newcomers expect from taking part in Free Improvisation sessions?

Each session tends to be quite different. It can be quite lively or serene. I usually come with a few ideas I want to explore, but it’s group led so it has the capacity to go in unexpected directions. There’s always a mix of shorter exercises and longer, experimental improvisations. Lately, we’ve been looking at AV projects to create sound for. The atmosphere is always really exciting and the group are really friendly and eager to create.

What do you see for the future of Free Improvisation?

I’m hoping that there’s still room to expand and collaborate with different mediums in new ways. There are loads of great players in the area. Free Improvisation might not be their burning passion, but I think there is something really interesting to be gained from it. The priority is the playing, and the benefit of sharing ideas with like minded musicians.

Just for fun – is there a particularly memorable highlight of a Free Improvisation session?

There’s been a few interesting moments. We did an exercise where one of the group members read lines from Karl Pilkington’s books, and the group would use the text as a stimulus for music. The most memorable parts of the sessions are in those moments when it all comes together and you can sense that everyone is really into the sound that’s being collectively created.

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.

Categories
Musings News Project Updates

Queer Club

Entirely community-run, Queer Club advocates for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community through creativity, conversation, and most importantly, fun

Images and videography by Patrick Rooney

An activist space for members of the LGBTQIA+ community locally to get together, Queer Club is an opportunity for the queer community, its allies and advocates to conjure up big plans and get making.

The Open Hoose group hit the ground running, setting up and managing the 2022 Dumfries Pride festival in its first four months.

Dumfries Pride’s jam-packed programme of activity spanned the month of July, including a pop-up hub/shop (Queer Quarter) on the High Street, creative workshops, film nights, drag shows and so much more!

The Dumfries Pride calendar culminated in the celebratory and momentous Pride march around Dumfries town centre, with a masquerade ball taking place in the evening for all of the community to come together and celebrate an inspiring month of LGBTQ+ solidarity.

So what’s next for Queer Club?


As we’re now well into Autumn, Queer Club continues to host monthly meet-ups at The Stove, with plenty of fun activities to take part in, there really is something for everyone!

  • Queerbroidery: Take part in this mindful but fun activity, using embroidery to celebrate Queerness with fun and vibrant stitch patterns
  • Zine making: For lovers of collage and print, the Zine is one of the most accessible (and enjoyable) crafts you can do. Using old magazines, newspapers, photos and advertisements, the Zine is all about making, mending and transforming the old into the new, from the ordinary, comes the miraculous!
  • Beginner’s DJing with Double Down Disco: The art of DJing is all about weaving your own unique taste with that of the crowd. Read the room, blend the tunes and get moving. Get hands-on with the decks and try out the Stove’s Function One Sound System (it’s a beaut!), guided by the legendary Les Ross.
  • Book club: Read something of late you just HAVE to let others know about? Whether it was Wuthering Heights or the Bluthering Blows, we want to celebrate, educate and get inspired by queer, trans, non-binary and LGBTQ+ writers across the world. Bring along a book, whether a novel, non-fiction, poetry or comic and let’s get reading!

Queer Club is ran by, with, for and about the local LGBTQ+ community. It’s open to the wider community, whether advocate or ally, queer or questioning. It’s a safe, inclusive and friendly space for everyone to take part. 

Interested in joining the Queer Club steering group? Then come along and speak with one of our members on the night. They’d be delighted to get to know you.

Join in the next Queer Club session by signing up via our events page, here.

Are you inspired by this Open Hoose group? Want to learn more about Open Hoose and find out how you can start or develop a project for the community? Check out our Open Hoose page for more information.

Categories
News Project Updates

Solway to Svalbard

Solway to Svalbard is an immersive, multi-artform response to the spring migration of barnacle geese.

This unique piece of theatre brings together original music with cinematic visuals, evocative soundscapes, and live storytelling. Created by composer Stuart Macpherson, filmmaker Emma Dove and sound recordist Pete Smith the project was developed over the course of five years, enabled by support from Creative Scotland, PRS Foundation, Help Musicians UK, Tenk Traena AiR, Galleri Svalbard, DG Arts Live, The Stove Network, DGU and the National Theatre of Scotland’s Engine Room programme.

Forming part of Dumfries & Galloway’s Wild Goose Festival, which is produced by The Stove Network and held in Dumfries and surrounding areas, the festival unites key partners from the region in an exploration of nature, creativity, and place, Solway to Svalbard follows the migratory rough of Svalbard’s Barnacle geese from Southwest Scotland to the High Arctic and back. The final artwork is highlighted as this year’s finale event with the world premier will take place at the Loreburn Hall in Dumfries on Saturday 29th October.

“We have all put so much work into this project and I think we have really created something that not only gives audiences and insight into the geese’s journey but also the journey we have gone on as the friends in creating the work.”

Pete Smith – Sound Recordist

More About the Project

From their wintering site on the wetlands of the Solway Firth, through staging sites in Norway, to their breeding grounds in the High Arctic, the barnacle geese journey across shifting environments in search of food and safety. Following the geese on their journey were a team of three clunky humans who charted the flight path of these birds, encountering different communities along the way, seeking answers to their own questions of home and resources.

Solway to Svalbard is the culmination of the research, inspiration, documentation, ideas, thoughts, and feelings for these three collaborators and through their in-depth development, a richness of material has been generated that captures very special and intimate moments of the barnacle geese’s migration.

