Curious Seed collaborate with children and young people by engaging and learning with them directly through creative processes. 

Our projects span research with babies and infants, through to teenagers and young adults.  

We work in collaboration with a range of partners in Edinburgh, throughout Scotland and internationally to develop bespoke projects with and for children and young people.  

MAKE

‘Improvisation, play and collaboration are such an important part of my creative practice. The MAKE project has allowed me to bring young people into this part of my process, not only to share it with them, but to allow them to affect the process and possible future work produced’

Christine Devaney 

MAKE places young people as creative intelligent beings full of potential, from whom we can learn, at the centre of the workshop experience and provides keys to unlock and connect with their creativity. We invite young people to take on the role of choreographer using professional dancers as their tools.  We seek to inspire young people to be challenged and they learn new physical and communication skills and to work equally with professional practitioners. This participatory work creates a supportive and safe environment for young people to explore their own creativity, which includes the permission to fail. It also allows young people to observe the aesthetic/creative consequences of making choices and imparts the essential discipline needed in any creative process.    

‘it was like I'm allowed to rule the world... it was kind of scary and kind of weird, because I've never got anyone to do anything for me before... scary and fun... I like the idea of doing more!’ 

Feedback from 12-year-old participant (Craigmillar, Edinburgh) on the MAKE project  

Back2School - Breakout! 2018

In October 2018 we delivered a new iteration of our school residency project: Back 2 School - Breakout! Working with our partners at Niddrie Mill Primary School, we have further developed the scope, reach and outcomes of the project, diversifying the content by bringing in new artists, collaborators and partners. Supported by a grant from the City of Edinburgh Council Culture Project Fund in partnership with The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, this project provided the participants with the opportunity to work in a professional theatre space, with professional directors and technical crew, opening the door to new experiences (dance, performance, visual art and design, technical skills) enabling the young people to more fully realise their creative potential. Christine Devaney (Artistic Director, Curious Seed) was joined by Hendrik Lebon (international dance artist), Kim Moore (musician), Katy Wilson (visual artist), Artistic Director Gill Robertson and Technical Manager Craig Fleming (Catherine Wheels). Below is a wonderful documentary film of the project created by longstanding company collaborators, D Fie Foe - enjoy!

Back2School - GO!

A creative residency where the artists move into a school, enabling them to literally ‘go back to school’; setting up an artistic and creative ‘hub’ within the school, following the timetable of the children and interacting at various points throughout the day in their familiar environments (classrooms, playground, dinner hall). Having the company within the school allows the young people, staff and artists to engage on the same level, stimulating mutual curiosity about their creative processes and one another. As the residency progresses, the focus shifts to the artists working more directly with the children and teachers to create work together in multiple mediums including movement, visual art and music.

The pilot project took place in September 2016 in partnership with Niddrie Mill Primary School. Joined by some of the company’s long-standing creative collaborators (Luke Sutherland, Andrew Gardiner and Yvonne Buskie), the company were in residence at the school for 2 weeks, culminating in an invited showing for pupils, teachers and parents.

‘Such a project had never been undertaken at Niddrie Mill before and it was an outstanding success! Pupils were enthused and still talk about their experiences today. Experiences like our project with Curious Seed introduce them to a new world outside of their immediate community. It inspires and allows potential to be realised, nurtured and developed. The children were at the heart of this project.’ - Jennifer Goodall, Acting DHT at Niddrie Mill Primary School

Since, then, we have continued working with the young people at Niddrie Mill, with versions of Back 2 School taking place in 2017 and 2018.

Back 2 School Go! 2018 - film created by Edinburgh Napier University film student, Vilja Keskimäki.