Forth Bridge Raid exhibition opens

The story of the first German air attacks to hit Britain, The Forth Bridge Raid, will be chronicled at a new exhibition which opened today at the Queensferry Museum.

The pop-up display features photographs, film footage, and eyewitness accounts of the deadly air raid, which saw German bomber planes attack three ships on the Firth of Forth – HMS Edinburgh, HMS Southampton and HMS Mohawk.

During the attack, passengers on the train crossing the Forth Bridge at the time could witness explosions over the waters. The raid left 24 men dead and 44 injured, and four German airmen were captured and taken as prisoners of war to Edinburgh Castle.

Councillor Richard Lewis, Culture and Sport Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “The Forth Bridge Raid was a dark moment in Queensferry’s history. It also struck a chord across the country and people felt the impact of the war in Britain as the losses were reported. It’s important this story isn’t forgotten and The Forth Bridge Raid exhibition is a reminder to those local people who know about the events that took place, and an interactive way to introduce the history of WW2 in Scotland to younger generations.

“Queensferry Museum is free to enter and it’s great to be able to work with local people and organisations like Queensferry Tours to chronicle the history and customs of the local area. We are also trialling a small display called War Time Queensferry in the local library, and should these partnerships prove a hit with visitors we will look at introducing more pop-up exhibitions.”The display has been curated by Mark Taylor from Queensferry Tours, which provides historic walking tours through the old Royal Burgh town of Queensferry. Mark was struck by how little isknown and has been told about the Forth Bridge air raid. He said: “This pop-up exhibition will be displayed in Queensferry Museum and I am delighted that the Council’s Museums Service has allowed me to tell the story of the Forth Bridge Raid. For such a landmark event at the beginning of WW2 it seems to me a story that merits re-telling. It was the first time Spitfires were ever used in combat – an important event that should not be forgotten and it all happened here, above our Forth Bridge.”

Edward Thomson, an eye witness who was 10-years-old and travelling by train over the Forth Bridge at the time, said: “I was a passenger on the Dundee section of an Edinburgh to Aberdeen train which had just entered the first arch at the southern end of the bridge. The next stop was to be Leuchars Junction. I was in the corridor with an older boy called Jack Thomas from Edinburgh. We were looking downstream to the right of the carriage and were trying to identify some of the fleet at anchor below the bridge. Almost simultaneously there was a giant waterspout as high as the bridge alongside one of the capital ships and a barge tied up alongside; it seemed to fly up in the air! The German bombers were in plain sight only a short distance away flying parallel to the bridge.”

The exhibition, The Forth Bridge Raid, will be on display until 1 June 2015. The Queensferry Museum is free to enter and open Thursday through to Monday (closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays).

Photographs: Queensferry Museum

Reminder: Good Food for ALL tomorrow!

Pilton Community Health Project’s Good Food For ALL event is tomorrow at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre from 9.30 – 2.30. Don’t miss it!

PCHP_FOODPOV_EVENT_WEB_0

New exhibitions at North Edinburgh Arts

Please join us to celebrate the opening of two very creative and imaginative exhibitions here at North Edinburgh Arts.

Imagination Mill
Opens Tuesday 11 November, 5.30-7.30pm

Imagination Mill is a collection of work by a group of creatives who met serendipitously through attending Edinburgh College of Art. All are recent graduates or current postgraduates. Here, in the gallery of North Edinburgh Arts, you are invited to explore these works of fictional vision and be inspired to use your own, individual imagination mill.

Everybody kens Everybody
Opens Wednesday 12 November, 4.30pm

A showcase of documentary style photographs taken of local people from Muirhouse over a period of 3-4 years. Borja Prada’s discerning portrayal is a celebration of the diverse community that live in the area.

Exposure: powerful images of mental health

Mental health issues have inspired a group of young people to produce a photography exhibition that will feature in a national festival next week.

Exposure is the first photographic event by the City of Edinburgh Council’s Positive Steps for Young People (PS4YP), and will be a highlight of the Scottish Mental Health and Arts Film Festival.