But where did is all begin?

“Fancy spending a couple of days filming and recording geese at the wetlands?” I don’t think any of us had any idea of the journey that we had just started when we got together for that initial reccie!”

Stuart MacPherson – Composer

The Solway Firth’ mudflats and coastal grasslands make up one of the largest intertidal habitats in the UK attracting tens of thousands of geese and other wildfowl and waders each autumn, the story of Solway to Svalbard stars here…

“Caerlaverock WWT was the first wildlife reserve I went to as a child. I remember ‘hiding in a hide’ and peeking out the small windows, looking at the vast numbers of grazing barnacle geese and listening to their noisy squabbling. It made a real impression on me, so, when Stuart first got in touch and asked me to come along on a recce for the project I jumped at the opportunity.”

Pete Smith – Sound Recordist

The development process of this project has encompassed research trips to the High Arctic, writing and filming sessions in the wetlands of the Solway Firth, writing residencies in Scotland and Norway, pop-up musical performances in Caerlaverock Castle and a work in progress performance in a working man’s club in Dumfries for the National Theatre of Scotland’s ‘Just Start Here’ festival. 

Wide-shot panoramic footage of their journey evokes the scope and scale of the landscapes they travel through with close up environmental detailed shots. An immersive textured sound design weaves field recordings of the geese. Recorded interviews and stories recounted by local people in the Arctic and the Solway comment upon our integral but often forgotten interconnectedness with the natural world and the reality of environmental change on us all. An original score written as a response to the different environments and habitats weaves through the show. At the heart of the work – Stuart, Pete and Emma’s personal story – their account of navigating these people, places and landscapes and how their time with the geese changed and shifted their perspectives. 

“When Stuart approached me to work on Solway to Svalbard, I felt an immediate connection to the piece. I naively imagined setting up my camera down on the Solway Firth and patiently waiting for skeins of geese to fly in perfect formations overhead. The reality really was much more of a wild goose chase – a lesson in our limits as clunky humans stuck to the ground, as well as an incredible journey of discovery of the places, habitats and people that are connected by the barnacle geese and their round trip to the high arctic.”

Emma Dove – Filmmaker

Image by Stuart Macpherson

Solway to Svalbard is a work about the natural world, our relationships with it. We’re currently living in a moment where a radical reconsideration of our relationship to our planet is required, and as gentle, tender, and intimate as the work is – it has never felt more urgent or necessary.

Audiences will learn about the geese, their habitat – what is changing and why that’s important. The barnacle geese are a conservation success story to celebrate but they are also an indicator species – their shifting behaviours and journeys pointing to rising temperatures and climate change.  Above all, Solway to Svalbard is a work about feeling and connection. Immersed in the sights and sounds and movement of the geese and orchestrated by live music – audiences will be invited to feel their own interconnectedness with the natural world.

Solway to Svalbard is a live performance incorporating original orchestral music, film screening, and unique audio design. BSL interpreted, tickets for the premier of Solway to Svalbard are on sale now.

Categories
News Opportunities Project Updates

OPEN HOOSE – Call out

Ours is an open hoose, 

The Stove is delighted to launch the Open Hoose once again.

After a successful pilot between January to March 2022, where we worked with our community to realise 10 new projects and events ran with, for, by and about Doonhamers.

Open Hoose is a project at the very heart of the Stove’s community venue work. Working with us, new (and established) community-led, grassroots projects are given the space, support, resource, and training to take even the most radical of ideas to the next level. From bread-making groups, to LGBTQIA spaces, Climate activism and creative writing, Open Hoose is a supported project, tailored exactly to fit the individual (or group’s) aims. 

Working with the Stove’s creative, production, café and technical teams, new initiatives are trialled and developed through our community venue programme. We have been able to provide free meals and drinks service, technical support, creative development and partnerships to help give ambitious ideas the space, time, support and encouragement they need to develop. 

It’s pretty vital to what we do. We believe wholeheartedly that our culture is nourished from the grassroots, not from the top down. That’s why our motto ‘Grow your own culture’ is intrinsic to just about everything we do here, and Open Hoose is at the core of this. 

A few examples of what we’ve been able to support 

FAQs

Can anyone apply to the Open Hoose?

Absolutely! We want to hear from as many people as possible. So whether you’ve never been to a Stove event or consider yourself a true Stovie, it doesn’t matter. We’re interested in you, your idea and why this opportunity is right for you. 

Can a group that’s already established apply?

Yes. It doesn’t have to be a new idea. Established groups that are already working are encouraged to apply. So whether you’d like to have your activity in the town centre or could do with some support to try out something new, we’re all ears. 

How many projects will be taken forward?

We want to be as flexible as possible with the type of support we might be able to offer. With our current cohort, we have identified spaces within our monthly programme for new Open Hoose projects to be considered, but we’re also open to hearing ideas that may not require the space, from podcasts to street art. 

How do you consider proposals?

We take a broad and open view of the type of project we’re able to support. Though some key considerations are worth bearing in mind before submitting:

How does the project seek to engage with the community?

Is there a cause or activist drive behind the idea?

How realistically to support something given our current capacity and resources. 

Get applying! 

CLICK HERE TO APPLY