🪩 Edinburgh Culture Minute: 26 Feb - 4 March 2025
Creative Mornings returns, City Art Centre Late, new group exhibition at Collective + a series of free workshops for creatives about responsible AI adoption
Welcome to the 79th weekly edition of the Culture Minute: a round-up of Edinburgh’s local creative news, events, jobs and opportunities.
As always, if I’ve missed anything please get in touch.
The most-viewed links from the last Edinburgh Culture Minute:
- 🎪 Fringe By The Sea line-up announced.
- 🎨 New studio spaces at Wasps’ Riverside House in Gorgie.
- 🎬 Action! Refurb begins at the Filmhouse.
News:
🖼️ City Art Centre Late: To coincide with the end of the ‘POP LIFE’ exhibition, the City Art Centre on Market Street is hosting an evening of live performances on Friday 7 March. Playing live: Calvin Z Laing, Len Goetzee, Davide Bugarin & Angel Cohn Castle, and Michelle Hannah. - It’s free but booking is essential.
📸 It’s the return of the popular Creative Mornings Edinburgh series on Friday. Award-winning photographer Andrea Thomson is the speaker at Stills on Cockburn Street between 9am and 11am. - Free tickets are here.
Andrea’s journey with photography began at the age of seven when she first picked up her dad’s Polaroid OneStep. She’s been taking pictures ever since. Her work has been featured in Vogue, The Times, and The Guardian, and she is a three-time recipient of the Portrait of Britain Award.
🛜 A series of ‘responsible AI adoption’ workshops tailored for creatives at different stages of their careers begins next month. It’s at the Edinburgh Futures Institute and each session is free. But you must register by 5 March. Pick the link that matches your current situation:
- 26th March: Freelancers.
- 2nd April: Students and early career practitioners.
- 9th April: In-house professionals (including those working in creative agencies, studios, and teams).
- 16th April: Creative managers and leaders.
🌸 From AI to croft bathing; how about this for a gear-change:
📝 On Saturday, Leith Community Croft (at Leith Links) is hosting the ‘Dear Earth’ writing and wellbeing workshop. - More details here.
🍿 This week’s film screenings around town: A slow film festival from CinemaAttic, ‘Thelma’ is showing at Cramond Cinema Movie Club, there’s the Scottish premiere of ‘Devi’, a multi-award winning documentary about the life of Devi Khadka and the Usher Hall hosts live music from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra to accompany a screening of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’. - It’s all in this week’s edition of the Cinetopia newsletter.
📆 There are many more local creative events to get involved with in the latest Good Egg Project newsletter, including Shore Poets at the Waverley Bar on Thursday.
🎭 What's on Edinburgh's stages this week?
Here’s All Edinburgh Theatre’s Thom Dibdin:
A relatively sedate week on the stages this one, with only four productions of note - although they do include the great Toyah as guest star at the Playhouse.
First though, it is a relief to see a play at the Traverse for more than a two nights outside August. Glad that audiences have remembered the way to its front door for Irish company Fishamble's Heaven (ends Sat: tickets) which is returns only.
The students of the EUTC are staging Road at the Bedlam (ends Sat: tickets), Jim Cartwright’s powerful snapshot of life in northern England and a searing indictment of Thatcher’s England, where jobs and hope are scarce. (As scarce as heat in the theatre: wrap up warm!)
And so to Toyah Wilcox, who is the guest star in the Edinburgh leg of NOW: That's What I Call A Musical at the Playhouse (ends Sat: tickets). Craig Revel Horwood choreographs and directs: the former with panache, the latter with less pace that might be hoped for. Still, a great night out of 80s nostalgia!
And finally, opera fans have a bona-fide big treat at the Festival Theatre with Scottish Opera's The Makropulos Affair (Thurs, Sat: tickets). This award wining production of Janáček’s "mature masterpiece" looks sumptuous in its telling of a diva given an elixir to live over three centuries.
And that's all. For future weeks and more detail, do check Æ's various listings pages, all linked here.
📌 Edinburgh Culture Minute Community Noticeboard:
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📌 THURSDAY: “As we re-open for 2025, join us at Collective for the launch of Jerwood Survey III on Thursday 27 February, 6–8pm. This group exhibition presents new commissions by 10 of the most outstanding early-career artists making work in the UK today, and comes to Scotland for the first time at Collective. The exhibition preview is free to attend and refreshments will be served. Jerwood Survey III will run until 4 May 2025.” - Thanks to the Collective team for sharing this.
📌 THURS + FRIDAY: “For two days only, The Love Tank joins forces with The University of Edinburgh's Centre for Biomedicine, Self and Society for a one-off Love Hub special in Edinburgh. Six FREE events on themes that include activism, mutual-aid, care, performance, research, disability justice, abortion justice, and so much more. Events will take place at Pleasance Cabaret Bar, and Lighthouse - Edinburgh’s Radical Bookshop.” - Thanks to Miriam Brand-Spencer, University of Edinburgh, for sharing this.
📌 FRIDAY: “First Fridays at Boro now feature ‘Pick & Mix’ our album feature / listening party where we play a selection of albums chosen by you. Given our first session will take place on 7th March, the eve of #internatioanlwomensday and the recent passing of the legendary Roberta Flack we’re going with a female soul theme. Make your submissions via our instagram or email us yo@boro-edinburgh.com” - Thanks to Rob Swain for sharing this.
📌 “Save the date! The Portobello Book Festival organising committee has already been busy planning this year’s festival and we will have a fantastic line-up for you! So save the dates – this year’s festival will run from Friday 3rd October to Sunday 5th October.” - Thanks to a subscriber for sharing this.
📌 “DOCo, Edinburgh’s documentary community, invites you to a special work-in-progress screening of About Grief, a documentary by Gauri Sharma, on 5th March 2025 at 7 PM at Outhouse Bar, Edinburgh. This intimate film follows Zenab, a young painter struggling to reclaim her artistic passion after the loss of her mentor. The evening will also feature a short film by Gauri, a screening of Rupture, and a chance to participate in the DOCMA film game—come be part of the creative process!” - Thanks to DOCo for sharing this.
📌 “The 2025 Pomegranates Festival programme is out now. The Festival (Fri 25 to 30 April) celebrates Scottish traditional dance alongside world traditional dance practised by New Scots and cultural migrant communities across Scotland. It also explores the links between traditional dance and live music, film, fashion, poetry, art and heritage craft. This year's theme is masks and programme highlights include the premiere of Hidden Faces choreographed by hip hop dance theatre artist Jonzi D; not for glory - a rebellious unraveling of traditional dance and music by Jack Anderson and Charlotte Mclean in collaboration with Malin Lewis; an exhibition of Venetian Carnival masks by Lorraine Pritchard; walking tours of Edinburgh; ceilidhs; discussions, screen dance and more...” - Thanks to the Pomegranates Festival team for sharing this.
📌 “Hosted by The Clarsach Society, the much-anticipated Edinburgh International Harp Festival returns to George Watson’s College from the 11th to 15th April 2025 for a spellbinding series of concerts showcasing world-renowned harpists, emerging talents, collaborations, and ensembles, as well as a full selection of courses and workshops designed to foster learning in a warm and inclusive environment.” - Thanks to the organisers for sharing this.
📌 “A cosy evening of acoustic music & poetry at August 21 on 13th March. 4 incredible performances from Edinburgh locals - 2 acoustic sets & 2 poets. Plus the chance to meet wonderful new people :) Tickets are £10 & include a slice of cake! (VG & GF options too).” - Thanks to Orémi for sharing this.