Made in Granton

Community group plans peoples’ exhibition

We are holding a one-day ‘History of North Edinburgh’ event, an exhibition of things, film and photos in the former office of the Madelvic electric car company in Granton Park Avenue (off West Granton Road) on Saturday 24 October from 11 am- 3pm.

The theme is the people, industry and workplaces of North Edinburgh.

Did any members of your family work in the Madelvic factory all those years ago? Or more recently in Parsons Peebles, the Wire Works, Salvesens, the Gas Works; what about trawling, whaling, fish merchants, on the trams or other industry in North Edinburgh? Both men’s and women’s work of course!

We need you! We are looking for copies of any photos, stories, memories, artefacts, interesting things to share in an exhibition. We are hopeful that this will go on to create a permanent museum of North Edinburgh.

If you have anything you could contribute to this please contact us as soon as you can …

Barbara Robertson barbara-robertson@teleosvet.co.uk 07825154114

or Willie Black w.black@blueyonder.co.uk 07515686421

or madelviccommunity@gmail.com

granton:hub
at the Madelvic

Cramond: the last resting place of kings?

Could Cramond hold the secret of Scotland during Dark Ages?

A two-year investigation into the mystery of an Edinburgh crypt has cast important new light on the turbulent history of the Dark Ages.

The mass burial in Cramond, believed to be the oldest occupied village in Scotland, was uncovered in 1975 during an excavation of a Roman Bathhouse found at the site of a car park. Forty years later, a team led by the City of Edinburgh Council has embraced modern science to examine the remains of nine individuals found in the grave with fascinating results.

The evidence has disproved an early theory that the bodies were victims of the bubonic plague, instead dating the individuals back another 800 years to the 6th Century AD. Thanks to state-of-the-art computer programming, researchers were able to create lifelike facial representations for the 1,500 year old skeletons.

By using forensic, isotopic and DNA techniques, the study reveals that the burials belonged to more than one generation of a single family with two of the bodies thought to be warriors due to their multiple healed wounds.

Furthermore, at least one and possibly three family members suffered a violent, murderous end. One female suffered shattering blows to the head and two males bear severe wounds which they survived.

Due to the unique nature of the burial and positioning of bodies, it is thought the victims could be members of a noble family, raising the question of whether Cramond in Edinburgh could be the site of a Royal stronghold.

Councillor Richard Lewis, Edinburgh’s Culture Convener, said: “In 1975, work was under-way to construct a new car park when builders came across a mass burial at what would become one of Scotland’s best preserved Roman buildings, the Bathhouse for Cramond Fort. For decades, the circumstances surrounding the burial were unanswered.

“Thanks to developments in modern science, the Council has been able to revisit the remains and carry out an extensive investigation. The findings have revealed a story even more mysterious than the one we started out with. With theories of ancient warriors, murdered nobles and a lost Royal stronghold – you could be forgiven for mistaking the resulting story for a plot from the Game of Thrones.”

John Lawson, the City of Edinburgh Council archaeologist who led the investigation, added: “Many mysteries remain but thanks to CSI techniques, we’ve managed to make great strides in our understanding of Scotland’s Cramond burials.

“The study has provided important evidence of life during this time of political turmoil and has helped us answer questions about the Dark Ages, but it has also opened up a whole new world of questions. Why did these people migrate to Cramond? What was so special about this area during the dark ages? Why were some of them murdered but given a special burial?

“If this grave was indeed the burial crypt of a noble or Royal family, it suggests Cramond just might be a Royal stronghold of the Gododdin. If this is the case, these findings have a significant impact on what is known about the history of Scotland and Northern Britain during the Dark Ages.”

A free exhibition exploring the discovery will open at the City of Edinburgh Council’s Museum of Edinburgh tomorrow in time for the October school break and Halloween. ‘Dark Goings On In Cramond’, featuring the remains of the Cramond Fort’s warrior and murder victim, will be open until 27 February 2016.

The Museum of Edinburgh is situated on the Royal Mile at 142 Canongate. Please note the Museum will be closed to the public on Tuesday 6 October.

Doesn’t the bloke look a bit like Rhod Gilbert?

Hold Me Dear: Four Cities, [Extra]ordinary Places

It’s Here + Now! Outdoor exhibition, Rodney Street Tunnel

Here + Now launch event: Sunday 27 September, 12 noon – 2pm

An open air photography exhibition, featuring unique pictures and stories of treasured city spaces taken by local people living in Edinburgh, Copenhagen, Hamburg and Istanbul, opens in the Rodney Street railway tunnel in Canonmills this Sunday.

Curated by HERE + NOW, the exhibition provides a unique and exciting opportunity for people to share the places that matter most to them, building up a very personal insight into a residents’ view of their Edinburgh the places that actually matter personally to local people beyond the usual tourist landmarks.

Visit the ‘City Link’ section of www.holdmedear.co.uk to see the submissions.

