Community Connections
In June 2015 community partners in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, and the Valuing Different Perspectives Project (University of Stirling) and ACCORD Project (Glasgow School of Art) organised the Community Connections festival fortnight, supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council Connected Communities Distributed Festival.
http://www.digitalsentinel.net/2015/06/wester-hailes-community-connections-festival/
The festival had a packed schedule, as reported in the Digital Sentinel.
Photos from the 2015 Wester Hailes fun-run.
https://flic.kr/s/aHskjaMWaV
It kicked off with the annual Wester Hailes fun-run on Sunday 14 June 2015!
http://www.digitalsentinel.net/2015/06/wester-hailes-fun-run-2015-a-success/
Photos of the launch event and the historic photos displayed.
https://flic.kr/s/aHskkuQ6Bk
On Tuesday the 16 June 2015 the festival launched an exhibition of historic photos of Wester Hailes in the Healthy Living Centre.
The Digital Sentinel reported on the launch of the Our Place in Time exhibition.
http://www.digitalsentinel.net/2015/06/our-place-in-time-exhibition-launched/
Video of Poetry in Motion.
https://youtu.be/DUjfJN9p1BM
Wednesday 17 June 2015 was the first of two "Big Walks" - Poetry in Motion - led
by local historian and featuring poetry readings at key sites by famed Wester Hailes poet Colin Bartie.
https://flic.kr/s/aHskjRBp88
http://www.digitalsentinel.net/2015/06/big-walk-poetry-in-motion/
In this article, The Digital Sentinel speaks to local historian Eoghan Howard about the history of Wester Hailes.
http://www.digitalsentinel.net/2015/07/the-story-behind-wester-hailes-totem-pole/
https://flic.kr/s/aHskkoKPvS
On Thursday 18 June 2015 volunteers filmed a reading of an Our Place in Time poem.
http://www.digitalsentinel.net/2015/06/our-place-in-time-poem-film-shoot/
Dr Peter Matthews, University of Stirling, wrote for the Sentinel about the visit.
http://www.digitalsentinel.net/2015/06/cassiltoun-housing-association-visit-wester-hailes/
In the middle weekend - Saturday 20 June 2015 - Wester Hailes hosted a visit from Cassiltoun Housing Association (Glasgow) and the ACCORD project from Glasgow School of Art.
While trusty research assistants did photogrammetry of the Wester Hailes totem pole, community members from Cassiltoun went on a social history walked and shared stories of regeneration and change with people from Wester Hailes.
https://flic.kr/s/aHskjRC9nz
At the end of the day a 3D model of the totem pole was printed.
https://twitter.com/ACCORD_project/status/628948633652699136
You can download a 3D pdf of the totem pole here (you need to open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader for the full effect).
https://rms.stir.ac.uk/converis-stirling/publication/19307#
The Edinburgh sketcher drew pictures of Wester Hailes then and now.
https://flic.kr/s/aHskgXcszZ
On Tuesday 23 June 2015, the Edinburgh Sketcher and former Wester Hailes resident and now presenter on STV's Fountainbridge show Ewen Cameron, joined local residents on the second history walk - paint it back.
http://www.digitalsentinel.net/2015/06/paint-it-back-a-social-history-walk-with-edinburgh-sketcher-and-stv-edinburgh/
The glamorous red carpet reception...
https://flic.kr/s/aHskfAVLS1
The festival fortnight ended with the Gala premier (with red carpet) of the film A Walk Around Wester Hailes, a product of the Valuing Different Perspectives project.
The Digital Sentinel, leading the local paparazzi reporting on the launch.
http://www.digitalsentinel.net/2015/06/film-night-fun-marks-end-of-festival/
And the film itself!
https://youtu.be/BfKyQOx1KqE
The night also featured showing of other films, such as this video for The Underpass Song, and a showing of a documentary called The Huts, filmed in Wester Hailes for Channel 4 in the early 1980s.
https://youtu.be/hKOpf0CficA