Creative Encounters is an exciting partnership project between Imaginate and North Edinburgh Arts. The project takes a children’s rights-based approach to theatre and dance performance, placing children at the heart of the creative process and decision-making.
In Year 1 (2022/23 school year), Forthview Primary School pupils were involved as key decision-makers. They commissioned Cynthia Cheung to create a new performance Hat Hat Hat, and took part in workshops on curation, content creation, photography, journalism, speech writing, and decision-making. Their interests and feedback played a central role in shaping the design and delivery of the whole Creative Encounters project.
Throughout the 2022/23 school year, Imaginate worked closely with children at Forthview Primary School:
- Creative Project Facilitator Lou Brodie delivered regular workshops exploring theatre, dance, and the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child.
- Pupils formed a shortlisting committee who met to review submissions from artists who wanted to work with them.
- Selected artists visited Forthview to pitch their ideas to the shortlisting committee. Pupils were blown away by Cynthia Cheung's idea for her performance Hat Hat Hat, and decided this was their chosen commission! Pupils then worked with Cynthia and her team to co-create the performance. Read more about Hat, Hat, Hat and the co-creation process
- Photographer Kat Gollock delivered photography workshops with a group of pupils who captured footage of the workshops, took photos at our festival photo call and press launch, wrote a blog about their experience, and attended Family Encounters. Read their blog: This time the children are in charge!
- Forthview pupils took part in the photocall and press launch for the Edinburgh International Children’s Festival. Children decorated protest signs which included articles from the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the signs were used to stage a protest at the school gates. The images were used as promotional photos for the Children’s Festival.
- The Forthview P7 captains spoke at the press launch of the Edinburgh International Children's Festival 2023. They delivered a brilliant speech about Creative Encounters and the upcoming Hat Hat Hat performances. They started a chant with the audience of “Children’s Rights!” before marching out of the room holding the protest banners that their peers had made.
- Pupils from Forthview Primary School joined Imaginate at Family Encounters to watch all of the performances (including Hat Hat Hat!), help gather feedback from audiences, and document the day.