STORIES IN TRANSIT: Storytelling & Animation WORKSHOPs

I am one of the key artists for Stories in Transit- a project directed by Dame Marina Warner. Stories in Transit organises storytelling workshops in the UK and in Palermo, bringing young migrant students together with artists, writers and musicians.
''Stories in Transit aims both to give a voice to those who have experienced dislocation and loss of home and to create mutual understanding, by exchanging stories about the different traditions, languages and experiences of so many displaced people, many of them minors.

 The project aspires to work with displaced individuals, whatever their status. Its work does not extend approval, tacitly or otherwise, to conditions that curtail the right to freedom of movement and work for refugees; no man or woman should be made to pay for their survival with their dignity. The project’s hope of improving those circumstances should not be taken as an acceptance (“normalisation”) of the restrictions imposed on arrivants from any country.''  ​
Through Stories in Transit we wish to address these questions:

1. Can culture, and specifically storytelling in any form provide shelter for people who have lost their homes? Can a tale become a home? A lieu de mémoire? Can a memory of literature and the process of making it over and over again build “a country of words” (Mahmoud Darwish)? Can narratives build a place of belonging for those without a nation?

2. In times of great physical deprivation, the argument needs to be made for the right of access to a life of the mind and creative potential. What cultural steps can be taken to affirm the right of refugees/migrants/arrivants to freedom of thought and imagination – intellectual mobility? Is expressing the imagination and passing on traditions and testimony part of human rights?

3. What role can imaginary narratives play in contemporary conditions? In what ways can the ancient human capacity to tell and pass on stories help in the present crisis? Can make-believe help make-truth?

4. What methods and processes can be communally developed to allow the unfolding and generation of stories? What are the best uses of contemporary media for supporting exchanges of stories across borders and easing communications between languages and cultures? - Dame Marina Warner ​
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Stories In Transit IV:
​Palermo, Sicily 16-19 November, 2017

This first series of workshops I was involved in focused on the story of Gilgamesh, which the participants had begun exploring during previous workshops in Palermo. Several key parts of the Babylonian epic poem were selected and prepared for performance, complete with masks and props, music and animation elements. One workshop was led by the young artist collective Giocherenda, whose members specialise in creating tools and games to accompany and inspire storytelling. The high point of the workshop was the public promenade performance of the scenes, first in the Botanical Gardens in Palermo and secondly in Piazza Magione in the square next to the primary school.

​Planning & Preparation of Stop frame Animation Activity
Before visiting Palermo Chiesa di Santa Chiara, Palermo I thought specifically about which animation activity would suit the nature of working collaboratively, be adaptable and enjoyable, as well as imparting transferable skills in animation, allowing the participants to create a narrative comprised of moving images.
Photos taken from the plane during the flight to Palermo, Sicily November, 2017
Multiplane Animation Camera Rostrum
In order to be able to film stop frame animations easily and quickly I planned to assemble a camera rostrum for the animation camera which would allow filming to take place on a flat surface. I adapted a vintage tapestry easel so that it would hold a digital camera in a fixed position above a light box and several sheets of acrylic allowing scenes to be filmed across multiple layers. This set up was a development of a previous multiplane rostrum that allowed for animation to be made on a table top. This adapted version  was relatively lightweight and could be disassembled for easy transportation.

​Smartphone animation Foam board rostrum
Stop Motion Studio is a free app available for IOS, android, windows smartphones. Instructions are free to download and are available in several languages including English, French and Italian. Using their own or a borrowed smartphone in conjunction with my handmade foam board rostrum participants would be able to create their own animation sequences. The app was fairly easy to use and allowed for experimentation with the basic principles of animation, and some basic editing functions. The app has all the basic functionality of stop motion software (record, onion skin, speed, delete) Importantly it allows for collaboration, and skill sharing. Using their smart phones to create animations would allow each individual to create a simple scene. This acquired skill could be harnessed to celebrate the moving image, and having fun creating a simple sequence, tell their story or dazzling playful joy of using simple materials to create cinematic results. Animation can yield immediate rewards/ results; making a simple articulated paper object at once expressive, tonal and communicate something, and playing with pace, composition and colour humour can be expressed.
Handmade smartphone rostrum made made from foamboard
Silhouette Animation on a Light Box
From early discussions with Marina Warner we thought that creating 2D silhouette artwork, inspired by Lotte Reiniger, could be created easily and the artwork then filmed over a light-box. This way of working would also overcome the need to control the lighting in the room. Also shooting over long periods of time in a darkened room under spotlights can be quite an unengaging experience. I was keen for the activity to take place in a space alongside the other nessi and the group activities so elements of the animations could respond to visual motifs, and the participants could move freely between the activities.

