list.co.uk/aroundtown Maryhill, 07818 824014. Weekend workshops (two days per course) in designing, creating and printing your own textiles, led by Yvonne Elliot and Marion Parola, the two young artists behind Bespoke Atelier. FREE Meditation – In a Nutshell Tue 24 Jan, 7–8.30pm. Inner Space Glasgow Meditation Centre, 277 High Street, 552 7446. A workshop on achieving inner well-being through meditation. Scottish Gaelic for Complete Beginners Wed 25 Jan, 7pm. £3 per session; £10 per year. Glasgow Gaelic School, 147 Berkeley Street, Partick, 632 0643. Informal language learning with tutors from Glasgow Gaelic School. You can then try out what you’ve learned at their regular social meet-ups and cultural events. FREE Family History Advice Thu 26 Jan, 2–4pm. Mitchell Library, North Street, 287 2999. Get started on tracing your family tree at these 30-minute help sessions. Booking essential.
EDINBURGH Activities & Events Public Astronomy Evening Fridays, 6.30–7.30pm & 8–9pm. £4 (£3). Royal Observatory Visitor Centre, Blackford Hill, 668 8404. Hear about the history of the Observatory, journey through the solar system, observe the skies (weather permitting) and touch a real piece of outer space. Booking essential. Theatre Tour Sat 7 Jan, 10.30am. £12.50 (£9.50). The Edinburgh Playhouse, 18-22 Greenside Place, 0844 847 1660. Go behind the scenes at the country’s largest purpose-built theatre. FREE Within These Walls Sun 8 Jan, 12–3.30pm. Holyrood Park, 652 8150. Walk the walls of Holyrood Park in the company of a Ranger, who will discuss the park’s history and use over the centuries. Ages 16+. Booking essential. Café Voices Fri 13 Jan, 7pm. £5. Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. In the middle of the month of Janus, the two-faced god who looks forward and back, storyteller Helen East celebrates the old and the new. FREE Bruncheon! Featuring The Sound of Muesli Sat 14 Jan, 11.30am–3pm. Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 30–36 Dalmeny Street, Leith, 555 7100. Brunch and live music. FREE Behind the Scenes at The Sleeping Beauty Sat 14 Jan, noon–1pm. National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, 0300 123 6789. After a backstage film, learn about the production from a talk, and meet one of the dancers from the current Scottish Ballet production of Sleeping Beauty (at the Festival Theatre Wed 11– Sat 14 Jan, see page 100 for review). FREE The most beautiful thing about this place is you Sat 14 Jan, part one 1–3pm and part two 4–6pm. Calton Hill, Waterloo Place, info.talbotrice@ed.ac.uk. Two part event from the Talbot Rice gallery, tying in with current exhibition Beholder. In part one (for which booking is essential), artist Anthony Schrag leads a ‘discursive walk’ from the gallery through the streets of Edinburgh, highlighting aspects of the city that relate to David Hume and discussing the nature of beauty. Part two is an open- air seminar led by a panel of ‘experts on beauty’, including a hairdresser, a mechanic, a poet, a personal trainer and some children. Includes hot chocolate and hot toddies.
✽✽ FREE Portrait Gallery Architecture Tours Sat 21 Jan,
2–2.45pm. Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street, 624 6560. Monthly tours of Sir Robert Rowand Anderson’s splendid building. Booking essential. FREE Hot Rocks Sun 22 Jan, 9am–noon. Holyrood Park, 652 8150. Arthur’s Seat is an extinct volcano, which is one of those factoids that’ll surely inspire an impressive special-effect shot in
some Scotland-set disaster movie someday. Explore the fascinating geological history of Edinburgh’s biggest hill on this walk. Ages 16+. Booking essential.
✽✽ FREE Café Ceilidh Mon 23 Jan, 2pm. Scottish Storytelling Centre,
43–45 High Street, 556 9579. Join Linten Adie and friends from the Scots Music Group for an informal, open afternoon of music and song. Song sheets are provided – just drop in. See feature, page 42, and panel, page 46. Part of Burnsfest.
