Action for M.E. is excited to announce that it has secured further funding forLearn about M.E. – the M.E./CFS Professional Development Project in Scotland.
This project funded by Scottish Government and is a partnership between Action for M.E., The M.E. Association, #MEAction Scotland, The 25% ME Group and Dr. Nina Muirhead.
Dr Muirhead, who developed a free online Continuing Professional Development (CPD) module in partnership with the CFS/M.E. Research Collaborative (CMRC,) became ill with M.E./CFS in 2016.
Anna who has lived with M.E. said: “The module is brilliant and I think it covers a lot of really important information about M.E. I think the first thing it does is it dispels the myths that are surrounding M.E. … I think what this does is it really places M.E in the scientific knowledge we have about the condition”
A podcast is available to listen to now with input from the doctor who helped to develop the training module, a GP who has used the module to treat patients and people who have lived experience of living with M.E..
We are keen to involve GPs and health professionals in Scotland to shape the development of the module and further podcasts to complement the module.
If your GP has not yet completed this training we would be keen to hear from you both to inform the development of our work on this training module. Please get in contact with Avril McLean, Project Coordinator, at avril@actionforme.org.uk or call 0117 927 9551
This training module on M.E./CFS, based on 10 clinical cases, will improve knowledge of the illness; reduce delays to diagnosis; reduce multi unnecessary referrals and investigations and the potential for harm for people with M.E.
This module is also likely to be applicable to a subset of COVID patients who may develop post viral M.E./CFS and could be harmed by inappropriate advice to exercise.
Evaluation data from health care professionals who completed the module (November 2020 – March 2021) found that:
· 77% reported increased confidence in treatment & management of M.E./CFS
· 100% reported improvement in patient-centred care and patient pathways
The Scottish Government’s Neurological Framework funding is supporting the project to improve knowledge relating to diagnosis and management of M.E./CFS.
Many people with M.E. face disbelief and stigma around their illness and do not receive the appropriate care and support they need.
This project provides vital information to GPs and Health Professionals in Scotland to assist them to diagnose and manage the symptoms of M.E./CFS and Long Covid.
Alister Jack, Secretary of State for Scotland, comments on how the Queen’s Speech will deliver for Scotland as we Build Back Better from the pandemic.
“This is a Queen’s Speech which delivers for people in Scotland, and right across the United Kingdom, as we focus entirely on recovering our economy and our public services from the devastating effects of the Covid pandemic.
“The Prime Minister and the UK Government have been working tirelessly on the pandemic, putting in place an unprecedented level of financial support, and securing millions of vaccine doses for people in all parts of the country. At all times we have prioritised both lives and livelihoods.
“The UK Government will continue to lead our recovery from the pandemic, as we Build Back Better and level up opportunities right across the UK.
“We will continue to support top level R&D, encourage our businesses to innovate, and create vital new and green jobs. We will invest directly in Scotland’s communities, building on the success of our £1.5 billion City Deals programme with Freeports, better connectivity, and a new UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
“And Scotland’s businesses will continue to benefit as, outside of the EU, we strike new trade deals around the world.”
Fort Kinnaird has announced that its popular giant giving box, originally installed for Christmas, will now be a permanent feature at the centre in a bid to help raise funds for its charity partner, Venchie Children & Young People’s Project.
Located outside Tony Macaroni and Boots, visitors can use contactless payment to easily donate £3, £5 and £10 to the charity.
Venchie Children & Young People’s Project is a grass-roots charity located in Niddrie and is committed to improving the lives of children and young people in the local area.
The charity operates within a purpose-built centre and offers local youngsters a range of play, recreation and issue-based youth work, along with an all-weather pitch, a basketball area and swings and a sand play area for them to enjoy.
It is one of the oldest adventure-play charities in Scotland and has been supporting local children for over 60 years.
The giving box at Fort Kinnaird raised over £1,545 for Cash for Kids’ Mission Christmas campaign and the centre hopes that it will continue to be as successful for Venchie’s Children and Young People’s Project this year.
Liam Smith, centre director at Fort Kinnaird, said:“Our Christmas Giving Box was very popular and we have decided to make the box a permanent feature at the centre to support our newly nominated charity, Venchie Children & Young People’s Project.
“The charity plays an important and much valued role in the local community. Now shoppers can help us to support this wonderful organisation continue to grow their incredible work with the tap of a card or phone.”
Fort Kinnaird is now welcoming visitors back after it reopened its non-essential stores last week. The centre continues to have extra social distancing measures and hand sanitising stations in place to help everyone enjoy a safe shopping experience.
WALKING in nature and embracing the outdoors are key to boosting wellbeing, says Scottish charity Paths for All on Mental Health Awareness Week.
Throughout the last year, most of the population turned to nature and the outdoors as a coping mechanism during the pandemic and Paths for All is urging the public to keep this up as restrictions ease.
Walking in nature is accessible and easy, with most Scots benefiting from stunning natural environments close to home – with our towns, cities and rural areas having access to brilliant paths, parks and coastlines.
It comes after this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week theme focuses on nature, which the charity believes can hugely benefit our physical health and mental wellbeing.
A report published by NatureScot found an increased proportion of the population reported health and wellbeing benefits from time spent outdoors connecting with nature during lockdown.
70% of respondents indicated that outdoor activities and engaging with nature between August -September 2020 helped them to de-stress, relax and unwind – up from 63% in March to May.
Picking litter on walks, enjoying watching and listening to birds, or spotting signs of spring such as bluebells appearing are all simple ways we can make a connection with nature.
Paths for All offers a wide range of online resources to help people understand how to connect and enjoy nature whilst offering a variety of ideas, activities and information designed to motivate people of all ages to get outdoors.
