SAMIZDAT
Out of the Blue Newsletter Summer 2006
Welcome to the summer edition of Samizdat, the Out of the Blue (OOTB) newsletter. In step with the changing seasons as ever, OOTB’s programme of arts projects just gets hotter and hotter.
CREATIVE HUB
The latest studio/office spaces created by the ongoing Out of the Blue Drill Hall refurbishment have already been snapped up. The high build quality using advanced, environmentally sustainable materials combined with the relaxed, networking-conducive environment has quickly attracted a host of creative talent ranging from individual artists to entire arts organisations. Samizdat would like to wish them all a warm welcome to The OOTB Drill Hall. If you are keen to rent a space, all is not lost. OOTB is now fundraising for the next phase of building work which will create additional studio spaces on a proposed mezzanine level. To find out more, Click-A-Brick at www.outoftheblue.org.uk
YOU’RE HIRED
The OOTB Drill Hall is particularly buzzing at the moment as groups of unemployed youngsters get to grips with the finer points of a range of arts and crafts disciplines as part of the Gallery 37 training-for-work initiative. The project is funded by arts and inclusion advocates Capital City Partnership and coordinated by OOTB gives the 16 to 24 year olds the opportunity to learn skills in jewellery and accessory-making, digital photography and screen printing, documentary video-making and millinery from professional artists.
Interested members of the public are welcome to come down and see what is happening at Gallery 37 open days on Thursday August 10 and 17 from 1.15 to 4.15pm. If you like what you see the project is also offering a series of free workshops on Saturday August 5 and 12. For details and booking please call 07971 811 839 or email lauragallery37@hotmail.co.uk.
ARTS MARKET
The fruits of the Gallery 37 participants’ labours will be on sale alongside work from some of the cream of Edinburgh artistic talent at the forthcoming Out of the Blue Arts Market on Saturday August 19 between 12 and 6pm at the OOTB Drill Hall. It is a unique opportunity to buy a huge range of fine art, craft and design including jewellery, paintings, prints, photography, furniture, ceramics, sculpture, hats, bags, cushions, accessories, t-shirts and music CDs direct from the artist themselves. It is also a chance to try out traditional musical instruments courtesy of OOTB Drill Hall tenants ALP and the Traditional Music and Song Association as well as enjoy some good food in the relaxed environs of the newly revamped OOTB Drill Hall, Edinburgh’s most dynamic multi-arts hub. Entry is a mere 50 pence so put it in your diary now. There are still one or two stalls available, for more info please email Nicole Lambeng on nicole@outoftheblue.org.uk.
TRANSPOSITION
Due to the recent building work, there are no Festival/Fringe shows at the OOTB Drill Hall this year. However, there is plenty happening elsewhere. Out of the Blue in cooperation with Indian promoters Teamwork Productions is presenting the European premiere of ground breaking physical theatre show Transposition at Venue 82, Zoo Southside, August 13 to 18 and 22 to 28 at 7.30pm. Based on an ancient Indian folk tale, the spectacular blend of dance, colour, music, martial arts, poetry and giant puppets will transport you to a mythic India populated by exotic deities and star-crossed lovers. With a two-for-one ticket offer at £9/7 exclusive to Samizdat readers valid until August 18, it must be worth the fare. Just contact box office on 0131 662 6892 or box@zoovenues.co.uk and quote ‘blue’.
CIRCUS COMES TO TOWN
Following last year’s award-winning Fringe run, alternative circus pioneers No Fit State return to The Space Ship @ The Out of the Blue Tramworks. With the choreographed chaos and live music unfolding around you in the silvery UFO big top pitched in the grittily urban surroundings of a disused, you guessed it, tramworks at Shrub Place on Leith Walk, this is definitely one show not to miss. Tickets are available from 0870 126 1771.
SAX APPEAL
Being an artist-led organisation, OOTB staff will also be making personal appearances during the Fringe. Buildings manager by day and saxophonist by night Greg Molleson will be rocking the Spiegeltent on August 13 and 14 at 7pm with his 11-piece band Orkestra Del Sol as part a European tour to promote their new album Carnival by Stealth. Check out www.orkestradelsol.com for more details. Greg will also be appearing with showbiz spectaculars The Loveboat Big Band which features members of McFalls Chamber Orchestra and jazz chanteuse Heather MacLeod among others, again at the Spiegeltent on August 13 on stage at the later time of 11pm.
FLAMING HOON
The equally multi-talented OOTB coordinator Rob Hoon has helped write and stars in Theatre Workshop’s latest Fringe spectacular, Babylon Burning [Another Lovely War]. The hard-hitting anti-Iraq War drama opens on August 15 until 27. Rob will also be talking at a special Tapwater Awards debate Water for Life – Not for Profit. Join the expert panel at Theatre Workshop on August 26 as they discuss this increasingly vital issue; access to clean water.
