Tag: Waverley Mall

Fruitmarket Gallery set to pop up at Waverley Mall

Waverley Mall Edinburgh is thrilled to announce the latest addition to the Centre as The Fruitmarket Gallery signs up to move in from mid-September 2019.

The move comes as plans to extensively renovate and extend The Fruitmarket Gallery on Market Street are approved, resulting in the temporary closure of the Gallery while works are completed.

Waverley Mall will become the temporary home to The Fruitmarket Gallery and ‘Bookmarket’ – an independent, award-winning bookshop run by the Gallery. With an admiration for good books at its core and a mission to help customers find beautiful, useful, and unique books, the Bookmarket pop up will be accessed via Williams and Johnson Coffee Co. just off Princes Street at the top of Waverley Steps.

It will offer expertly selected niche titles, hard-to-find arts resource texts, artist’s books, and specialist books on typography, art theory, design, architecture, and fashion, plus a curated selection of design-led products and cards from all around the world.

Waverley Mall is excited to work with The Fruitmarket Gallery, welcoming its loyal customers and introducing some new ones to the Gallery in its new home. Gallery staff will also enjoy new office space at the Centre, during this year of transition, with workshops, talks and performances happening in the space, as well as a series of pop-up exhibitions.

The first of these will be the culmination of 6 weeks of workshops on zine making by Fresh Fruit, the Fruitmarket’s peer led group of young people aged 16-25 years. Zines are quick and cheap to produce and have a radical underground history where anything goes and different voices can be heard. The results can be seen at Bookmarket from Saturday 26 October.

The addition of Bookmarket to Waverley Mall is truly reflective of the Centre’s vision for the mall as a hub of music, arts and culture in the heart of Edinburgh. The aspirations of Moorgarth Group, who own the Centre, include the offering of products, services and experiences that are surprising and unexpected and very much not what you’d find on the average high street.

The busy city-centre shopping mall has recently enjoyed a series of new store openings including Mademoiselle Macaron – an Edinburgh-based French patisserie and Clicks and Mortar – a new concept collaboration between Amazon, Enterprise Nation, Square and Direct Line for Business, who together create a space through which small, independent businesses can trade.

Daryll Bunce, Director of New Revenue Solutions, Moorgarth Group Ltd. says: “The addition of this Edinburgh institution, The Fruitmarket Gallery to Waverley Mall is fantastic news for us as they provide a very current and relevant offering to our customers, which ties in perfectly with the overall vision we are striving for.

“This journey started 12 months ago with the opening of Williams & Johnson – Leith’s best coffee roaster in an amazing new store on the upper level of Waverley. This has become a real destination for great coffee in the city centre and following the success of this, we have established a brand new space for the Fruitmarket Gallery which continues to expand our offering and adds a whole new dimension to the mall.”

Fiona Bradley, Director of The Fruitmarket Gallery said: “We jumped at the opportunity to work with our neighbours Waverley Mall, embracing the chance to meet new audiences in this busy part of Edinburgh.

“It is great to be able to keep our much-loved independent bookshop open, and to have a space for our Engagement team to run events and workshops during our closure.”

Waverley Sessions: Free music this weekend at Waverley Mall

Waverley Mall Edinburgh is continuing its successful partnership with Edinburgh based not-for-profit organisation, The Youth Radio Network with another edition of their popular monthly music showcase ‘The Waverley Sessions’.

The next instalment of this lively event, which has seen dozens of musicians of all ages, musical genres and social backgrounds take to the Centre’s stage since April, is set to take place this Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th August.

The event will kick off at 10am on Saturday on Waverley Mall’s stage and will be hosted by Keiran Harvey and the team of volunteers from The Youth Radio Network until 6pm on the Sunday evening.

This weekend’s showcase will see 18 talented acts taking to the stage across the weekend and will include a combination of solo artists, duos, groups and even a comedian – in collaboration with The Fringe Festival.

Acts taking to the stage this weekend include 20 year old Dylan Paterson from The Scottish Borders, Singer/ Songwriter Conall Adam from Dunfirmline, Edinburgh born and bred Ciara McDonald, London based comedian Joe Baines, 18 year old Amy Donald from Edinburgh, 20 year old Lisa Scotland from Fife, Glasgow based Jen Athan, 20 year old Bronwyn Riani from Newcastle Upon Tyne, 14 year old Ethan Gibb from Livingston, three-piece Edinburgh based band Einstein’s Wardrobe, girl duo ‘In The Mix’ and ‘Let The Bird Out’.  The youngest performer to step up to the mic this weekend is returning act, 9-year-old Kara from Glenmavis, who will close Sunday’s show.

Waverley Mall has been working in collaboration with The Youth Radio Network on The Waverley Sessions since April this year, following two successful events hosted by The Youth Radio Network in December last year.

The Youth Radio Network’s vision is to empower, teach and entertain young people, aged 13 to 25 years, through the power of music and digital technology, opening doors to the broadcast industries, and to become more employable helping them to get the best start in life.

Their role includes teaching young people the ropes of the broadcast industry and helping to prepare them for employment through CV preparation, mock interviews and confidence building.

Through their work with Waverley Mall they are empowering young people – giving them opportunities skills and equipment as well as hands on experience in a real life setting for a future in the music / broadcast industry. By providing a platform, to perform, Waverley Mall is building on this opportunity with the chance to build personal confidence in performing in public.

Finally, The Youth Radio Network seeks to entertain their audience through music.

This edition of The Waverley Sessions (the second this month) is set to be a fantastic celebration of talent from Scotland and beyond and build on Waverley Mall’s aspirations to deliver products and experiences that are Scottish to the core.

The event offers the opportunity for Fringe-goers to enjoy some FREE live entertainment in Waverley Mall’s food court across final weekend of the Fringe Festival. 

Jacquelyn Stewart, General Manager, Waverley Mall says: “We’re incredibly proud of the success of The Waverley Sessions and our partnership with the Youth Radio Network. It is so rewarding to see young people gaining experience and confidence and watch them grow and develop as musicians.

“The team at The Youth Radio Network are all young volunteers themselves, so to see how they pull together to make these events run smoothly, under Keiran’s enthusiastic and professional management is truly inspiring.” 

Keiran Harvey, CEO, The Youth Radio Network says: “The Youth Radio Network is incredibly privileged to be such a big part of this amazing event. The Waverley Sessions truly does give young and upcoming musicians and bands from right across Scotland a platform to showcase their talent to the world! 

“Every month we’re amazed by the level of talent that we see. We would like to thank Waverley Mall for their continued support and also to all our amazing volunteers and staff for all their hard work and dedication at the sessions.

“We look forward to continuing to showcase Scotland’s amazing talent in partnership with Waverley Mall and we would urge all musicians or bands, whether you are just starting up or have done a few gigs, to get involved. We are here to support if you need it! As the moto goes, Teach, Empower and Entertain!”