Frances Bain, Walking for Health Manager at Paths for All said: “Giving our body and mind a boost, especially after the past year, is so important and right now is the perfect time to do it.
“Not only is May National Walking Month, but we’re also really pleased to see that this week’s Mental Health Awareness Week has such a focus on the benefits of connecting with nature.
“Walking outdoors is a fantastic way to boost your mood, clear your head and benefit from fresh air in local parks and greenspaces.
“You can even take it a step further by really noticing nature when you’re out walking, such as listening to bird song, immersing yourself in a woodland walk or looking after nature by doing a spot of litter picking.
“The power of walking and the positive effects it can have on people’s wellbeing are endless and we believe that everyday walking is key to a healthier, happier Scotland.”
Hosted by the Mental Health Foundation, Mental Health Awareness Week is running from 10-16 May 2021 with this year’s theme being nature.
The charity has a variety of podcasts available on most popular podcast players or its website, which have been designed to help people unwind while walking, by interacting with nature.
A guided walking meditation track, Mind to Walk, is also free for people to listen to on their walks, narrated and presented by DJ Edith Bowman.
The 25-minute-long track acts as a guided meditation, helping listeners relax their minds and connect to their surroundings as they take a walk.
Paths for All believes regular walking is key to leading a happy and healthy life, and it’s even more important for people to continue enjoying safe walks where it is safe and appropriate to do so with the huge array of associated benefits.
Paths for All’s aim is to significantly increase the number of people who choose to walk in Scotland, whether it’s walking for leisure or walking to work, school or to the shops.
Mansfield Care, Pine Villa, Loanhead residents participating in their activities afternoon including using the new sports table.
Pictured Sandra Wood, Rena Flavell and Charles Davis-Cole
A CARE home has hosted a ‘Spring Olympics’ event for its residents to fulfil their cravings for competition and activity.
Organised by the care staff, the week-long series of competitions at Mansfield Care’s Pine Villa featured rounds of pool, Jenga, and basketball, with a Sports Quiz to close the tournament.
It comes after the residents enjoyed a programme of competitions throughout the winter months which inspired the care staff to curate the Spring Olympics, creating opportunities for healthy competition and action.
Denise Williams, Pine Villa Care Home Manager in Loanhead, said: “The residents are all very competitive so we thought this would be a fun way to stay active and play some fun games.
“Seeing as the winter games week was such a success, we wanted to make this even better. We spent a few weeks organising and planning the activities that were requested by the residents, rearranging a few tournaments due to weather but still managing to fit in games everyone enjoyed.
“It was great fun. We tried to make it a little more competitive this time round by splitting residents into teams.
“We hosted three separate games so that after each event we scored up the points and announced the winner at our closing ceremony where our residents enjoyed a spot of afternoon tea.”
As part of an ethos to provide the care we wish to receive in later life, Pine Villa, one of 11 care homes run by Mansfield Care, specialises in bespoke services to support its resident’s wellbeing.
Denise added: “We want residents to live in a stimulating environment and have activities and plans to look forward to. It’s been really challenging over lockdown with visitor restrictions, but the team has been extraordinary and really stepped up, coordinating more activities to meet our resident’s needs.
“These types of activities really help support our residents’ mental and physical health, so we feel it’s important to get creative and organise active games and events. Everyone enjoys them and looks forward to them, staff and residents alike.”
The resident-led activities are organised by the wellness coordinator to ensure resident interests and hobbies are catered to, creating a fun and fulfilling environment.
Mansfield Care specialise in small, friendly residential care homes in Edinburgh, Borders and west of Scotland; each designed to an exceptional standard with state-of-the-art facilities.
The Mansfield Care ethos is inspired by the kind of care we would wish for ourselves in later life – supportive, friendly, bright, positive, empathetic, respectful and homely.
Mansfield Care, Pine Villa, Loanhead residents participating in their activities afternoon including using the new sports table.
Pictured Sandra Wood and Charles Davis-Cole with Manager Denise Williams and activities co-ordinater Stephen Robinson
Community foundation marks Mental Health Awareness Week by extending important partnership with SAMH to deliver bespoke training for ‘third sector heroes’
Foundation Scotland, Scotland’s community foundation, is recognising Mental Health Awareness Week by announcing it will provide a further £30,000 towards its ground-breaking partnership with SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health). This new award takes the total committed to £50,000 in a matter of weeks.
Last month, the funder announced it is was awarding the national charity an initial £20,000 to deliver 40 workplace training sessions specifically designed for those working or volunteering in the third sector.
Organisers experienced unprecedented demand for all 400 places across the 10 courses being snapped up within 48 hours. As a result the registration was closed early and a waiting list established for those unable to attend in the first round.
This new award will extend the reach of the programme to organisations not yet signed up and will ensure everyone on the waiting list can attend. The partnership anticipate that collectively the two awards will reach over 900 third sector workers and volunteers working across the country.
The expansion of this strategic collaboration with SAMH showcases the Foundation’s unparalleled commitment to the third sector and all those working within it.
Funded in partnership with the National Emergencies Trust, these awards recognise mental health as a key priority need through the pandemic. This new £30,000 award is the third strategic crisis grant provided to SAMH by Foundation Scotland.
The charity previously received £20,000 for this training in April and over £100,000 in October 2020 to design and deliver a partnership programme offering mental health support to key workers.
The funding will allow SAMH to deliver a further 600 tailored workplace places. Individuals will get to choose from a range of virtual sessions including A Manager’s Guide to Mental Health in the Workplace, Introduction To Suicide Prevention, Maintaining Wellbeing and Building Resilience.
These courses aim to develop participants’ knowledge, skills and confidence to protect themselves and provide support to colleagues. These practical, solutions-driven, courses are free to attend and will enable organisations to become more resilient, helping them further support the people who need them.
