Below are the projects which received funding from the Higher Education Innovation Fund for 2006 - 08
Recovering Histories (Dr P. Kiszely, Ruth Dass & Susan Daniels)
"Recovering Histories" sought to explore a history that has shaped britain and the rest of our world in profound ways. Migration, the political, social and economic issues, is vitally important in the way that it continues to affect our communities today. Diverse histories must be addressed with accurate and relevant information in order to foster greater and more effective community cohesion. The intercultural city is key.
Projecting Performance: the Shakespeare Project (Sita Popat)
"Projecting Performance: the Shakespeare Project" was part of an ongoing research collaboration between PCI lecturers Sita Popat and Scott Palmer, and commercial digital arts company KMA Creative Technology Ltd. This Project took the form of a final-year undergraduate performance project, demonstrating synergy between EKT, research and teaching activities. It functioned as a test-bed for ideas for a "Technology Strategy Board: Collaborative Research and Development" application and an AHRC Large Grant application. Simultaneously, it provided our students with practical experience of collaborating with a professional company working in the creative industries on a national scale.
Re-Tale Leeds (Fiona Bannon, Vicki Hunter & Nicola Greenan)
Re-Tale Leeds was a community-facing project involving collaboration between a company of students, academic staff and a range of external partners beginning with Arts-Stra, an arts management company directed by Leeds graduate Nicola Greenan. The aim of Re-Tale Leeds was to fuse research, teaching, and "culture-preneurial" activity of staff, students and local arts practitioners and facilitators, which together will generate future larger scale creative initiatives.
Phoenix Archive Initiative (PAi) (Vicky Hunter & Fiona Bannon)
Phoenix Archive Initiative is a pilot project, establishing a professional partnership between the School of Performance and Cultural Industries and Phoenix Dance Company, an internationally renowned contemporary dance company based in the Yorkshire Dance Centre, Leeds.
The project acted as a scoping exercise to draw out potential themes for future research, enterprise, teaching and learning projects. The opportunities available through the Phoenix Archive Initiative could have far reaching impact on the profile of collaborative research in dance at Leeds, upon teaching and learning at undergraduate and postgraduate levelsand upon the accessibility to the work of a company founded and based in Leeds. Similar partnerships in the field have also attracted significant support from funding.
"Some of us have seen things you can't imagine" (Adam Strickson)
In collaboration with a professional composer, commissioned in consultation with Dominic Gray, the Director of Opera North Projects, Adam Strickson is developing a 40 minute music theatre piece or "chamber opera", based on the story of Dili Diey, an ex child soldier from the Sudan, now living in Huddersfield. HEIF funding gives him the opportunity to explore the core component of his PhD in a professional and public context, and for work generated within the faculty to reach audiences in Leeds and the region. The piece is the first of a planned trilogy based on contemporary accounts of ex child slaves.
New Stages: a Postgraduate Festival of New Work (Prof J. Pitches)
New Stages was a two day postgraduate platform and festival of new work, scheduled for February 29th and March 1st 2008. Building on the success of the previous festival (Masterworks '07), the event was timetabled to launch a three-week programme of international events hosted by stage@leeds and the School of Performance and Cultural Industries, celebrating the opening of the University's brand new Theatre and Performance venue. The placing of New Stages gave the PVAC (Performance Visual Arts and Communications) postgradute community of creative thinkers and practitioners a unique opportunity to headline their work in the context of a busy programme of professional practice of international standing.
Opening up the Campus (Susan Daniels)
With the settling-in of the School of Performance and Cultural Industries to the Leeds Campus, this project sought to promote stage@leeds and the Clothworkers' Centenary Concert Hall in order to:
> Enhance the public profile of both venues in arts and business worlds;
> Consolidate and promote an already exciting and attractive set of programmes;
> Increase public participation in university activities;
> Build relationships with future generations of students, ranging from the local to the international.