Basing their pictures on the festival’s theme of “power”, the young people at PS4YP have taken the lead and chosen 30 images that reflect their personal experience of living with mental health issues.

The images aim to stimulate thinking around stigma and discrimination, particularly in relation to people who experience anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, depression and social isolation.

Exposure will run from Monday (6 October) until Friday next week at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall in Dalmeny Street from 10am – 5pm– and entry is free.

Councillor Ricky Henderson, Health, Social Care and Housing Convener, said: “This is an exciting project for the people who are involved in the Positive Steps service, and a fantastic opportunity for them to show off their skills. It is a vital service that helps to break down the stigma attached to mental health, which can affect any one of us at some point in our lives.

“We are committed to delivering high quality care and support to the many people who will be affected by mental illness at some point in their lives.”

PS4YP provides personalised and supported accommodation in a safe setting to people with mental health issues aged between 16 and 25.

North Edinburgh Arts launches Autumn programme

Summer’s almost over, but cheer up – North Edinburgh Arts have just launched their exciting Autumn programme!

The holidays are over but the fun doesn’t have to be!

North Edinburgh Arts can’t wait to see you all back again to enjoy our packed Autumn programme.

Activities for Children

Join Alice in Zoo Arts every Wednesday from 4.00 – 5.30pm. These visual art sessions are for local young artists (9-14 years) who would like to be inspired, improve their creative skills and get involved with exciting visual art projects that run on a 2-4 week basis. Sessions are 50p per child which includes a healthy snack. Follow them onFacebook here.

Thursday and Saturday mornings see the return of Create, our very popular creative, messy play project for 0-5 year olds and their parents/carers. The sessions demonstrate resourceful and inspiring ways to actively learn with your wee ones. These drop-in sessions run from 10am -12noon and are are 50p per child per session. ‘Like’ them on Facebook here.

Eco Kidz is back with more ideas to turn recylcing into crafty, sellable items. Learn a variety of skills in these fun sessions including art, design, craft, marketing and retailing. The group will eventually go on to sell items made in these weekly sessions. Eco-Kidz is on Friday, 1.45 – 3.15pm and all sessions are free. ‘Like’ them on Facebook here.

If you’re looking for a way to burn off some energy and get creative on a Saturday morning, NEA has everything you need . Along with our Create sessions, we also runart and danceworkshops for children aged 5-12 years. Between 10am – 12noon, the two age groups (5-8 and 9-12years) alternate between high energy dance sessions and colourful art and craft workshops. A healthy snack is provided half way through and it only costs 50p. Arrive in plenty of time as these popular drop in sessions are always busy!

Programme for Adults

The North Edinburgh Theatre Project is working on a very exciting project, 1d Tenement Opera project for production in January 2015 and you are very welcome to join.

Join in if you are interested in singing, dancing, making costumes, lighting & sound, making sets, drawing and designing, writing for the blog and doing stories, photography, social history, making sure the people of North Edinbrugh tell the stories… and spreading more whispers and rumours about the project.

If you are interested in some of the activities and you would like to find out more, please contact box office on 0131 315 2151.

United We Stand, 17^th October, 7.30pm
Townsend Productions presents a powerful new play by Neil Gore based on the true story of one of the most turbulent industrial battles – the 1972 Builders’ Strike.
Tickets: £8, £5 concession, £3.00 good neighbours.
townsendproductions.org.uk

The Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival
24^th October, 7.00 – 8.00pm
The SMHAFF is one of Scotland’s most diverse cultural events. North Edinburgh Timebank Temptation singers showcase the transforming power of communal singing in their performance of various rock, folk, pop and world music titled ‘Lean on Me’.
Tickets are free. Booking is advised.
www.mhfestival.com

Lockerbie: Lost Voices, 31^st October, 7.30pm
Lee Geshuny’s new play follows six passengers onto Pam Am Flight 103 destroyed over Lockerbie by a bomb in 1988. Tribute to those who tried to uncover the truth about the tragedy.
Tickets: £8, £5 concession, £3.50 good neighbours.
www.sacc.org.uk/articles/2013/lockerbie-lost-voices

Luminate Festival 1^st – 31^st october
If Luminate has one message, it’s that creativity has no age. Luminate includes new work, collaborations and international projects specially planned and programmed for the festival, as well as independently-run projects led by a wide range of cultural and community organisations.
www.luminatescotland.org

To book tickets for any of the above events, call box office on 0131 315 2151 or emailadmin@northedinburgharts.co.uk.