Feedback from those who have already taken part in the training hailed the sessions as “excellent” and “extremely useful”.
Participants reported they liked the fact it was not purely theoretical, that they found it useful to share experiences with others in similar positions and to learn from each other.
Others reported that they have benefited from gaining practical solutions, feel equipped to confidently approach those they work with who experience mental health problems and that the training will be useful for both their workplace and their personal lives.
Richard Rutnagur, Director of Strategic and Business Development, SAMH, said “It is fantastic news that we will be able to reach even more organisations to help them build their knowledge, skills and confidence in vital areas like workplace mental health and suicide prevention.
“The overwhelmingly positive response to our first round of training demonstrated the urgent need to support the third sector staff and volunteers who have worked so tirelessly during the pandemic.
We are grateful to Foundation Scotland for their continued support, and look forward to further developing our partnership.”
Helen Wray, Programmes Manager at Foundation Scotland said: “We are proud to be extending our support to third sector heroes during Mental Health Awareness Week.
“At Foundation Scotland, we recognise the vital and urgent need to protect and maintain the wellbeing of those who have worked selflessly to deliver support throughout the crisis.
“We recognise it is often these very people who feel like they can’t talk, or even have time to think about their own issues as they are so focussed on helping others. Supporting others just isn’t sustainable long-term unless you are looking after yourself and others within your organisation.
“Increasing the availability of this training will reach more individuals and more organisatons in need. The support will ensure those working or volunteering across the sector feel equipped, trained and able to cope with the increasing pressures they face. We will be directly contacting eligible groups next month so they can sign up to benefit.”
Foundation Scotland has to date awarded over £7.3 million to over 1,100 charitable groups supporting the most vulnerable people through the crisis. This support has already reached over 2 million people living across Scotland.
A second cohort of Edinburgh Napier students have been sworn in as Special Constables. The six students, all following courses in the School of Applied Sciences, can now go out on the frontline and join Police Scotland community teams.
They follow in the footsteps of five fellow Edinburgh Napier students who completed an on-campus training programme a year ago and have nowracked up around 2700 hours of police service.
Special Constable training requires a combination of face-to-face and online inputs over a series of several weeks.
The in-house programme was devised to meet a growing demand from students to get involved as Special Constables and from Police Scotland to increase the numbers of Special Constables. Edinburgh Napier’s Dr Andrew Wooff worked with Police Scotland to adapt the training to allow it to be built into the students’ timetable.
The first five students undertook their training every Wednesday at Edinburgh Napier’s Sighthill campus, allowing them all to continue their studies and work part-time as they trained.
The training for the second cohort was further adjusted, with elements of the programme moving online to take into account Covid-19-related social distancing requirements. The students used online programmes to get to grips with legislation, while learning about the more physical aspects of the role at the Tulliallan-based Scottish Police College.
Dr Wooff, Associate Professor of Criminology at Edinburgh Napier, said: “It’s great to see another six Special Constables sworn in and able to assist Police Scotland.
“The training is demanding and takes commitment, but the students find it very rewarding and we have tailored it to fit round their studies as best we can. These students will now be involved in supporting the police in a wide range of roles.
“This training scheme has been so successful that we are now looking at replicating it across universities and colleges from September, where students from all institutions will train online and in person together.
“This will hopefully enhance the programme further and allow more students from across Scotland to access the opportunity of becoming a Special Constable more easily.”
The Special Constable role is diverse, demanding and rewarding. New recruits can be doing anything from policing a football match to assisting at a road accident.
Special Constables also police major sporting and public events and provide an excellent bridge between the police service and the public, representing both the community within the police service and the police service In local communities.
Chief Inspector Claire Miller said: “I am delighted to welcome six new students from Edinburgh Napier into Police Scotland’s Special Constabulary.
“I am well aware of the significant time and effort that is required to complete the training programme, which is over and above their other studies, and I would like to thank them for their ongoing commitment and wish them every success in their frontline deployments.
“I would also like to thank Dr Andrew Wooff for working with Police Scotland to adapt the training, to allow it to be built into the students’ timetable, especially during such a challenging year.
“Police Scotland undoubtedly benefits from the experience our volunteers bring, however we also believe that the Special Constabulary offers an exceptional opportunity where you can gain confidence, acquire new skills and truly make a difference in improving the safety and wellbeing of people, places and communities in Scotland.
“I hope the students who became Special Constables last year have discovered this during the extraordinary number of hours they have volunteered for so far. Their dedication during the past year has been outstanding and is greatly appreciated.
“I wish our new recruits the very best for their future journey within Police Scotland”
For more information on joining the Special Constabulary, visit:
Morrisons is offering British entrepreneurs a fast-tracked route to a national market through a programme called ‘Growing British Brands’.
The ‘Growing British Brands’ programme will give businesses the potential to sell products in all 497 Morrisons stores as well as listings in other parts of the business including Morrisons.com, Food Boxes and wholesale channels like Amazon.
Morrisons will also offer promotional plans and favourable payment terms to help these businesses scale up.
To support these emerging British businesses, Morrisons has assembled a team of experts to find brands with game-changing, innovative products that need a helping hand to get to the main stage.
The team will offer successful applicants to the programme advice and support covering every aspect of retailing, from production to packaging and marketing and logistics.
Entrepreneurs with products ranging from food and drink to beauty and homewares are being encouraged to apply to the ‘Growing British Brands’ programme by clicking on the ‘Supplying Morrisons’ link at morrisons-corporate.com/suppliers.
This formal programme follows a very strong response to a recent call to arms from Morrisons CEO, David Potts, who encouraged British entrepreneurs with the next big thing to get in touch.
David Potts, Morrisons CEO, said: “There are thousands of people with great ideas, but getting them to market at scale is often a long, risky and complicated process.