KHAKI
Zendeh, the award-winning theatre group now based in The OOTB Drill Hall, is unveiling its latest production during the Fringe, also at the Theatre Workshop. Running from August 22 to 27, Khaki explores the status of women in Iran during some of the major cultural upheavals there over the last 100 years. Check www.theatre-workshop.com for full listings.
HITS FROM THE BONGO
OOTB’s sister organisation The Bongo Club as ever boasts a packed Fringe programme with a string of great international acts and events. Flamboyant US impressionist Jimmy James tops a packed bill that includes campaigning comedian Mark Thomas, offbeat comic show Finer Noble Gases, quirky cabaret Vaudeville, Fringe networking nerve centre the 1 O’ Clock Club and of course, the must see Tapwater Awards which honour the Fringe’s most original and unusual performers overlooked by more mainstream awards. Visit www.thebongoclub.com for the latest listings.
WHAT’S THE SKINNY?
For a birds-eye view of the cultural maelstrom that is the Edinburgh Festival, look no further than the OOTB Drill Hall-based Skinny magazine. With more than a 100 reviewers scouring the capital’s streets, their special weekly Festival issues on August 9, 16 and 23 are a comprehensive guide to the hottest shows this year. Look out too for their bumper student issue in September which boasts the magazine’s biggest ever print run of some 40,000 copies and promises to be an indispensable guide for East and West Coast freshers alike. Lastly, any budding writers interested in the club scene are urged to get in touch. Email Alex on alexb@skinnymag.co.uk to find out more.
OOTB SCOOPS MELA GIG
Following last year’s huge success, OOTB has once again been tapped to produce and programme Scotland’s largest intercultural festival, the Edinburgh Mela at Pilrig Park on September 2 and 3. Centrepiece to August 2’s press launch for the event was To See Ourselves As Others See Us, an artwork (part pictured in background left) by Edinburgh-born artist Aeneas Wilder commissioned by the Scottish Society of Artists and OOTB on behalf of the Mela. The Bollywood-style billboard was created in collaboration with professional signpainters Nandesh Shanti Prakash, Murthy Murtthu and Lazer Edison and was sited at the Royal Scottish Academy on the Mound. For those of you that missed it, the Mela is another chance to ‘see’ it.
This year’s festival promises to be even better with sometime Jazzy B collaborator ‘The Music Man’ Sukshinder Shinda headlining a jammed line up of big name acts including ska-punkers Jinx and Pakistani boyband NRG. Alongside the global musical bill which features artists from as far afield as Uganda and China, family friendly attractions include an arts pavilion, children’s area and hundreds of stalls selling food and crafts from around the world. All daytime events are free, so get yourself down there and soak up the cosmopolitan atmosphere.
DESIGN CLASSIC
Congratulations are due to eco-friendly product designers and OOTB Drill Hall residents Blue Marmalade. The company’s design innovations have been honoured with a string of recent successes. Their Polywrap Eco wastepaper bin has been shortlisted for a Gift of the Year Gift Association award while their ib pop chair and Stealth Floorstanding Lamp have been selected to feature in the prestigious Smithsonian and Vitra Design Museum-curated Second Skin exhibition in Essen in Germany from August 25 to December 3. And in a classically surreal cod and desk encounter, water preservation project Envirowise has commissioned the designers to create a marine animal-friendly desk which will be inside a tank full of fish at The London Aquarium from August 7. For more information on all their products go to www.bluemarmalade.co.uk.
LIBERTY HALL
The Out of the Blue Drill Hall is again participating in the annual Doors Open Day on September 30. Guided tours of this historic building will be taking place at regular intervals during the day. There is no need to book just turn up and an intrepid guide will be happy to show you around.
That’s it for Samizdat until autumn so until then keep an eye on www.outoftheblue.org.uk for all the latest news. If you would like to unsubscribe from the mailing list then email hugo@outoftheblue.org.uk.
Out of the Blue Arts & Education Trust (charity number SCO22812) supports and promotes cultural ventures. It has an established track record as a vital catalyst for creativity in Edinburgh and beyond including the launch of cutting edge multi-arts venue the Bongo Club (www.thebongoclub.co.uk). OOTB gratefully acknowledges the support of the Scottish Arts Council, City of Edinburgh Council, Capital City Partnership, Communities Scotland, Fresh Futures, Social Investment Scotland, Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh & Lothian, Triodos Bank, Social Enterprise Edinburgh, Scottish Community Foundation and IKEA.
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