Any views expressed within media held on this service are those of the contributors, should not be taken as approved or endorsed by the University, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University in respect of any particular issue.

Project Timeline

The key stages of the project.

  • June – July 2022
    • Community-based participatory workshops in Princess Ruth Ke‘elikōlani Middle School and Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School in Honolulu. Simon Grennan’s “Make the Past Your Story”, Solomon Enos’ “Mural Design” and “Portrait Drawing” activity, and Noʻu Revilla’s “Aloha Odes” creative writing workshops help students develop their artist and creative writing skills, and also inform Simon and Solomon’s planning towards their completed graphic adaptations.
    • The project team undertakes site visits and on-location research in the Hawaiian Islands (O‘ahu, the ‘Big Island’ of Hawai‘i, and Moloka’i) and in Tahiti and the Tuamotu archipelago (including Toau island and Fakarava) to learn more about the Pacific locations visited by the Stevenson (and his family), and particular sites connected to, or referenced in, Stevenson’s stories.

 

  • November 2022
    • On RLS day (marking Stevenson’s birthday on 13th November, 1850), Shari Sabeti and Simon Grennan share an overview of the project in an online public lecture organised by Museums and Galleries Edinburgh.

 

  • December 2022
    • Project artists Simon Grennan and Solomon Enos visit London, Oxford, Edinburgh and North Berwick to learn more about Stevenson and the visual and material culture of the period he represents in his writing. Simon and Solomon, along with other members of the project research team, meet curators at the British Museum (London); the Pitt Rivers Museum (Oxford); and the Writers’ Museum and National Museum of Scotland (Edinburgh), to examine items from their Pacific collections (such as clothing, carvings, tools and photographs) of relevance to their graphic adaptations. The project team also visits the Museums and Galleries Edinburgh’s Collection Centre, to peruse digitised material from the Stevenson family photograph albums collating images from their three Pacific voyages. Solomon and Simon also visit Georgian Antiques, a large warehouse containing European furniture and other material culture of the late nineteenth century, to examine historic objects, similar to those referenced in Stevenson’s original stories, that will inform visual details in their graphic adaptations.

 

  • June 2023
    • Simon Grennan and Solomon Enos return to Princess Ruth Ke‘elikōlani Middle School and Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School (Honolulu) to gain feedback from students and educators on the first draft of their graphic adaptations of the Stevenson stories, through further workshops. Simon runs “Make the past your story” and “Characters” workshops, whilst Solomon asks students for direct feedback on draft versions of his graphic adaptations, and invites them to draw monsters and other supernatural creatures that will inform his own designs for the graphic adaptations.

 

  • July 2023
    • The project team visits Apia, Sāmoa, where project artists (Lalovai Pesetā, Simon Grennan and Solomon Enos) and poets (Selina Tusitala Marsh and Caroline Sinavaiana Gabbard) deliver a range of visual art and creative writing workshops for schoolchildren at the Robert Louis Stevenson School; at The National University of Sāmoa; and at Vailima (the Stevenson homestead), in Apia. Simon delivers his “Characters” and “Make the past your story” workshops; Solomon leads a mural design and painting activity; and Lalovai runs a workshop on monochromatic painting inspired by Stevenson’s poem “Requiem”. Selina leads “Fast talking PI” and “Blackout Poetry” workshops at NUS and Vailima, and Caroline runs a workshop on free writing near Mount Vaea, focused on the Sāmoan legend of Vaea and Apa‘ula.
    • The project team also runs creative writing workshops for adults (at the Tusitala Hotel), and creative pedagogy workshops for teachers and trainee teachers (at the National University of Sāmoa).
    • The project’s documentary film team (including mentors Daniel Lin and Nick Stone, and a group of interns from the Media and Journalism programme at the National University of Sāmoa), undertake location filming and interviews during the first phase of their work on the film.

