TO celebrate the Year of Young People, every week in 2018 The National is giving a platform to young Scots. This week, 23-year-old Scott Jewell.
THE #ScotArt project will bring Scotland’s Year of Young People 2018 to a close in style. On Sunday a group of #ScotArt Young Champions will lead Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Torchlight Procession, which marks the beginning of the traditional Hogmanay celebrations in Scotland’s capital city, down the Royal Mile finishing at Holyrood Park where the #ScotArt sculptures will be centre stage.
#ScotArt is the sister project to #ScotWord, which launched the year of young people in 2018. The #ScotWord project asked young people from across Scotland what one word best described their home. Young champions were tasked with reaching out to their local communities and starting conversations which led to hundreds of submissions. The champions selected six final words which were put to a public vote. At the 2018 Torchlight Procession, torchbearers formed the word “BRAW”, which was filmed from the skies and beamed across the world letting everyone know that Scotland is BRAW!
Scotland is so many different things to so many different people. Many varied strands make up the rich tapestry of Scotland. To some it is the simple thistle, to others it is the poetry of Robert Burns, and to others a cold can of Irn-Bru. What makes up the beating heart of Scotland? The #ScotArt project asked young people to think about their local region and discuss what they loved, what makes it unique and what symbol best represented the area. The symbols were then made into incredible wicker sculptures. These sculptures are publicly displayed in Edinburgh until today.
#ScotArt Young Champions have been busy working with young people across Scotland over the recent months, leading workshops to design symbols for the regions of Scotland. I was part of team Tayside leading the region's workshop. Young people from across Tayside joined together for an evening where we discussed what was important to them and made us proud of our region. The evening’s atmosphere was electric and generated amazing ideas and created lots of discussion.
This activity took place across 14 regions of Scotland. Young people of Tayside chose The Law, with a young person waving a Scotland flag at the top to represent the region. Tayside has a wonderful landscape from the peaks at Glenshee to the River Tay running through the heart of the region. The Law is an area located in the centre of Dundee. Its predominant feature is an extinct volcano which gives it its name. From the peak you can view historical and modern day features of life in Tayside. The RRS Discovery and The V&A Museum can be seen lining the banks of the River Tay and on a clear day you might even spot Perth and Kinross and Angus on either side of the City of Dundee.
Edinburgh’s Hogmanay through the #ScotWord and #ScotArt projects have given young people across Scotland the chance to lead discussion, voice their opinions and be heard, which is what the Year of Young People 2018 was all about.
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