Hi! It’s Stuart and Stuart here from SF+SH. We spoke last summer about our trip to Skye and Uist. We’re back again to share an important update on the exhibition we are co-designing for RSPB Scotland's Corncrake Calling project. From the start, the plan has been to co-design our Corncrake Calling exhibition with schools from around Scotland, ensuring engagement, education and a diverse input from young people to create the best exhibition possible.
Last autumn we began to work with several secondary schools to deliver the first of two workshops which would take students on a journey of education into corncrakes and their plight. We also had an additional objective to use this as a vehicle to teach students more about the creative industries and the many facets of the design process.
We wanted to give students the basic information about corncrakes, their habitat and why they are in the danger they are in. From there, we gave them free rein to choose a facet of the exhibition to explore, concept and design. We have over 100 students working on these exhibition modules and we have been truly blown away by the work they have created alongside all their other curriculum, not to mention the added difficulty of Covid. Their passion, ideas and dedication have been on full display from the day we began working with them.
Back in October, Stuart and I went into some of the schools to launch the project and begin the design process. We began with brainstorming, discussion and concepting as many ideas as possible - no idea is a bad one at this stage! Then, over the following weeks, their teachers led them through the processes of peer review, development and presentations which we then gave feedback on during our second visit to the schools. We have helped guide the students on their design process and have been delighted at how well they have absorbed the information.
The purpose of involving students is multi-faceted but we’ve been awestruck by how impactful their ideas have been on the design process that Stuart and I are going through simultaneously. We have started designing the bare bones of the exhibition and its structure is based largely around the concepts and designs from student ideas. The engagement and education that we’ve hopefully imparted on the students has hopefully gone some way to creating more environmentally aware young people as well.
The students' work has been so varied and prolific that we can only show you a small selection of their initial work - moodboards, storyboards etc. But over the past few months there has been a huge amount of unique thinking, where no two ideas have been approached in the same way. We couldn’t be prouder of our schools as they make this journey with us.
Moodboards & storyboards...
Puzzle-based ideas
Many students are interested in the predation aspect of a corncrake's life with resulting work revolving around interactivity or puzzle-based ideas.
Travel troubles...
We’ve also had a great interest in corncrake migration and all the troubles they face on their arduous journey to Africa and back. There have been loads of ideas on how to portray the corncrakes journey in fun and interactive ways.
Haute couture high fliers
Some students have looked at fashion design to describe the corncrake and their environments. Looking at texture and colour as well as the possible messages we want to convey, the students wish to promote their plight through textiles in multiple ways.
Lonely hearts!
The famous call of the corncrake has also been a focal point of their interest and many students' work looks into this and how the corncrakes use it to locate a mate. We have designs for corncrake dating apps would you believe! Sound design and other interactives have also been explored as they investigate its famous call.
We have loved working with schools and enjoying the ideas they produce but the most important part of this is to engage them on environmental concerns and make them more aware of their fragile world. In coming weeks the students will be helping us to refine their ideas into final exhibition design in a way which incorporates all of the key challenges corncrakes face, including habitat loss and the biodiversity/climate crisis and highlights the importance of nature friendly farming to their survival in Scotland.In working with these students, Stuart and I also hope to impart some knowledge of the creative industries and inspire new creatives in years to come.
Check back soon to find out when and where you can see what is shaping up to be the Great Exhibition of Scotland, touring from summer 2022 until autumn 2024. To receive regular project updates and find out how you can help corncrakes, visit the Corncrake Calling website and sign up as a Corncrake Champion.
Authors: Stuart Hatt and Stuart Fraser