“Morrisons started with just one shop over 100 years ago and is now one of Britain’s biggest retailers. We know and understand the entrepreneurial spirit and want to play our full part in helping the next generation of British brands quickly reach national distribution.
“For too long, small businesses have lacked the opportunity and perhaps confidence to scale up a great idea capable of supplying hundreds of stores at serious volumes. We hope that this programme can provide the support, guidance and confidence for great brands with great products to lift their horizons, to think big and to reach new customers all around Great Britain.”
Victoria Prentis MP, Food Minister, said: “Our manifesto was clear that we want people, both at home and abroad, to be lining up to buy British. “The ‘Growing British Brands’ programme will boost small businesses, encouraging them to scale up and reach thousands of potential new customers.
“Our food and drink businesses are renowned for high quality products and standards of animal welfare. They form a core part of our agri-food sector which supports over four million jobs and provides £121 billion to the UK economy. I welcome this announcement by Morrisons to further support entrepreneurs in this vital sector.”
Morrisons launched its Local Foodmakers programme in 2017, and has since launched over 1,300 products from local foodmakers, growers and producers. This new programme aims to uncover those suppliers who have the ability to be stocked in stores nationwide.
Developer S1 Developments is giving the public a chance to have its say on proposals for an exciting new student residential development at Edinburgh’s former Tynecastle High School site.
The development will regenerate a site that has currently lain vacant for over a decade and fallen into a state of disrepair. A full assessment has been undertaken by S1 and due to a number of constraints, the best use of the site is judged to be for car free student development, with the original category B-listed school building on McLeod Street retained and restored.
Proximity to North British Distillery, who previously owned the site, Tynecastle Stadium and the Western Approach, with issues around light, smell, noise and traffic make student accommodation a more effective use of the site than residential accommodation.
A single user operator, such as a student one, is able introduce control measures that will ensure that amenity and safety can be maintained with issues such as noise, smells and air quality easier to mitigate through a single point of control eg through the ventilation system and acoustic design.
It also affords opportunities to install site-wide green energy provision under the control of a Building Energy Management System (BEMS) to minimise energy consumption and improve sustainability.
Council guidance also points to the benefits of purpose-built student accommodation in freeing up flats for families with children and reducing issues of antisocial behaviour.
The developer submitted a Proposal of Application Notice (PAN) to the City of Edinburgh Council in February informing that it intends to submit a planning application for the redevelopment of the site following a public consultation event.
The Scottish Government has suspended in-person public consultation events due to COVID-19.
Full details about the proposals will be made available to the public at 9 am on Tuesday 18th May on the dedicated project website: www.oldtynecastlehigh.com.
An online consultation will take place between 3 pm and 7pm on the same day. Consultants will be available during those hours to answer any questions and receive feedback through a two-way chat system.
Feedback can also be submitted via the website, and information will be made available in paper format if requested.
If you cannot access the exhibition boards on the day of the event, please contact Orbit Communications at hello@oldtynecastlehigh.com or Telephone: 0131 202 3259 or at 4 Queen Street, Edinburgh EH2 1JE and these can be provided.
Dan Teague, Director at S1 Developments, said:“We’re delighted to be giving the public the chance to have a say on our development proposals for the site of the former Tynecastle High School.
“As S1 Developments we develop sites to suit the location and following a full assessment of the constraints it is clear to us that student development is the most appropriate use to secure the redevelopment of the Old Tynecastle High School and develop the site in manner which is compatible with the neighbouring uses.
“Discussions have also been held with local stakeholders and community groups to also look at potential to form a new community space.
“The original school building has fallen into a sorry state since it stopped being a school in 2009. Whilst the redevelopment is challenging, we are hopeful that the proposed use brings with it an opportunity to save and renovate the original school building and continue its educational use, serving students in higher education.”
More than 35 exhibitions across the city and a special programme of online events and presentations
Highlights include:
Major new commissions and presentations by leading international artists, including the UK & European premiere of Lessons of the Hour by Isaac Julien in partnership with National Galleries of Scotland; and two new festival co-commissions, with work by Sean Lynch in collaboration with Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop; and a sound installation by Emeka Ogboh with Talbot Rice Gallery
New Associate Artist strand curated by Tako Taal and featuring newly commissioned work from 6 artists
The chance to discover new generation artists, including the return of Platform; Satellite participant Alison Scott at Collective; and Ashanti Harris at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop
Solo presentations including Christine Borland at Inverleith House, RBGE; Alberta Whittle at Jupiter Artland; Frank Walter at Ingleby Gallery; Ian Hamilton Finlay at The City Art Centre; Sekai Machache at Stills; and Sonia Mehra Chawla at Edinburgh Printmakers
The first chance for festival audiences to experience the newly redeveloped Fruitmarket opening with Karla Black
Retrospectives and major survey shows;The Galloway Hoard: Viking-age Treasureat National Museum of Scotland; Victoria & Albert: Our Lives in Watercolour at The Queen’s Gallery; Joan Eardley at The Scottish Gallery; Archie Brennan at Dovecot Studios
Following the cancellation of the 2020 festival and an exceptionally challenging period for the creative sector, we are delighted to confirm that Edinburgh Art Festival will return from 29 July to 29 August this year.
The 17th edition of the festival will bring together over 35 exhibitions and new commissions in visual art spaces across the city, complemented by an online programme of events and digital presentations.
Founded in 2004, Edinburgh Art Festival is the platform for the visual arts at the heart of Edinburgh’s August festivals, bringing together the capital’s leading galleries, museums, production facilities and artist-run spaces in a city-wide celebration of the very best in visual art. Each year the festival comprises newly commissioned artworks by leading and emerging artists, alongside a rich programme of exhibitions curated and presented by partners across the city.
