Kialy Tihngang leads this free workshop for artists on speculative scriptwriting. The workshop takes as its starting point the idea that national identity is not a fixed truth but something constantly constructed, mythologised, and reduced into simplified stories, much like the condensed, dramatic narratives in movie trailers.

There are 12 places available and the workshop is open to artists who are based in Scotland and not in education.

Drawing inspiration from Kialy’s film ‘Neyinka and the Silver Gong’, created for an exhibition, fir gorma, at Glasgow International 2024 with artist Josie KO, the workshop invites participants to question how official histories are told, and enquire whose stories are left untold. By looking at the mechanics of speculative fiction, participants will explore how imagination can serve as a powerful tool to reframe erased or silenced histories and to disrupt dominant myths about nationhood.

Over the course of the session, Kialy will share aspects of her own artistic research, offering insights into how myth, memory, and marketing intertwine in shaping cultural identity. Participants will be guided through a series of creative exercises that highlight how the techniques of film trailers, such as selective editing, heightened emotion, and bold imagery, mirror the ways in which nations promote particular narratives on the world stage, whilst concealing others.

Participants will craft their own “trailers” for alternate histories, expanding and recontextualising movie marketing techniques to mirror the selective storytelling of national identity. These playful yet critical exercises aim to reveal the political power of narrative compression and spectacle, while also empowering participants to see themselves as creators of counter-narratives.

This workshop will be live captioned.

Application deadline is 10am, Tuesday 11th November.