Take a walk down Memory Lane … in Leith

A mural art map of Leith has been produced for residents and visitors to take a tour of mural art in the area as part of the LeithLate Festival15.

The map, funded by the City of Edinburgh Council, will feature the following murals and artists:

· Leith History Mural by Tim Chalk & Paul Grime, by Leith Library

· Swanfield Mill Mural by David Wilkinson, Bonnington Road

· Eduardo Paolozzi Mural by Russell Ian Dempster, Henderson Street

· Untitled Mural by Tim Chalk, opposite Links View House, Tollbooth Wynd

· Leith Dockers Club Mural by Tom Ewing, Academy Street

· The Leith Aquatic Mural by Blameless Collective, Halmyre Street

Cllr Frank Ross, Convener of the Economy Committee, said: “This is a great opportunity for residents and visitors to learn about Leith’s mural history, past and present.

“We are supporting this project as part of our work on our ‘Building Stronger Town Centres’ programme and we are committed to the economic growth of Leith which includes nurturing it as a creative hub. I would encourage anyone interested to pick up a map and go on a tour as Leith is steeped in history, has many other hidden gems and is packed full of interesting shops, cafes and restaurants.”

Morvern Cunningham of LeithLate, said: “I’m thrilled to present these tours as part of the LeithLate15 festival, which aims to bring more contemporary art onto the streets of Leith. The tour includes two modern murals facilitated by LeithLate, as well as one not by us, alongside a number of historic murals that were produced in Leith in the 1980s. We’ve researched the background to all the murals involved and hope that participants find the information contained in the guides interesting and useful.”

*Please note that the organised tours with the artists are now sold out.

Oor castle’s going green for St Patrick’s Day!

No, it’s not 1 April – Edinburgh Castle really is turning green …

Castle gesture ‘symbol of mutually important relationship’.

Edinburgh Castle will be bathed in green light to mark St Patrick’s Day, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs Fiona Hyslop has announced during a visit to Dublin.

Ms Hyslop said that Scotland and Ireland greatly valued their relationship, and that it was fitting that one of Scotland’s most iconic buildings would turn green for Ireland’s national day.

The Castle joins a host of global landmarks celebrating Ireland’s national day, including the Colosseum in Rome and the Sacre-Coeur Basilica in Paris.

Ms Hyslop has travelled to Ireland to address the British Irish Chamber of Commerce on the importance of Scotland and Ireland’s membership of the EU, which facilitates trade to take place between the two nations and gives Scottish companies access to the fastest growing economy in Europe.

Scotland also benefits from significant Irish investment – with 85 Irish owned companies operating in Scotland, employing nearly 6,000 people with a turnover of £2.4 billion.

Ireland is Scotland’s 8^th largest export market with £815 million exported to Ireland in 2012, and trade from Ireland to Scotland has been estimated at around £300 million and growing. Ireland was the EU’s fastest growing economy in 2014 and is expected to be so again in 2015. Both countries value their membership of the European Union, and the two have worked together to secure EU funding for 19 joint projects, with a joint value of £30 million.

Ms Hyslop said: “Turning one of Scotland’s most iconic buildings green for St Patrick’s Day is a fitting way to show the importance we place on our relationship with Ireland, and a celebration of the friendship which exists between our two nations.

“Our economic links with Ireland, our work together in the European Union, and the shared value we place on our membership of that union, show how much we have to gain from strengthening our relationship.

“Irish investment makes a substantial contribution to Scotland’s economy. Irish-owned companies in Scotland are responsible for nearly 6,000 jobs and turnover of £2.4 billion, while Scottish exports to Ireland are worth £815 million a year.

“Ireland and Scotland have different identities and experiences, but we are united by elements of shared history, culture and language – and so it’s appropriate that Edinburgh Castle, with its important place in Scotland’s history and culture, goes green for St Patrick’s Day.”

Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan, who visited Edinburgh just a fortnight ago, warmly welcomed the announcement that Edinburgh Castle will be illuminated in green to mark Ireland’s national day.

He said: ‘I very much appreciate this generous gesture from the Scottish Government. The addition of such a landmark to the already impressive list of iconic locations going green on St Patrick’s Day is another important moment in the friendship between Ireland and Scotland and literally highlights our ever-strengthening links. The theme for my recent visit to Edinburgh was embarking on a ‘new chapter’ in Irish-Scottish relations. Today’s announcement is a really significant and visible way to underline that.”