This year’s programme continues to place collaboration at its heart, with a series of festival-led commissions and premieres devised and presented in close partnership with leading visual arts organisations and a specially invited programme of new commissions curated in partnership with an Associate Artist.
As galleries begin to reopen after many months of closure, this year, more than any, we are proud to cast a spotlight on the uniquely ambitious, inventive and thoughtful programming produced each year by Edinburgh’s visual art community. In a rich and characteristically diverse programme of exhibitions, audiences can safely enjoy new work made in direct response to the experiences of last year, alongside projects, exhibitions, and perspectives that have been many years in the making.
All our festival venues will be following the latest government Covid guidelines to ensure visitor safety, and we will be keeping our website regularly updated on what audiences can expect during their visit.
Edinburgh Art Festival 2021 Programme Highlights
Festival-led programming
The festival is committed to championing the production and presentation of new work, inviting artists at all stages of their careers into conversation with the city, often offering rare public access to important historic buildings, and always engaging audiences in citywide debates around wider social issues.
This year we are proud to collaborate with a range of partners to bring together a programme of new work by artists working in Scotland, UK and internationally.
The UK and European premiere of Isaac Julien’s Lessons of the Hour is presented in partnership with National Galleries of Scotland. This major new ten-screen film installation by celebrated British artist Isaac Julien, CBE, RA, offers a poetic meditation on the life and times of Frederick Douglass, the visionary African American writer, abolitionist and a freed slave, who spent two years in Edinburgh in the 1840s campaigning across Scotland, England and Ireland for freedom and social justice.
Filmed at sites in Edinburgh and other locations in Scotland, London and at Douglass’ home in Washington DC, Julien’s film portrait is informed by some of the abolitionist’s most important speeches, weaving historical scenes with footage from recent times to foreground the continued relevance and urgency of Douglass’ words in the present day. Lessons of the Hour will be presented at Modern One until 10 October, to coincide with Black History Month.
Presented by Edinburgh Art Festival in partnership with National Galleries of Scotland. Supported by the Scottish Government’s Festivals Expo Fund and EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate, with additional support from British Council Scotland and Pro Av. Lessons of the Hour was commissioned by the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester with the partnership of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond and with the support of the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Irish artist Sean Lynch, in a co-commission with Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, presents Tak Tent O’ Time Ere Time Be Tint. Lynch’s new project casts a spotlight on Edinburgh’s public monuments and sculptures, today subject to ongoing civic processes to have society acknowledge and understand the legacies of history. His installation at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop explores the use of folk traditions, the making of sculpture and the parables held inside monuments themselves, which can empower social change and produce a public realm implicitly open to everyone. Lynch’s exhibition is one of several artists’ projects presented at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop this summer.
Co-commissioned by Edinburgh Art Festival and Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop. Supported by the PLACE Programme, a partnership between Edinburgh Festivals, Scottish Government, City of Edinburgh Council and Creative Scotland. With additional support from Culture Ireland.
Nigerian sound artist Emeka Ogboh, in a co-commission with Talbot Rice Gallery, presents a new sound installation sited in Edinburgh’s Burns Monument, a circular neo-classical pavilion, built in 1831 as a national monument to Scotland’s bard, Robert Burns. The 7-channel work, a response to the ongoing theatre surrounding the U.K.’s departure from the European Union, features the recorded voices of citizens from each nation state of the EU, who currently reside in Scotland, singing Auld Lang Syne in their mother tongue. At a time when the post-Brexit reality in the U.K. is still far from resolved, the contradictions, hopes and harmonies that underscore the political concerns of the process are played out by Ogboh in the work.
Co-commissioned by Edinburgh Art Festival and Talbot Rice Gallery, as part of Edinburgh College of Art. Supported by the PLACE Programme, a partnership between Edinburgh Festivals, Scottish Government, City of Edinburgh Council and Creative Scotland. With additional support from Goethe-Institut Glasgow, Reid School of Music at Edinburgh College of Art and Museums and Galleries Edinburgh.
In a new approach for the festival, we have invited Glasgow based artist, film-maker and programmer, Tako Taal, to collaborate with us as Associate Artist. Responding to the festival’s invitation to reflect on themes and ideas emerging from Isaac Julien’s Lessons of the Hour, including themes of representation, resistance, civil rights, activism, and the power of the image.
Titled ‘What happens to desire…’, Taal encapsulates the wealth of ideas and lines of enquiry evolved by six invited artists in her compelling and concise précis: “With the transcript of a trial, a trip made to Naples, a portrait, a song and a melody composed whilst walking, six invited artists feel their way towards said and unsaid desires.”
Taal invites new commissions for public and digital spaces, by a new generation of artists living and working in Scotland: Chizu Anucha, Sequoia Barnes, Francis Dosoo, Thulani Rachia, Camara Taylor and Matthew Arthur Williams.
Supported by the Scottish Government’s Festivals Expo Fund and EventScotland. Our festival-led programme is kindly supported by the Patrons of our Commissioning Circle.
Platform, the festival’s annual showcase of artists in the early stages of their careers, will support 4 artists based in Scotland to make and present new work. Selected from an open call by writer and producer Mason Leaver-Yap, the artist Ciara Phillips, and Sorcha Carey, Director of Edinburgh Art Festival, Jessica Higgins, Danny Pagarani, Kirsty Russell and Isabella Widger have been supported to create new work which will be presented in a group show, Platform:2021 during the festival.
Supported by the PLACE Programme, a partnership between Edinburgh Festivals, Scottish Government, City of Edinburgh Council and Creative Scotland. With additional support from the Cruden Foundation and Idlewild Trust.
The festival is also planning a series of digital and hybrid events, to include artist and curator conversations, bespoke tours through the programme, events and activities for families and community groups, as well as newly commissioned work for digital space.
