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Transgressive North

The Transgressive North (TN) is a community of Scottish artists based in Edinburgh.

Founded in 2006 by Artistic Director Jamie Chambers, the Transgressive North concieve and curate collaborative arts projects and outreach work. Previous projects have included the Everything is New project and the Strange Home project.

Everything is New
The Everything is New project grew from a dialogue between the artists of the Transgressive North and Edinburgh-based charity Scottish Love in Action, which rescues, houses and educates destitute children in Andra Pradesh, southeast India. In 2006 TN artist Jenny Chambers visited the SLA-funded Light of Love Children's Home in Tuni (Andhra Pradesh, southeast India) whilst still at school, and found it an intensely positive institution deserving serious engagement and investment. Consequently, other members of Transgressive North entered a dialogue with SLA, and found themselves deeply compelled by the plight of Dalit 'untouchable' children. The notion of 'untouchability' - that some children might be told that they were less valuable than others - inspired the TN to develop the Everything is New Project, as a vehicle to empower and support the children of the Light of Love Children's Home. The founding idea of the Everything is New project was to use the cultural forms which the children themselves found the most meaningful - popular music and cinema - to build funds and awareness in a project in which the children themselves would participate. The project would attempt to counter any inherited preconceptions the children might have about their own value and legitimacy by giving them the opportunity to 'star' in music and film works specifically designed to celebrate and empower their identities and means of expression.

The Transgressive North commissioned Scottish writers and poets Irvine Welsh, Alexander McCall Smith, Valerie Gillies and Tom Leonard to compose lyrics for the project, and Jarvis Cocker, Owen Pallett (Arcade Fire), doseone, White Hinterland, and Scottish folk singer Margaret Bennett to sing alongside the children. A further part of the project arose from a conversation with Rob Barber of LA-based duo High Places, who helped the TN recruit further artists for what became the BOATS project. BOATS was concieved to where the samples of the children singing recorded by the TN in Tuni were shared with music artists and bands around the world, to create exclusive new tracks. Contributors to the BOATS project included Bear in Heaven, Califone, Capybara, Dan Deacon, Deerhoof, doseone, El Guincho, Four Tet, Gang Gang Dance, Keepaway, Lucky Dragons, Julian Lynch, Matthewdavid, Max Tundra, No Age, Physical Forms, Ramona Falls, The Ruby Suns, rRoxymore, Rustie, Slanter, Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu), Son Lux, Sun Airway, A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Taken By Trees, Irvine Welsh, White Hinterland and YACHT.

Strange Home
The Strange Home grew from an increasing desire among TN artists on their return home from working on the Everything is New project in Tuni, to engage with their home culture in Scotland. Inspired by the work of Hamish Henderson and the Amber Collective, the TN began a long-term engagement with Scottish folklore, guided by the music and life of Scottish folk pioneer Martyn Bennett.

Working with celebrated Scottish tradition bearers and folk personalities Sheila Stewart, Margaret Bennett and Norman Maclean, the Transgressive North concieved a series of films geared towards preserving and celebrating Scottish folklore and bringing it to audiences around the world through the medium of cinema. Working with London-based production company Deerstalker Films, the Transgressive North have to date made two films under the banner of the Strange Home project, 'When the Song Dies' and 'Blackbird'.

'Blackbird' was nominated for the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature, Best of the Fest, and an Audience Award at the 2013 Edinburgh Film Festival. 'When the Song Dies' has screened at international festivals around the world such as TriBeCa, AFI Silverdocs, Los Angeles, Glasgow and Raindance.