I’m not convinced the ‘greening’ of Edinburgh Castle will go down too well with some sections of Scottish society. What do you think?

Creative Leith collaborates on ‘Love Leith’ bruncheon

LEITH CREATIVE Project Launch

Saturday 14 February 2015, 11.30 – 3.00pm

It’s been a quiet start of the year for Citizen Curator but we are back this month with some interesting new collaborations …

In partnership with LeithLate we are launching Leith Creative at a very special ‘Love Leith’ Creative Bruncheon in conjunction with Out of Blue Drill Hall.

Leith Creative is a research project investigating the cultural resources and creative industries that make up the wider area. As part of this we have been talking to some of the creative hubs that inhabit Leith, but to find out more we want to hear from individual artists and organisations living, or working, in the area. What are the success you have had or challenges that you face?

To find out more …

Join us at the Drill Hall on Dalmeny Street for informal networking, where a host of family friendly Bruncheon treats will be available from the OOTB café, as well as live music from local Leith musicians, curated by William Douglas.

This is a free event but booking is appreciated.

If you can’t make it on the day, remember to fill out and share this online survey.

Also remember to check out our new Leith Creative facebook page for future events.

For further details contact

Citizen Curator

Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop

21 Hawthornvale, Edinburgh, EH6 4JT

44+(0)7812167130

info@citizencurator.com

www.citizencurator.com

‘like’ us on Facebook

Citizen Curator is a contemporary arts organisation working with the history and identity of Leith and North Edinburgh. This project is supported by Creative Scotland, the City of Edinburgh Council and the Leith Benevolent Society

Our Leith Creative logo, and soon to come interactive map, is by artist/designer David Lemm. David also has work on display at the Edinburgh Printmakers, until 7 March.

EPIC! Awards for voluntary arts groups

UK’s largest amateur cultural award opens for nominations

RUN by Voluntary Arts, the Epic Awards recognise and reward excellence and innovation in the amateur cultural sector. The 2015 Epic Awards are now open for entries and groups have until 16 March to nominate themselves.

Previous Scotland Epic Award winners include a Paisley drumming group set up to promote good mental health, an arts festival in Braemar that encouraged new people to get creative, a craft group on the Isle of Barra that invited people around the world to send bunting, and a tapestry created by 1,000 volunteer stitchers.

Across the UK and Republic of Ireland over 60,000 voluntary arts groups provide regular opportunities for cultural engagement in their local areas – the Epic Awards shine a spotlight on their achievements.

All voluntary-led arts groups are eligible to apply. Entries might include:

groups who formed interesting collaborations;
projects that engaged with their local community or beyond;
creative activity that inspired others or increased participation;
groups who used new ideas in innovative ways

Application forms can be downloaded from www.epicawards.co.uk

Closing date for entries: 16 March 2015.

Living in Harmony double-date

The Living in Harmony Forum meets tonight

Tuesday 25 November from 5.30 -7.30pm

at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre.

The group has also set a date for a Chat Café at Granton Youth Centre next month – see below

community chat cafe poster december

Rachel Farrier (Development Worker, Living in Harmony)

Pilton Community Health Project

Awareness and integration event at City Chambers

Thanks to our friends at Blackhall Mosque for bringing this event to our attention.

Please note you must register to attend and places are limited – see poster for details:

Bye, bye gravy – gravy, goodbye?

Roller Les says ‘aye’ to a pie – again!

Bay City Rollers’ front man Les McKeown has confirmed that he will be a judge at the 16th World Scotch Pie Championships which takes place at Dunfermline’s Carnegie Conference Centre next week .

Les, the voice of the 70’s supergroup with hits such as Bye Bye Baby, Shang A Lang and Give A Little Love, said: “I am known for my love of a great pie and I always stock up when I am on home ground. Touring non stop around the world with the band means we need to keep our strength up so we always say ‘aye’ to a pie!

“Being invited back to judge the best of the best though is a huge honour, I am already in preparation and plan to eat nothing for 24 hours before the big day so I can enjoy every bite of Scotland’s best and this year I know exactly what I am looking for.”

Last year’s winner, Stephen McAllister from The Kandy Bar of Saltcoats, said: “I was delighted when we were announced as the winner and to have been able to call our Scotch Pies the world champion as judged by a panel of experts has made a huge and positive impact on our business in the last year. The award was proof that The Kandy Bar team are the best in the land and we have gone from strength to strength.”

