Find the resources and content for Week Four of the Capturing Lives project here. Introduction This week we're looking at a bit of a different way of recording our lives: through oral histories. As well as learning about, and listening to examples of, oral histories, we're also asking you to research an arts organisation which is one of the requirements for obtaining the Arts Award. Oral Histories What is an oral history? Find out by watching our video below. Transcript of Oral History video: Document Oral History Transcript (522.03 KB / PDF) Listen to some examples of oral histories below. You don't have to listen to all of them, you can pick a few which you think sound most interesting. As you listen to the recordings, think about: what do we learn from listening to these interviews that we might not from a reading a document or looking at a photograph or painting? Examples of Oral Histories Life in Dundee in the Past Listen here to 'Lily Thomson: Childhood games' (40 seconds) Listen here to 'Lily Thomson: School & Starting Work' (1 minute 39 seconds) Listen here to 'Lily Thomson: A typical work day' (2 minutes 43 seconds) Trolley Race at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh: Listen here (55 seconds) Interview with Matilda Mitchell, first Art Curator at University of Stirling: Listen here (59 minutes 10 seconds). Use the transcript to skip to specific parts that interest you: Document Transcript for Matilda Mitchell Interview (490.51 KB / PDF) Interview with Anthony Phillips, first Director of the MacRobert: Listen here (1 hour 2 minutes). Use the transcript to skip to specific parts that interest you: Document Transcript of Anthony Phillips interview (495.07 KB / PDF) Studying at Aberdeen University during the War: Listen here (1 minute 44 seconds) Annoucement of the end of the First World War while studying at Aberdeen: Listen here (1 minute 21 seconds) Arriving in Fife to start a new life in Scotland: Listen here (2 minutes 50 seconds) Studying at Glasgow School of Art in the 1970s and 80s: Listen here: (26 minutes) Week 4 Activities: Recording an Oral History The first activity for you to do this week is to record an oral history of your own. Find out more information and tips on how to do this by watching the video below: Document Week 4 Activities Video Transcript (171.47 KB / PDF) Document Week 4 Activities Video Transcript - Pastel and Dark Blue (171.75 KB / PDF) Download the Week 4 Activity Sheet and the Project Information Sheet to show your interviewees here: Document Week 4: Activity Sheet (49.25 KB / DOCX) Document Week 4: Activity Sheet (111.28 KB / PDF) Document Oral Histories - Project Information Sheet (44.54 KB / DOCX) Optional: If you want to do a more traditional arts activity this week, you could pick out some words or phrases that you found striking in your oral history and follow this activity designed by Alexa Hare, in collaboration with the Edinburgh Arts Festival. Thanks to the Edinburgh Arts Festival Community Engagement Team for allowing us to use this. Week 4 Activities: Research an Arts Organisation As part B of the Arts Award Explore, you have to research one arts organisation. The term ‘arts organisation’ covers a wide range of places: galleries, theatres, cinemas, museums, libraries, anything which is related to arts and culture. Here are some resources that you could use to research the organisations that are part of University Museums in Scotland: Aberdeen University Museums Learn about Aberdeen University Museums in this Youtube video (1 min 11 seconds) Explore some of the online exhibitions from Aberdeen University Museums Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) Read about the history of DJCAD in this blog post Explore the online degree show of current students Watch this video about a day in the life of a DJCAD student (4 minutes 10 seconds) Dundee University Museums Discover a range of online resources from Dundee University Museums Edinburgh University Museums and Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) Find a range of online resources about Edinburgh University's Museums Explore ECA's online degree show The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) Read about the history of GSA Explore GSA's online degree show Explore GSA's archives and collections Stirling University Art Collection Read about Stirling University's Art Collection on their website and in their blog posts Explore this interactive video about the art on display in the Pathfoot building You could also use the oral histories as a source for this: what have you learnt about Stirling University Art Collection through listening to the interview with their first curator? Or what have you learnt about Glasgow School of Art by listening to the interviews with their past students? Remember, you can also ask your group leader or mentor to tell you more about the place where they work or study. Or if you have another arts organisation in mind you'd like to research, feel free to choose another one! Don't worry if you don't manage to do it this week, remember you have until August 7th to finish everything for the Arts Award. This article was published on 2024-08-21