✽✽ Portrait Gallery Salon: Alternative Burns Night! Thu 26
Jan, 6–8pm. £5 (£4). Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street, 624 6560. If the thought of watching a man delivering a monologue to offal doesn’t exactly raise your flag, take in an alternative Burns Night, featuring new perspectives on Burns’ life from David Purdie, secretary of the Burns Club and former MD, and Ian Campbell, professor of Eng Lit at the University of Edinburgh; Bani Bhattacharya singing Bengali adaptations by Tagore of Burns’ songs; and finally, a new work including song, music, sound and video by Haftor Medbøe (guitar), John Hails (electronics and video) and Amy Parker (text). See feature, page 42, and panel, page 46. Lothian Firewalk Fri 27 Jan, 6pm. £20 registration fee + £100 minimum sponsorship. Tusitala, 47 Buckstone Terrace, 848 0308. Winter can get pretty cold in Scotland, so you may want to consider warming up with a barefoot walk over 20 feet of red-hot wood embers at around 1236 degrees fahrenheit. Or you may be sane, in which case you should still sponsor someone else to do it.
✽✽ Guid Crack Club Fri 27 Jan, 7.30pm. £3 suggested donation. Waverley Bar, 1 St Mary’s Street, 557 1050. The regular storytelling club takes on Burns. Kati Waitzmann, Storytelling Fellow with Glasgow Museums, tells tales inspired by the Ayrshire poet. See feature, page 42, and panel, page 46. Part of Burnsfest.
✽✽ Burns in the City! Sat 28 Jan, 10.30–11.30am. £5 (£3). Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. Stories, songs, poems and laughter for all aged 5+ with Tim Porteous, kicking off a whole day of Burns-related fun at the Storytelling Centre. See feature, page 42, and panel, page 46. Part of Burnsfest.
✽✽ FREE Burns Songs & Music Sat 28 Jan, noon–1pm. Scottish
Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. Live music and song in the storytelling court as part of the centre’s flagship day of Burns-related fun. See feature, page 42, and panel, page 46. Part of Burnsfest.
✽✽ Rabbie as a Laddie Sat 28 Jan, 2–3pm. £5 (£3). Scottish Storytelling
Centre, 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. Storytelling and puppetry suitable for everyone aged 8+, all about the early life of one Rabbie Burns. See feature, page 42, and panel, page 46. Part of Burnsfest.
✽✽ Simply Burns Sat 28 Jan, 3–4.30pm. £6 (£4). Scottish
Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. An evening of music, song and verse, all inspired by the national bard, with tons of guest storytellers and readers. See feature, page 42, and panel, page 46. Part of Burnsfest.
Exhibitions ✽✽ FREE Design & Democracy Until Sun 19 Feb. Times vary
according to Parliament sessions, see scottish.parliament.uk for details. The Scottish Parliament, Horse Wynd, 0800 092 7500. Work by 16 new designers demonstrating how design can alter the ways in which we live.
✽✽ FREE 26 Treasures Project 2011 Until Sun 29 Jan. Daily
10am–5pm. National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, 0300 123 6789. See 26 objects from the museum paired with 26 selected writers who have written something inspired by them,
AroundTown
forming a trail through the galleries and through Scottish history. FREE Scottish Science on your Plate Thu 2 Feb–Sun 15 Apr, 10am–6pm. Royal Botanic Garden, Arboretum Place, 248 2909. Find out where the food on your plate comes from. Fairs & Markets FREE Out of the Blue Flea Market Sat 28 Jan, 10am–3pm. Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 30–36 Dalmeny Street, Leith, 555 7100. Bargain buys including furniture, clothes, music and more.
Sport FREE Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country Sat 7 Jan, 9am–3.30pm. Free to watch. Holyrood Park, 0191 272 7033. Watch some star runners racing around Edinburgh’s lovely scenery, in an event that will also be televised on the BBC. Cherry Bombers vs Leithal Weapons Sat 21 Jan, 2–4pm. £tbc. Meadowbank Sports Centre, 139 London Road, 661 5351. Two Edinburgh teams clash in this roller derby bout. FREE Rock’n’Roll Ping Pong with DJ Ding Dong Sun 29 Jan, 7.30pm. The Bongo Club, Moray House, 37 Holyrood Road, 558 7604. Free table tennis club with DJs providing the music and a sudden death tournament with cash prize.