Exhibition highlights from partners across Edinburgh
Presented at over 20 venues across the city, and including the first chance for festival audiences to visit the newly reopened and extended Fruitmarket, this year’s programme of exhibitions curated by partners throughout Edinburgh offers ambitious new commissions, major retrospectives and surveys, and as always, the chance to discover the next generation of artists, across the length and breadth of the city. Highlights include….
Presented by Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh at Inverleith House, In Relation to Linum is a new solo exhibition from 1997 Turner Prize nominee Christine Borland. This multidisciplinary project, featuring watercolours, prints and sculptural pieces, explores the lifecycle of flax (Linum usitatissimum), evolving RBGE’s 350-year relationship with the plant.
From flax sown at RBGE to motion-captured planting processes, In Relation to Linum is an intimate reconnection with the ecological heritage and future of growing and making practices, and their associations with care.
Also on show in the Garden will be The Hidden Beauty of Seeds & Fruits: The Botanical Photography of Levon Biss, Ellie Harrison’s Early Warning Signs, and a new research study by Cooking Sections.
Jupiter Artland presents RESET, a new solo show by Turner-prize co-winning artist Alberta Whittle. Whittle produced RESET at the height of lockdown, filming across Scotland, South African and Barbados and responding to the immediate context of the Black Lives Matter movement, the global pandemic and the climate emergency. The film connects emergent fears of contagion, moral panic and xenophobia with a call to action – a demand – to face and heal injustices and cultivate hope in hostile environments.
RESET culminates with the image of the ‘garden’ as a utopian space of re-learning, re-connecting and resetting, animated by Mele Broomes’ powerful solo performance. Shot at Jupiter Artland, Whittle coordinated the filming remotely from Barbados, where she herself was in lockdown, weaving RESET together through contributions by writers, performers, fellow artists and musicians: Sekai Machache, Mele Broomes, Matthew Arthur Williams, Christian Noelle Charles, Ama Josephine Budge, Yves B Golden, Anushka Naanyakkara, Sabrina Henry, Richy Carey and Basharat Khan, who Whittle refers to as her accomplices.
A group show entitled RISE, featuring the aforementioned artists, will coincide with Whittle’s solo exhibition of RESET at Jupiter Artland this summer.
Ingleby Gallery presents Music of The Spheres, the first ever exhibition devoted to Frank Walter’s ‘spools’ – the small circular paintings which, in their consistency of scale and form, provide a kind of lens through which to witness the workings of Walter’s inner eye.
Frank Walter’s (1926 – 2009) work was unknown during his lifetime, but in the decade since his death he has emerged as one of the most distinctive and intriguing Caribbean voices of the last 50 years.
The newly developed Fruitmarket presents Karla Black: Sculptures (2001–2021).Scottish artist Karla Black was invited to be the first to show in both the exhibition galleries and the brand-new warehouse space of the redeveloped Fruitmarket.
The new exhibition is an attempt to redefine the traditional retrospective or survey show and it combines existing and new work, and is the result of an invitation to Black to play to her strengths and “force a raw creative moment” into the Fruitmarket’s pristine new gallery spaces.
The City Art Centre presents Marine, a major exhibition celebrating the work of Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925-2006), the internationally renowned Scottish artist and Britain’s most significant concrete poet of the 20th century.
The exhibition focuses on the maritime theme in Finlay’s work. It was a central element of his art, and one to which he returned throughout his life. Drawn from the artist’s estate and the City Art Centre’s collection, and including loans from the National Galleries of Scotland, the exhibition showcases artworks from across several decades, ranging from stone, wood and neon sculptures to tapestry.
Stills, Edinburgh’s centre for photography, presents a solo presentation of work by Glasgow-based artist Sekai Machache. In this exhibition, the next in the Projects 20 series to take place at Stills, Machache presents a body of work titled The Divine Sky using allegory and performance to tell a complicated history through poiesis, immersive storytelling and photography.
Alongside Machache’s exhibition the front space of the gallery continues to host The Nature Library, a reference library and reading space created by artist and curator Christina Riley.
Jock McFadyen: Lost Boat Party is presented by Dovecot Studios in partnership with The Scottish Gallery. The galleries will jointly celebrate the artist’s 70th birthday year with Lost Boat Party an exhibition of paintings which describe the romance and grandeur of the Scottish landscape, alongside the urban dystopia for which the artist is known.
Open Eye Gallery presents a new show by Scottish artist Leon Morrocco. The exhibition, ‘Après-midi’, features new paintings and works on paper, as the artist takes us on a journey from the cold harbours of the East Coast of Scotland to the warm beaches, terraces and streets of the Mediterranean.
The exhibition is a celebration of Morrocco’s fresh vigour for travel, both at home and away, transporting the viewer from the harbours around his childhood home of Dundee, to the sun-drenched South of France.
TheScottish Gallery presents an extensive new exhibition to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Joan Eardley (1921-1963), one of Scotland’s greatest artists.
Joan Eardley | Centenary will include her most celebrated subjects: the lost Glasgow, the streets and children of Townhead and her wild, spiritual home at Catterline on the Kincardineshire coast are both represented by major works and charming drawings and pastels.
Eardley’s poignant story and early death, her driven, passionate engagement with art, her self-belief and intense shyness are laid bare in every drawing and painting. The exhibition is accompanied by a new publication containing colour illustrations of all works along with original commissioned writing and a foreword from Anne Morrison, the artist’s niece.
A new tapestry created by Dovecot Studios and inspired by Eardley’s July Fields, 1959 will be unveiled as part of the exhibition.
Victoria & Albert: Our Lives in Watercolour is presented by The Queen’s Gallery, The Queen’s Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse and surveys an evocative record of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s life together through their personal collection of watercolours.