​Shadow Puppetry
The material construction of the characters, elements and backgrounds used in the production of the animation where designed in such a way that they had dual uses. The construction paper was 220gsm paper stock (midnight black colour) and could be drawn on with white ink. Once drawn and cut out, elements could be joined together to form articulated joints and be used as paper puppets connected by way of miniature split pins, which made them quite sturdy, and were fully moveable in 2D. This also meant that they could be adapted and used as shadow puppets for a live-action shadow puppet performance.
Multiplane Camera Rostrum from converted tapestry easel
Scene 1.  The Plant of Eternal Youth / La Piante Dell’eterna Giovinezza

Scene 2.  Gilgamesh finds the Plant on the Sea Bed  / Gilgamesh Trova La Pianta in Fondo Al Mare

Scene 3.  The Snake steals the Plant / Il Serpente Ruba La Pianta

Scene 4.  The Snake Changes Skin and returns young / Il Serpente Cambia Pelle e Ritorna Giovane
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Scene 5.  Gilgamesh returns empty handed / Gilgamesh Ritorna A Mani Vuote
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Page scan notes from The Epic of Gilgamesh
​Day 1: Thursday 16th November

The first day was spent thinking about scenes, making artwork, filming tests on multiplane, and experimenting with stop motion studio on smart phones.
 
Day 2: Friday 17th November

We looked at the closing scenes 10-12 of The Epic of Gilgamesh and with each group over the three days I worked with them on cutting out artwork, planning, and rehearsing scenes in preparation for filming. Some of the characters were articulated with split pins.

Day 3: Saturday 18th November 

Animating, and recording sound, The time was divided into planning the scene, creating artwork and filming. Using some of the rehearsed sound played by Stevie Wishart and her group. Claudia Gualtieri helped translate the text to be used in the title screens.
 
Day 4: Sunday 19th November
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Screening of the finished animation at Museo internazionale delle marionette Antonio Pasqualino.
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Local newspaper article about Stories in Transit
PARTICIPANTS
Students of Centro Provinciale per l’Istruzione degli Adulti (CPIA) Clelia Bartoli, Valentina Castagna, Roberto Cavosi, Giocherenda, Claudia Gualtieri, Yousif Latif Jaralla, Kali Jones, Mercedes Kemp, Alice Oswald, Peter Oswald, Loredana Ottomano, Lee Shearman, David Swift, Wafa' Tarnowska, Inigo Thomas, Philip Terry, Marina Warner, Steve Willey, Mary Kay Wilmers, Stevie Wishart
 
Supported by the Metabolic Studio, with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), London; The Ruskin School of Art, Oxford; Diparmento di Scienze Umanische, University of Palermo; School of Arts and Humanities, Birkbeck College, London; Oxford Comparative Criticism (oCCt); Holberg Prize.
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STORIES IN TRANSIT V: ANIMATION AND WRITING WORKSHOP
​PALERMO, SICILY 13-16 APRIL, 2018

The plan for this four-day workshop was twofold: to build on my animation sessions in November 2017 and to concentrate on variations and invention of stories: on their structure and dramatis personae. On the first day we set out to gather material for inspiration by going for a walk through Palermo, which led to a day of map-making. That same evening, a member of Giocherenda, Dine, performed the fable ‘The Huntsman and the King’s Son’, which he had first told us at one of the earliest workshops. Our hope was to translate parts of the story into an animated film. The third and fourth days consisted of working on this animation, alongside developing a newly told story...