 

  • November 2023
    • To coincide with RLS day 2023, the project team organises a public engagement event at St. Cecilia’s Hall, Edinburgh, which includes project poets (Selina Tusitala Marsh and Caroline Sinavaiana Gabbard) reading draft versions of their commissioned poetry; project artists (Solomon Enos and Simon Grennan) presenting draft material from their graphic adaptations; and a range of presentations by Stevenson scholars.
    • Project artists and poets also run a series of creative workshops in Scottish primary and secondary schools (including Law Primary School in North Berwick; and Balgreen Primary School and Newbattle High School in Edinburgh). Selina Tusitala Marsh runs her “Black out poetry” workshop; Lalovai Pesetā provides a “Storytelling using Samoan Tattoo” activity; Simon runs his “Characters” and “Make the past your story” workshops; and Solomon leads collaborative “Quilting” workshops.
    • The project artists and poets visit locations of relevance to Stevenson’s life and work, including Colinton Parish Church; Colinton tunnel and village; and Swanston village.

 

  • January – April 2024
    • The project team produces the manuscript of a book, including the completed graphic adaptations by Simon Grennan and Solomon Enos; poetry sequences by project poets (Keao NeSmith, Selina Tusitala Marsh and Caroline Sinavaina Gabbard); and illustrations by project artists Lalovai Pesetā and Solomon Enos to appear alongside the poetry sequences. The project research team drafts introductory and contextual material, and a series of teaching prompts for students and educators, to prepare the volume for use by the project’s educational stakeholders.

 

  • May 2024
    • The project documentary film team continues post-production work on the documentary film, and produces a short film loop, featuring locations in Hawai‘i and the Tuamotu archipelago visited by the project team in 2022, for display in an exhibition at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford.

 

  • 12 June 2024 – 7 June 2025
    • A project exhibition at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford (https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/event/revisitingstevenson) features the new graphic adaptations produced by Solomon Enos and Simon Grennan, and excerpts from project poetry sequences, alongside nineteenth-century photographs and objects from the museum’s collections that resonate with depictions of Pacific material culture depicted in Solomon and Simon’s graphic adaptations.

 

  • August 2024
    • The project team and Scotdec begin consultations with Scottish teachers in order to develop resources to accompany the project’s graphic adaptations and poetry.

 

  • 13 November 2024
    • To celebrate RLS day 2024, the project team runs a Symposium at the University of Edinburgh. Encompassing adaptation studies, documentary film criticism, Postcolonial literature, museum studies, and the environmental humanities, the symposium features academic papers alongside panel discussions with project artists, poets, filmmakers and curators.
    • An advance screening of the project documentary film takes place at the Symposium, and at a public engagement event, held at the National Library of Scotland, to mark the opening of the project exhibition.

 

  • 8 November 2024 – 10 May 2025
    • The exhibition “Tusitala: Pacific perspectives on Robert Louis Stevenson” at the National Library of Scotland (https://www.nls.uk/whatson/tusitala/) showcases how the Pacific and its people impacted the writing and creative legacy of Robert Louis Stevenson. The display features printed and audiorecorded project poetry, and material by project artists, alongside original items from the Library’s archives, conveying new perspectives on Stevenson and his work.

 

  • June 2025
    • The project team returns to Sāmoa for a final project symposium at the National University of Sāmoa, and a public engagement event at Vailima featuring poetry readings; a display of project artworks; and presentations focused on project activities.
css.php

Report this page

To report inappropriate content on this page, please use the form below. Upon receiving your report, we will be in touch as per the Take Down Policy of the service.

Please note that personal data collected through this form is used and stored for the purposes of processing this report and communication with you.

If you are unable to report a concern about content via this form please contact the Service Owner.

Please enter an email address you wish to be contacted on. Please describe the unacceptable content in sufficient detail to allow us to locate it, and why you consider it to be unacceptable.
By submitting this report, you accept that it is accurate and that fraudulent or nuisance complaints may result in action by the University.

  Cancel