The competition is supported by Scottish Bakers and the Scottish Federation of Meat Traders. Both trade associations actively support and promote bakers and butchers in Scotland by encouraging and sharing best practice.

Alan Clarke, chief executive of Scottish Bakers, is delighted with the support that the Bay City Rollers are giving to the competition. He said: “They are an iconic Scottish Band and the Scotch Pie is an iconic Scottish product, we are delighted to announce that Les will join our group of professional judges again this year to select the best pies in the land.”

In addition to Scotch pies, bakers and butchers are invited to enter their best sausage rolls, bridies, specialty savouries, Scottish football pie, apple pie or savoury.

Butchers and bakers across Scotland will have the opportunity to become recognised as producing the highest quality products around the globe with awards given to those producing the best products in each category. The winner of the Scotch Pie category will be declared World Champion.

The competition, which has run for 16 years, aims to highlight that bakers and butchers create high quality artisan pastry products. Recognising the ‘great and the good’ in this way rewards excellence and raises the bar in the industry.

The competition, which takes place on Tuesday, is sponsored by wholesaler to the food industry, Bako Northern and Scotland. http://www.bakoscotland.co.uk/

Forthcoming Fishing Folk events

Since earliest times, Newhaven in Edinburgh has been famous for its fishing, its shipbuilding and its unique cultural traditions, celebrated through song and photography. As part of Fishing Folk, Citizen Curator is working with contemporary folk musician Jed Milroy and artist Johnny Gailey to raise awareness of the importance of this heritage.

Events still to come in April:

Do You Sing? Would you like to Sing?

The main focus of our events this month is our new Newhaven Fishing Folk Choir.
With support from an experienced singer we are running weekly drop in rehearsals, Tuesdays from 7 – 9pm. Participants old and young have already joined us to find out more about the songs of Newhaven and to experience community singing at its best.

Every Tuesday April/May, 7 – 9pm at Victoria Primary School in Newhaven

Please note. During the school holidays rehearsals on 8 and 15 April are at the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop.

This event is open to – all
Tickets – free

Working Lunch – an occasional get together – with musician Jed Milroy

Friday 25 April, 12 – 1pm at the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop in Newhaven

Jed will talk about his life as journeying musician, playing in bands and producing participatory music. As part of Fishing Folk, Jed has been working with Victoria Primary School to create a new ‘Song for Newhaven’ and forming our new Fishing Folk Choir.

This event is open to all
Soup of the day will be Lentil Broth
A contribution of £1.50 covers the cost of lunch
Please RSVP to ensure supply!

For further information contact:

Citizen Curator
Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop
21 Hawthornvale, Edinburgh, EH6 4JT

07812167130

info@citizencurator.com
www.citizencurator.com

‘Citizen Curator is a contemporary arts organisation working with the history and identity of Leith and North Edinburgh. This project is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the City of Edinburgh Council

Travelling Gallery to visit Drylaw

The Travelling Gallery embark on its Scottish tour this Friday (23 August) with ‘THIS LAND’, a new autumn exhibition presenting a beautifully alternative view of the Scottish landscape – and it’s stopping off at Drylaw on it’s travels. You can catch the exhibition at the local centre next Thursday (29 August) afternoon from 2 – 5pm.

Inspired by the Year of Natural Scotland, the Travelling Gallery’s autumn exhibition presents an alternative view of the Scottish landscape, through works by artists with a diverse range of practices.

Exhibits will include paintings by Henry Coombes and a series of works exploring the history, geology and politics of the island of Rockall by Andy Holden. Hannah Imlach uses sculpture and photography to explore new environments and find connections between the landscape and the human body, while Michael Reisch and Iain Sarjeant both show photographs which focus on interaction between natural and man-made environments.

Visitors will also be able to enjoy a complementary programme of films, postcards, sketchbooks and other works to support the exhibition.

The Travelling Gallery is a custom-built, mobile, contemporary art space inside a big beautiful bus. Supported by Creative Scotland, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and the City of Edinburgh Council, the Travelling Gallery brings high quality contemporary art exhibitions and events to schools and communities throughout Scotland.

Edinburgh will be the first stop on the gallery’s Scottish-wide tour, stationed in a variety of locations around the Capital between 23 and 30 August.

Councillor Richard Lewis, the city’s Culture and Sport Convener, said: “Yet again the Travelling Gallery curators have devised a fascinating exhibition which I am sure will delight crowds across Scotland. As a Council we’re committed to making art and culture as accessible as possible to a variety of people, and what could be more accessible than a mobile gallery? I hope everyone takes the opportunity to pay the Travelling Gallery a visit when it comes to town.”