​Planning & Preparation of Stop frame Animation Activity
Before visiting Palermo I met with Joan Ashworth to discuss which animation activity would suit the nature of working collaboratively, be adaptable as well as imparting transferable skills in animation and allow the participants to form a narrative comprised of moving images. We thought that again making silhouette cut outs would work well. Joan talked about the Kaavad story box, which we thought had great potential as a method for storytelling, and she showed me a miniature version of the Kaavad box.
Flight to Palermo, Sicily April 2018
Kavaad
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''The Kaavad is a portable wooden temple/shrine that has visual narratives on its multiple panels that are hinged together. These panels open and close like doors simulating the several thresholds of a temple. The visuals are those of Gods, goddesses, saints, local heroes and the patrons. It is made by the Suthar (carpenter) community in Mewar for the itinerant Kaavadiya Bhat (storyteller) from Marwar who brings it to his patron’s houses in Rajasthan.'' - Nina Sabnani / The Kaavad storytelling tradition of Rajasthan
Multiplane Animation Camera Rostrum (Mark II)
Before visiting Palermo I developed a more transportable camera rostrum constructed entirely from foam board that slotted together to form a stable structure. I wanted the rostrum to hold a digital camera, a light box and a sheet of acrylic, and  be disassembled and transported flat in my suitcase.  Also how the rostrum is assembled could be demonstrated and passed on.
The rostrum multiplane camera rostrum allows a camera to be attached above a light box and for animated sequences to be shot quickly. Scenes can be filmed across multiple layers, and edits made to individual frames, played back for review. This set up allows the animation to be made on a table top, for collaboration and enjoy the process of creating moving images.
Day 1: Friday 13th April 2018
​4pm- Walk to Piazza Rivoluzione via Vucciria (Genio di Palermo) and Piazza Marina
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This walk allowed us all to absorb all the colours, sounds, food, beauty, gestures, flora and fauna of Palermo en route to Genio di Palermo. My group of ten was led by Dawda. We sketched statues, signs, fences, doorways, ornamentation, detected the scent of lemon trees, cigarettes. While sketching at Vucciria we were shown an old photograph of Genio di Palermo - before it was partially destroyed - with five of the original crests in place.
Day 2: Saturday 14th April 2018
9.30am - 4.30pm Santa Chiara; Map Making
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We split into our groups and began drawing, re-drawing and populating large sheets of paper as maps of Palermo detailing the various things seen on the walk. This activity had a lot of energy and the group I was working with showed great pride in their finished map.
Day 3: Sunday 15th April 2018
10am- 3pm: Santa Chiara; animation & art working
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Set up the main animation camera and experimented with some techniques using paper cut artwork and coloured acetate with the group. I was working alongside Joan Ashworth during the animation activities, and Marina Warner during the creation of artwork and story elements.
Day 4: Monday 16th April 2018
morning: Orta Botanica & Puppet Museum
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2.30pm -7.30pm: Storyboarding & Animation & Rostrum making
With a small group I  constructed eight rostrums for smart phones (which they could take away), and test out the animation app on the day. Each part of the rostrum could be traced onto new sheets of foam board and cut out- meaning that more can be made easily.
PARTICIPANTS
Students of Centro Provinciale per l’Istruzione degli Adulti (CPIA), Joan Ashworth, Clelia Bartoli , Valentina Castagna, Selma Dabbagh, Saifoudiny Diallo, Yousif Latif Jaralla, Lee Shearman, Marina Warner

STORIES IN TRANSIT VI:
​Palermo, Sicily 26-29 September, 2018

Stories in Transit V brought together about 50 students from the Centro Provinciale per l’Istruzione degli Adulti with a fairly international group of artists, musicians and writers. A lot of them were returning participants, many faces were new. Throughout the four days we all worked together towards producing performances for three stories told by previous participants, adopting different media for each:

  • One for You and One for me (Uno per te e uno per me) by Numu Touray’s with puppets​
  • The Old Man and the Serpent: The Story of the Genius of Palermo (Vecchio e il Serpente : La storia del genio di Palermo) by Amadou Diallo’s with traditional cantastorie painted story board banner
  • The Huntsman and the King’s Son (Cacciatore e il Figlio del Re) by Dine Diallo: animation film, in combination with live action drama.
Working on the animation, props and signs
The Performance
PARTICIPANTS
Joan Ashworth, Clelia Bartoli, Valentina Castagna , Nicola Chemotti, Selma Dabbagh, Marcia Farquhar, Jem Finer, Spike Gascoigne, Giocherenda, Adam Hayes, Mercedes Kemp, Ansel Krut, Roger Malbert, Yousif Latif Jaralla, Elvira Rose Oddy, Matthew Reynolds, Lee Shearman, Wafa' Tarnowska, Philip Terry, Mary Wilsey Venturini, Marina Warner, Stevie Wishart
For more information: storiesintransit.org

STORIES IN TRANSIT IX: ANIMATION & STORY GAME WORKSHOPS
PALERMO, SICILY 13-18th February 2020