Pop-In Cafe

Our Pop-In Cafe is open Monday – Friday, 10am – 2pm and Saturday 10am – 12noon. We use ingredients grown in our very own garden and Michele cooks up delicious specials every day to make lunch time a real treat. We also serve delicous freshly ground coffee and home made cakes everyday. See full menu here.

NEA Garden

The NEA garden run Tuesday afternoon drop-in sessions, 1-5pm for families and 16+ years (children must be accompanied). Learn how to grow your own vegetables, herbs and other useful gardening skills in these free sessions run by Valla, outr community gardener. If you would like to be involved in the garden outside of these sessons, please contact Valla directly at northedinburghgrows@gmail.com. Keep up to date on their blog here.

Full Autumn Programme here

Say what you see: Surveillance Gallery opens on Saturday

Take to the Streets at North Edinburgh Arts!

Surveillance Gallery is an exciting new exhibition space opening in Muirhouse. The outdoor gallery will occupy the public walkway outside North Edinburgh Arts and will exhibit a range of work from artists with connections to North Edinburgh – from local art groups to established photographers.

The works are to be pasted and painted directly onto the exterior walls, giving local artists a platform to showcase their work in a unique space. The Grand Opening is 1pm on Saturday 16th August.

Fringe first for North Edinburgh

The Fringe is back, with it’s eclectic mix of the good, the bad and the downright awful. Last year’s event offered enthusiasts no less than 45,464 performances of 2,871 shows, making it the largest ever arts festival in the world. This year’s could be even bigger – aficionados really are spoiled for choice.

It’s always a bit of a gamble, of course: you pay your money, you take your chances – but art-lovers in North Edinburgh have landed a major cultural coup. Internationally renowned artist Pierre Toblerone is exhibiting his latest collection on the streets of North Edinburgh – for free!

Toblerone is known by some as the French Banksy, and the unconventional young artist from the Left Bank has delighted critics with his bold use of everyday household items in major art installations. Never far from controversy, Toblerone – who changed his name in 2010 in a one-man protest against the exploitation of cocoa beans – steadfastly refuses to exhibit at major galleries and museums but instead brings his work ‘close to the people’.

Toblerone famously refuses to speak to the media – the reclusive artist now only communicates through the medium of artistic expression following some particularly harsh reviews – but his agent said: “Pierre believes that art has the power to move and that all art – if it is honest – must provoke and challenge. These major new works do all of these things. They provoke, they challenge – and I’m sure I saw one of them moving. And even if I didn’t, they will be moving soon”.

“The first creation The Way to the Sea (above) demonstrates the eternal battle of the elements, in this case fire and water, while Armageddon (top) portrays the futility of war. Pierre believes that this is his most complete exhibition to date: it has been nearly four years in the making but Toblerone lovers will appreciate the passion and attention to detail that goes into Pierre’s work.”

Guardian arts correspondent Guy Hyperbole gushed: “Toblerone is an artist very much in demand, and if he chose to exhibit at, say, The Tate Modern, the demand for tickets would be insatiable – art lovers just can’t get enough Toblerone. This latest exhibition by the enfant terrible of the arts movement has been much-anticipated and it was certainly worth the wait. Simply put, it is so powerful one feels almost violated.

“Art lovers simply must see this exciting exhibition before it moves on – it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get close to some truly inspirational work. The juxtapositions are incredibly brave and these installations are Pierre’s message to the world. Just what that message actually is is open to a bewildering range of interpretations, but if you see only one exhibition during the Festival, I urge you to see this – you will never experience primitive urban art in quite the same way again.”

Don’t miss it!

Pierre Toblerone: Les matresses d’amour. Free

North Edinburgh Arts to stage Alan Lennon exhibition to open

Don’t miss ‘Embodiment’, local artist Alan Lennon’s latest exhibition which opens at North Edinburgh Arts next week.