PUBLIC LAUNCH PARTY- Sunday 27 September 12 noon

the exhibition will formally launch with a picnic event, talks, music performances and art-themed cycle tours around city.

The exhibition is created by HERE + NOW and supported by Sustrans, Edinburgh City Council, Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership and the Friends of King George V Park. The exhibition is free and runs until 20 October.

Hold Me Dear: Four cities, (Extra)ordinary Places

What’s your favourite place in Edinburgh?

Fancy joining in some walking/cycling route mapping or a DIY exhibition-building day?

You may have heard about the upcoming Hold Me Dear: Four Cities, [Extra]Ordinary Places photography exhibition taking place in the Rodney St tunnel next to King George V Park in Canonmills.

This co-created community exhibition will feature photographs of people’s favourite personal places in their city, and has invited submissions from people across Edinburgh until the 17 September deadline.

Send us your photo and place in Edinburgh that means the most to you here! Get involved in one of our volunteer workshops! A great way to meet other people, explore the area and contribute to making this unique exhibition!

WEDNESDAY 2 SEPTEMBER – Join us from 10am-12noon to explore the local area around Rodney St tunnel in Canonmills and record your favourite walking or cycle routes and places along them. We’ll be turning these into a locally-loved community map to explore the local area from the exhibition in September!

FRIDAY 18 SEPTEMBER– Join us from 10am to help us DIY build the exhibition! Come prepared to get your hands dirty assembling exhibition boards and painting. You’ll get the chance to see your finished work at the exhibition launch event 12noon on Sunday 27th!

For more info or to sign up to join us, email hello@thehereandnow.org.uk

Snap happy in Muirhouse

Muirhouse Photography Group exhibition opens at North Edinburgh Arts this morning

Art exhibition at St Columba’s this week

The 29th Annual Art Exhibition by the Art Friends of St Columba’s Hospice is an excellent opportunity to view and maybe even buy some excellent art for this excellent cause. It will take place at the St Columba’s Hospice Education Centre, Boswall Road on:

Friday 5 June 12 noon – 8pm (incl informal drinks reception from 6pm)
Saturday 6 June – 10am – 4pm
Sunday 7 June – 11am – 4pm

More details to be found here
http://www.stcolumbashospicefundraising.org.uk/events/art-exhibition-5-2423.aspx

Nostalgia just ain’t what it used to be!

Photo exhibition explores our relationship with treasured childhood items

An Edinburgh College photographer has been asking people to take a trip down memory lane and rummage in their old toy boxes to share their most treasured childhood items for a new exhibition.

Simon Moorhouse’s Nostalgia exhibition features photos of adults with their favourite childhood toys and memorabilia, exploring their attachment and the stories behind the strong bond they feel with these items.

Nostalgia is on at the Creative Exchange in Leith until 5 June.

Simon graduated with distinction from an HND Professional Photography course at Edinburgh College, and now works as a learning assistant in the college’s photography department.

He stumbled across the inspiration for the exhibition when he was looking through old belongings and found the first cuddly toy that his mum had knitted for him, Charlie the monkey.

Simon (above) said: “I thought to myself, I’ve gone through so many moves over the past few years, from Sheffield to Edinburgh, and it has always moved with me for some reason. I never really knew why.

“That intrigued me a little bit, because we live in this sort of throwaway society where we’re quite happy to buy new TVs, new printers and everything like that. Back when I was younger we used to send our TV to the repair man, or have one come round to the house to fix it. Now it is so easy to throw them away and get a brand new one, but we always seem to keep these little trinkets. I wanted to find out why.”

Simon says the most interesting item he has photographed so far was an old chemistry set from the 1960s (above). He said: “Some of the stuff you would get in a chemistry set then would be illegal in a chemistry set today. The owner, Stewart, has stuff missing from the set. But some of the stuff, like the chemical powders, were just very peculiar. Stewart went on to work in science, he had the kit from being about four years old, he loved science and went on to become a science technician and work with children at a science centre. Now he’s an actor, but he still holds on to the chemistry set!”

Now that the exhibition has taken shape, Simon wants to expand the project outside of Scotland. First, he wants to go back to Sheffield, his home town, then carry on further down the country to photograph his connections in London and Cambridgeshire.

Simon is also keen for anyone with a nostalgic childhood item to come forward and share their stories through the Edinburgh College Facebook page and Twitter, and is offering a free professional photo shoot at the college for one lucky winner. Post a photo of your own item and tell us in one sentence why it is important to you. Simon will choose his favourite entry.

Nostalgia will be on show at Creative Exchange, 29 Constitution Street, Leith, until 5 June. Creative Exchange is open Monday -Thursday 9am-5.30pm and Friday 9am-4.30pm. Admission is free.

Art? Free workshops

Hey, we just wanted to email to say it was great to meet you -we’ve loved meeting people during our performances of Treat, our workshops in the streets or through the books and scripts we’ve left around Edinburgh. Or maybe you picked up some FREE MONEY that we hid in the Grassmarket during our Do You Need This? campaign.