These colourful, dynamic works capture the spirit of Victorian Britain and the birth of a modern nation. The collection also demonstrates the couple’s deep love for Scotland, and includes happy memories of their Scottish tours, from incognito expeditions through the Highlands and balls at Balmoral to atmospheric views over Edinburgh and Holyrood Abbey.
Eileanach: Na dealbhan aig Dòmhnall Mac a’ Ghobhainn / Islander: The Paintings of Donald Smith presented by the City Art Centre marks the first major retrospective of the work of Scottish artist Donald Smith (1974-2014), in a landmark display created in partnership with An Lanntair, Stornoway.
Smith’s painting acknowledged movements in Europe and America but remained resolutely local in its subject matter. From his studio on the west side of Lewis where he worked from 1974 to his death in 2014, his intense, lyrical images of island fishermen and women celebrate their indomitable human spirit.
Also presented by the City Art Centre, Charles H. Mackie: Colour and Light a major retrospective, the most comprehensive in over a century, showcases Scottish painter and printmaker Charles Hodge Mackie (1862-1920).
Regarded as one of the most versatile artists of his generation, Mackie drew inspiration from French Symbolism, the Celtic Revival movement and the landscapes of his European travels, he produced oil paintings, watercolours, murals, woodblock prints, book illustrations and sculpture.
The exhibition brings together over fifty artworks from public and private collections, including loans from the National Galleries of Scotland, the Royal Scottish Academy, and Perth Museum & Art Gallery.
Ray Harryhausen, Titan of Cinema is presented at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Modern Two and online as a virtual exhibition experience.
Film special effects superstar Ray Harryhausen elevated stop motion animation to an art. His innovative and inspiring filming, from the 1950s onwards, changed the face of modern movie making forever.
His films include Clash of the Titans (1981), Jason and the Argonauts (1963) and The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (1958). For the first time, highlights from Harryhausen’s collection are showcased in the largest and widest-ranging exhibition of his work ever seen, with newly restored and previously unseen material from his incredible archive.
National Museum of Scotland presents The Galloway Hoard: Viking-age Treasure. Bringing together the richest collection of rare and unique Viking-age objects ever found in Britain or Ireland, the internationally significant Galloway Hoard is transforming our understanding of Scotland’s connections with the wider world during this period.
Buried around AD 900, the Hoard contains over 100 objects, not only silver and gold but also rarely surviving textiles.
Jupiter Artland presents upside mimi ᴉɯᴉɯ uʍop a new permanent outdoor installation by Scottish artist Rachel Maclean.
Three years in the making, this ground-breaking new commission is the first time Maclean has working entirely with cartoon animation and at an architectural scale, and her ultimate ambition is to transport Mimi’s world to high streets around the UK. Combining animation and architecture, upside mimi ᴉɯᴉɯ uʍop takes the form of an abandoned high-street shop, sited within the woodland at Jupiter Artland.
Maclean has taken her inspiration from commercial spaces as sites of desire, combining this with the role forests play within fairy tales, being at once places of magic, of danger, of transformation and where the normal rules of daily life no longer apply.
Presented in Collective’s Hillside exhibition space, Satellites Programme participant Alison Scott will produce new, integrated sound and print works that explore the space and possibilities of ‘meteor-ontology’: an exploration of how climate and weather are entangled in the nature of our being.
Building on Scott’s recent research this exhibition works with folk and hacking cultures engaged in alternative practices of ‘weather sensing’ to explore weather as both embodied locally by the individual, and as part of industrial networks of weather-sensing infrastructure.
The Fine Art Society presents Owners of the Soil, a new exhibition of work by Scottish artists Shaun Fraser & Will Maclean.
The exhibition examines ties between land, identity and ownership through the early Scottish diaspora’s dual identity of colonised and coloniser. Maclean’s boxed constructions, collages and drawings recount the experiences of six of his ancestors, all from Polbain, Ross-shire.
Each left Scotland as a result of the Highland Clearances. Fraser’s works in glass, bronze and print focus on Nova Scotia, an area dominated by Scottish settlements with place names that displaced First Nation Mi’kmaq titles. Incorporating peat and organic matter, Fraser’s work holds an innate link to the locality upon which it draws.
Talbot Rice Gallery presents The Normal, a vivid reflection of life during the 2020 pandemic.
Through artworks that express hope, grief, survival, violence and solidarity – it situates our lived experience within a global artistic dialogue, underscored by the need for a profound reorientation towards planetary health following the “wake-up call” of Covid-19.
The commissioning and production of artworks within the exhibition has championed sustainability, and there are many installations reflecting an acute awareness of the natural world, amplified by the silencing of cities and industry. The group exhibition includes: Larry Achiampong, Anca Benera and Arnold Estefan, Gabrielle Goliath, Kahlil Joseph, Tonya McMullen, Sarah Rose.
Archie Brennan: Tapestry Goes Pop! tells the story of Edinburgh native Archie Brennan (1931-2019) in the first major retrospective of his work, presented by Dovecot Studios.
Pop artist, weaver, and former Mr Scotland, Archie Brennan changed the course of modern weaving and is considered one of the greatest unrecognised pop artists of the twentieth century. The exhibition brings together over 80 tapestries as well as archive material, presenting a unique chance to delve into the world of a master of modern tapestry. This exhibition is co-curated by National Museums Scotland.
Scottish artist Christian Newby’s new commission responds to the historic City Dome at Collective, originally built to house an astronomical telescope, with a large-scale textile and an accompanying printed newspaper.
Flower-Necklace-Cargo-Net combines Newby’s mark-making with industrial carpet tufting to explore how questions of labour, authorship and materiality define the fine and applied arts. Images found within the work subvert typical rug and textile design motifs such as flowers, birds and shells with free-hand organic forms, pictorially contained by a large net that envelopes the whole tapestry, alluding to our shared experience of enclosure during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
Ashanti Harris has created Dancing a Peripheral Quadrille, a new body of work, commissioned by Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop.