Talks FREE Rome from Mount Aventine by JMW Turner Fri 6 Jan, 12.45pm. Scottish National Gallery, The Mound, 624 6200. Susanna Kerr discusses Turner’s love affair with Italy. FREE Artist’s Talk: Nick Evans Mon 9 Jan, 12.45–1.15pm. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art One, 75 Belford Road, 624 6200. The Glasgow- based artist talks about his sculptural practice. Light from the Early Universe Mon 9 Jan, 7.30–8.30pm. £3 (£1.50; children £1.50). Royal Observatory Visitor Centre, Blackford Hill, 668 8404. Vinod Arumugam travels back in time, studying light that has reached us from the farthest galaxies. FREE Cadell, Colour and Chic Tue 10 Jan, 12.45–1.30pm. Scottish National Gallery, The Mound, 624 6200. Art historian Elizabeth Cumming discusses the work of FCB Cadell. Edinburgh Forteans Tue 10 Jan, 7.30pm. £1. The Bongo Club, Moray House, 37 Holyrood Road, 558 7604. A talk on the Loch Ness Monster from Roland Watson. FREE Artachat Forum Wed 11 Jan, 6pm. Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh, South Bridge, 650 2210. A forum hosted by artist and radio presenter Rocca Gutteridge, as part of the Beholder exhibition. In order to stimulate discussion, participants are advised to bring along objects that they consider beautiful. Booking essential. FREE Portrait Gallery Insights: Out of the Shadow Thu 12 Jan, 6–6.30pm. Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street, 624 6200. Discussion on portraits of 19th-century women. FREE Kirsty Whiten: Artist Talk Sat 14 Jan, 2–3pm. Edinburgh Printmakers, 23 Union Street, 557 2479. Whiten talks about her artistic practice, her relationships with her models and the printmaking process. The Formation of Structure in the Universe Mon 16 Jan, 7.30–8.30pm. £3 (£1.50; children £1.50). Royal Observatory Visitor Centre, Blackford Hill, 668 8404. Alex Meade examines the origins of the Universe. FREE Facing the Nation: Reformation to Revolution Wed 18 Jan, 12.45–1.15pm. Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street, 624 6200. Senior Curator David Taylor discusses one of the new exhibitions. Café Art: Gustave Courbet Wed 18 Jan, 5.30pm. £8 (£5). Institut Français d’Ecosse, 13 Randolph Crescent, 225 5366. A talk (in French) on a new museum devoted to the artist.
✽✽ FREE The Missing: a National Collaboration Wed 18 Jan,
6–7pm. Scottish National Gallery, The Mound, 624 6200. Journalist Ruth Wishart chairs a discussion with artist Graham Fagen, who recently created a work in response to Andrew O’Hagan’s novel, The Missing, gallery director James Holloway and John Tiffany, who directed the recent NTS stage adaptation of the book. FREE Beyond the Greetings Card: Hendrick Avercamp’s Winter Landscapes Fri 20 Jan, 12.45–1.30pm. Scottish National Gallery, The Mound, 624 6200. Dr Patricia Andrew looks afresh at the work of 17th-century Dutch artist Hendrick Avercamp. FREE Alison Watt in Conversation Sat 21 Jan, noon. Ingleby Gallery, 15 Calton Road, 556 4441. Watt discusses her work with Colin Wiggins of the National Gallery in London. See review, page 106. FREE Sculptures Made by Dead Sculptors: Posthumous Casting Mon 23 Jan, 12.45–1.30pm. Scottish National Gallery, The Mound, 624 6200. A talk on the problematic nature of casting bronze sculptures after the death of the sculptor. Café Art: Aliénor d’Aquitaine, A Woman of Power? Mon 23 Jan, 5.30pm. £8 (£5). Institut Français d’Ecosse, 13 Randolph Crescent, 225 5366. Eleanor of Aquitaine was, by marriage, successively Queen of France and of England, and played a central part in the two countries’ relationship in the turbulent 12th century, but did this make her personally powerful? Patrick Landri discusses, in French. Surfing to the Stars Mon 23 Jan, 7.30–8.30pm. £3 (£1.50; children £1.50). Royal Observatory Visitor Centre, Blackford Hill, 668 8404. Dr Amy Tyndall tells of the pleasant life of an astronomer in the Canary Islands.
EVENTS CO-PROMOTION
SOFI'S BAR
Knitting Night - Every first Tuesday of the month in 2012. Singer Songwriter Evening - 5th January 7pm
Sofi’s Film night- German films every Monday in January at 8pm Bake Club-Tuesday 10th January Theme: Bite Sized
Next Clothes Swap- 25th January 2012 put the date in your calendar. This is the time to get rid of 2011 clothes and in with the 2012.
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5 Jan–2 Feb 2012 THE LIST 45