Now we need you. We’re looking for people to help us create art for Edinburgh. Art that speaks to people. That interacts with the public. This could be visual, performance, video or street art. Its really up to you.

We’d love to see you on a Thursday night 7 – 9pm at The Bongo Club.

Workshops and materials are free. Everyone aged 15-25 is welcome to come in and create new work.

For further information on Creative Electric and our work check out:

www.creative-electric.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/CreativeElectric

ART? workshops run on the following dates:

26/3/15, 2/4/15, 9/4/15, 16/4/15, 23/4/15, 30/4/15, 7/5/15, 14/5/15, 21/5/15 & 28/5/15

with work being exhibited at The Bongo Lives Festival.

We’re looking forward to seeing you all again soon.

Best Wishes

Heather & Christie

ART?

Creative Electric

www.creative-electric.co.uk

Granton Castle Walled Garden exhibition

Friends of Granton Castle Walled Garden are staging an exhibition at North Edinburgh Arts to publicise their efforts to retain the historic green space from development.

Friends group member Kirsty Sutherland said: “North Edinburgh Arts centre staff really pulled out all the stops and helped us put up an exhibition on the walled garden’s story. Thank you Caroline for all your patience and perseverance, it looks fab! Thank you to Friends Group members for pitching in.

“We used some of the old and new images of the garden, maps, photos, a few flowers, some captions and a timeline: go see!

“We are hoping this will help raise awareness locally and let more folk join the group, add their ideas and strength to the campaign to safeguard the garden first, and then to help restore it for community use.

“Membership forms have been put out too – and there are lovely new flower power boxes to deposit filled out forms. We decided to make membership of the group free for the first year so no cash please!”

POCHEMU? Student documents Ukraine conflict

‘I don’t know if you can prepare yourself for what you see and hear’ – photographer Monica Holkova

An Edinburgh College photography student is staging an exhibition of images she shot of Ukrainian rebel fighters and refugees while covering the conflict as part of her course.

Monika Holkova’s exhibition is a documentary of time spent in and around Donetsk last year to record the effects of the conflict on the people of Ukraine. During her spell with rebel fighters in the war-ravaged area, Monica herself came under fire from government troops.

The exhibition – Pochemu? – Russian for ‘why’ – launches this Friday at the Creative Exchange in Leith. It features 36 black-and-white images of Ukrainian refugees and rebels, showing how they are living through a period of turmoil.

Monika, originally from Slovakia, wanted to cover the events in Ukraine for her BA Professional Photography course project, so arranged to visit Russia and Ukraine over two trips in October and November. She visited a refugee camp in Russia where Ukrainian people were living after fleeing the conflict. She spent time with refugee families, hearing their stories and taking their photos.

She also spent a week in Donetsk with a group of humanitarian workers as part of an aid effort for residents. Monika travelled with the group as it went round the city to deliver food and supplies, capturing images as she went.

The noise of bombs falling outside the city formed the soundtrack to Monica’s time in Donetsk, a city in which some areas were decimated.

Monika said: “I don’t know if you can prepare yourself for what you see and hear. All the time we were in Ukraine you could hear the sound of bombing outside the city. Most of the time it was far away but one day we were in the supermarket and the bombs sounded much closer. Everyone stopped what they were doing to listen but then started shopping again right after. For the people that was normal. They just had to live with it as part of their daily lives.”

Monika also spent time with rebel fighters, and was with a group in a small village a couple of hours from Donetsk when they came under fire from army forces. Army snipers pinned them down for almost three hours, and the group was unable to move from a safe position behind a house. The village and the surrounding area were also being bombed throughout this time.

She said: “Ten minutes after arriving in the village the fighting started and we came under fire from snipers. The rebels and the army were shooting at each other and the group I was with couldn’t move. We were safe hiding behind a house but we couldn’t even move a few metres to get into the house. We could see tracer bullets flying past. It wasn’t scary as you just have to make yourself think logically, and we knew they couldn’t reach us.”

The trip had a profound effect on Monika, who says she was treated with immense kindness by refugees and rebels.

Monika said: “It was hard to listen to some of the stories. People had lost everything, including friends and family. Their homes were destroyed and they didn’t know when the fighting would end. The people didn’t understand why there needed to be a war and they just wanted it to end. One older woman I spoke to remembered the Second World War and thought she’d never have to live through something like that again. Sometimes hearing their stories was too much to bear so I just had to switch off and concentrate on the photos.”

Monika is keen to go back to Ukraine to continue her work and may head out over the next couple of months. And when she graduates she intends to become a war photographer.

“I’m really proud of the photos I took and I’m pleased to tell the stories of these people. When you hear about the people affected by war on the news you don’t always remember that for every statistic there are stories behind every single person, and it’s important to try and show this.”

Pochemu? is on at the Creative Exchange from Friday until March 27 at Creative Exchange, 29 Constitution Street, Leith. Admission is free.