For the exhibition, a series of sculptural and performance works dance with ideas of the metamorphic nature of cultural identities and how they are formed, through the lens of the Caribbean carnival and associated collective making. Harris is a multi-disciplinary artist, teacher and researcher. Working with dance, performance, facilitation, film, installation and writing, Harris’ work disrupts historical narratives and re-imagines them from a Caribbean diasporic perspective.
Arusha Gallery and Ella Walker present Bathing Nervous Limbs.
The new group show is guided by the Balneum Book, a 15th Century illustrated Western manuscript outlining the folkloric healing legends of various freshwater bodies. Bathing Nervous Limbs brings together new and existing work by 20 international artists, who each consider the act of learning and making and question if the desired outcome and end result is, in fact, cyclical, liturgical and lies in its process. Featured artists includes: Ithell Colquhoun, Paloma Proudfoot, Anousha Payne, Nina Royle, Francesca Blomfield, Leo Robinson and Zoe Williams.
Entanglements of Time and Tide, by celebrated Indian artist and researcher Sonia Mehra Chawla is presented by Edinburgh Printmakers. Living artworks, historical scientific material, video, and new commissions in print follow intensive residencies in Scotland and mark the artist’s debut solo exhibition in the UK. Mehra Chawla’s artistic practice explores notions of selfhood, nature, ecology, sustainability and conservation.
For the new exhibition the artist spent two years on three intensive residencies at the Marine Scotland Laboratory in Aberdeen, the ASCUS Laboratory at Summerhall and Edinburgh Printmakers. The result is an all encompassing exhibition featuring new commissions in print, video, living artworks of micro-biological organisms and representations of historical scientific material which explore the entanglements of ecology industry, culture, politics and aesthetics.
Presented as part of Jupiter Artland’s 2021 Artist Residencies Programme, Reset and Rise: a summer season of residencies, broadcasts and artist-led projects reflecting the crises of 2021 – the climate emergency, the pandemic, and the Black Lives Matter Movement for social justice. Rotten TV by artist Daniel Lie is an online broadcasting studio and artist-residency series, bringing together thinkers from Indonesia, Brazil and the UK to rethink ideas of life, death and eco-system renewal. Supported by the British Council in advance of COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow, 2021.
Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop presents plotting (against) the garden in collaboration with artists Alaya Ang & Hussein Mitha. plotting (against) the garden is a sound work that evokes the chromatic beauty and vegetal excess of the garden through the urban structure of The Beacon Tower, the landmark that completes the venue’s open courtyard, dreaming of the garden and the urban subsisting in the same space, pointing to an often-desperate need for places to grow, reflect, work and sit within the city.
The work explores the politics of gardens as ambivalent spaces of work and leisure; private property and public shared space; cultivation and growth.
Updated information on the full programme available on the festival website in late June.
Sorcha Carey, Director, Edinburgh Art Festival said: “Festivals have always offered a space for gathering, and this year more than any, we are proud to come together with partners across the city to showcase the work of artists from Scotland, the UK and around the world.
“Some exhibitions are newly made in response to the seismic shifts of the past year; others are the result of many years of planning and careful research; but all are the unique, authentic, and thoughtful products of our city’s extraordinarily rich visual art scene.
“The past year has revealed how precarious things can be for artists and creative freelancers, as well as for the institutions and organisations that support the production and presentation of their work.
“As galleries begin to re-open across the city, and we look forward to welcoming audiences safely back to the festival and our city, now more than ever we need the space for community and reflection that art and artists can provide.”
Amanda Catto, Head of Visual Arts at Creative Scotland said: “As art unlocks across Scotland we welcome the rich and diverse programme that the Edinburgh Art Festival and its partners will be staging this year.
“We’re especially excited by the opportunity that the Festival gives us to step away from our screens and to experience art in real life. It’s a great time to experience new work and to be introduced to artists whose work is less familiar, as well as to enjoy the work of artists we already know.
“We’d like to congratulate and thank the artists and the organisers for maintaining their vision and ambition during a challenging time for the arts and we look forward to celebrating their work in the summer of 2021.”
Councillor Donald Wilson, Culture and Communities Convener, said:“It’s fantastic to see the return of the Edinburgh Art Festival.
“The festival has always supported new work and this year promises to be no different. With exciting new commissions and over 35 exhibitions across the city alongside the online programme of digital presentations and events, there will be so much for audiences to enjoy.
“I’m particularly looking forward to Platform, the annual showcase which supports artists in the early stages of their careers. The Festival remains a key platform for emerging artists, helping to support and promote the vital and lasting role the arts play in our all our lives.
“I’m delighted the Council is yet again able to support this year’s innovative and creative event.”
Paul Bush OBE, VisitScotland’s Director of Events, said:“Edinburgh and Scotland is a leading destination for the very best in the visual arts and EventScotland is delighted to be supporting the Edinburgh Art Festival to maintain this reputation.
“The team has worked hard to produce an exciting and varied programme of in-person exhibitions as well as an online programme of events and digital presentations, which will allow audiences to engage with the Festival in the way they feel most comfortable.
“Events are an important part of our communities as they not only bring us great entertainment, they also sustain livelihoods and bring social and economic change. Following a difficult period for the industry it is wonderful to see the Edinburgh Art Festival return and once again provide a platform for emerging and established artists from across Scotland, the UK and the world to share their work.”
Edinburgh Art Festival runs from 29 July – 29 August 2021.
For more information, please visit www.edinburghartfestival.com or follow the festival on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @EdArtFest #EdArtFest #ArtUnlocks