The Travelling Gallery will be open to the public at the following venues in Edinburgh, as part of Edinburgh Art Festival:

Friday 23 August City Art Centre, Market Street, 11am – 6pm

Saturday 24 August City Art Centre, Market Street, 11am – 6pm

Tuesday 27 August Hawes Promenade, South Queensferry 11am – 5pm

Wednesday 28 August Festival Square, Lothian Road, 11am – 5pm

Thursday 29 August

Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, Groathill Road North 2 – 5pm

Friday 30 August High Street, Portobello 11am – 5pm

The Travelling Gallery will then tour to the following areas:

2 – 13 September – Highlands

16 – 20 September – Lewis and Harris

23 – 24 September – Uists

28 September – 3 October – Shetland

7 – 11 October – Perth & Kinross

21 – 25 October – Renfrewshire

28 October – 8 November – South Ayrshire

11 – 15 November – Midlothian

18 – 22 November – Renfrewshire

25 – 29 November – Edinburgh

3 – 7 December – Angus

10 December – West Lothian

See www.travellinggallery.com for all the details,

Follow the Gallery on Facebook or Twitter @ArtinaBus

Culture is good for your health!

Research shows a clear link for the first time

Participation in culture is significantly linked to good health and high life satisfaction in Scotland, new research shows. A detailed study carried out by Scottish Government analysts and published today, confirms for the first time that cultural engagement is having a positive impact on the nation’s health and life satisfaction.

The study, based on data from the Scottish Household Survey 2011, considered the impact on health of both culture and sport. It found that those who participate in culture or attend cultural places or events are more likely to report good health and life satisfaction that those who do not. This remains true even when other factors such as age, economic status, income, area deprivation, education qualification, disability or long standing illness and smoking are accounted for.

Key findings show:

Those who attended a cultural place or event in the previous 12 months were almost 60 per cent more likely to report good health compared to those who did not.
Those who participated in a creative or cultural activity in the previous 12 months were 38 per cent more likely to report good health compared to those who did not.
Those who visited a library and those who visited a museum were almost 20 per cent more likely to report good health than those who had not.
Those who visited a theatre were almost 25 per cent more likely to report good health than those who did not.
Those who participated in dance were 62 per cent more likely to report good health than those who did not.
Those who read for pleasure were 33 per cent more likely to report good health than those who did not.

The research follows data from the 2010 Scottish Household Survey that shows that people who are encouraged to participate in cultural activity as children are more likely to continue to do so into adulthood.

It also builds on evidence from the major longitudinal study ‘Growing Up in Scotland’ that shows that from the youngest ages, most children in Scotland are exposed to cultural activities, and that this has an impact on their cognitive development.

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “This Government is committed to promoting and supporting cultural activities because we recognise and value the potential benefits not only to individuals but also to our communities.

“Cumulatively, this growing evidence base is giving us more insight into the benefits that taking part in cultural and creative activities brings – at every life stage.

“Starting young, and being encouraged to take part in culture as a child, makes it more likely that the benefits of taking part will be experienced as an adult.

“That’s why this Government has funded activities like Bookbug, Scottish Book Trust’s Early Years programme, which encourages parents and children to read together from birth, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra’s Astar CD which is helping parents in Scotland to introduce their babies to the joy of music.”

Heather Stuart, Chair of VOCAL, said: “Those of us who are involved in the delivery of culture and sport services on a daily basis have never been in any doubt about the positive impact they have on peoples’ health and wellbeing and quality of life. We see it every day.

“I am therefore delighted that this study evidences so well, and so robustly, the relationship between taking part in culture and sport activities, attendance at cultural places, and quality of life.

“Evidence like this needs to inform the longer term debate about the wider impact of these services and how they contribute to the wellbeing of the population and the priorities of central and local government.

“Their contribution in addressing the key challenges for Scotland around the physical and mental health of the population is clear. There is no doubt culture and sport services are effective preventative medicine.”

Mark O’Neill, Director of Policy & Research, Glasgow Life, commented:
“This is a really ground-breaking piece of work for Scotland – and for the UK. It demonstrates, for the first time, a clear association between cultural attendance and improved health and wellbeing. It strengthens the case for cultural participation being included in any assessment of life satisfaction – and in any holistic public health strategy.”