“Continually fascinated and inspired by the human form and relationships – people connecting or not connecting. Many paintings portray the juxtaposition of a strong exterior presence but unmasking the soft vulnerability beneath”

The exhibition runs until 26 June – and it’s free.

Edinburgh College students set to Glow!

Edinburgh College’s dazzling creative students are about to light up the city with a two-month celebration of their luminous skills!

The Let’s Glow festival will give Edinburgh the chance to enjoy performances and exhibitions from students covering everything from music, theatre and dance to photography, sculpture, illustration and much more.

The programme (see below) shines a beaming light on the inspirational talent of the Edinburgh College students and is a glowing testimony to the outstanding work they have accomplished this year.

Let’s Glow runs from 15 May to 18 July, with events taking place at venues across Edinburgh and some students taking their work down to exhibit in London.

let’s glow programme

See for yourself – ‘Hidden Art’ exhibition on show in Stockbridge

A unique exhibition of art and photography by groups whose members are blind or partially sighted opens in Stockbridge this Saturday [August 31]. The ‘Hidden Art’ exhibition can be seen at the Patriothall Gallery off Hamilton Place until 8 September.

“We aim to show people that art is possible for all to enjoy even if they are visually impaired,” said Mark Andrew Powell of the city’s Patriothall Gallery. “We are delighted to give these two groups the chance to display their creative talents to a wider audience.

“The theme of the exhibition, ‘Hidden Art’, has been interpreted by the participants in different ways. The photographic group has documented unseen or overlooked artworks around Edinburgh, things that are tucked away where nobody sees them or overlooked because they are so familiar. Beside each photograph we will have a tactile image of it on raised paper so that everybody, whether they have sight or not, can enjoy the photos.

“The art group’s members have a different take on the theme. Each has made a tile containing both tactile and visual elements which have been compiled into a single larger composition. In addition, their individual paintings and sculptures, seen from their own unique perception of a hidden world, will be displayed around the walls of the main gallery.”

Both groups regularly meet at the Edinburgh headquarters of sight loss charity RNIB Scotland to create and discuss their work, with some members participating in both.

Local artist Fiona Powell from Stockbridge, who has the sight loss condition retinitis pigmentosa, said: “As we all have sight loss of varying degrees, we rely on our weekly meetings to pursue our love of art with help from dedicated volunteers. We work with paint, clay, ‘sticky strings’, felt, silk, swell paper and photography. Though both groups are supported by RNIB Scotland, we are self-funded and it is up to us to raise money for any exhibitions that we put on.

“We want to promote awareness and confidence among visually impaired people that they have the ability to produce art. This exhibition gives an opportunity for the wider community to realise how much visually impaired people are capable of achieving.”

Alan McIntyre from Gorgie, who also has retinitis pigmentosa, said: “The photographic group has given me many hours of fun within a supportive and creative environment. It has enabled me to really learn more about how to take photographs. For me, being visually impaired means that I don’t need to follow the convention of having perfectly focused images.
I can have the freedom to experiment because what I see is far from perfect.”

The ‘Hidden Art’ exhibition is being sponsored by Capital Credit Union, which is also based in Stockbridge. A spokesperson said: “This is such a worthy cause showcasing the work of these very talented groups. We are hoping to attract visitors from all over to witness the creative gift and artistic flair projected in their art.”

To complement the ‘Hidden Art’ exhibition, Dr David Feeney, manager of Visual Impairment Scotland at Edinburgh University, and Seattle-based filmmaker Daniel Thornton have produced a short video following the photographic group around the city as they took photos, and the twelve-minute film will run throughout the exhibition.

As well as this, Dr Feeney has used computer software called Sight-Sim which filters the photos by mimicking different sight loss conditions to show how they appear to the blind and partially sighted photographers who took them.

The exhibition is being held in Patriothall Gallery in Hamilton Place,
Stockbridge, Edinburgh from 12 noon to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday, and
then at the same times from next Thursday until Sunday [September 8].