Forth Bridges Festival
Scrapyard Manifesto
Nonna’s Kitchen reopens on Friday
Postcards for Sick Kids 2014
Police Box for sale
The Forth Bridges Festival took place at the beginning of September to mark the 50th anniversary of the Forth Bridge being opened. Now the organisers want to know what you thought of the festivities…
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Scrapyard Manifesto is the latest theatrical challenge, aiming to harness some of the current political energy, engagement and discussion happening around Scotland. They have invited theatre artists of all disciplines to come together to make one off ‘scraps’ of political theatre.
They say:
“It is an exciting time for politics in Scotland- what does that mean for theatre?
Scrapyard Manifesto is designed to be a place for artists to take risks and experiment. Over 20 theatre artists are taking over Assembly Roxy for three days in a political theatre adventure. Participants are given the freedom to play and experiment to create short pieces of theatre which challenge and stimulate debate.
A public performance of the work created will take place on the 11th October at 8pm at the Assembly Roxy.
Scrapyard is a place where artists come together and explore new ways of making theatre without being restricted by the necessity to make a finished piece of work. It aims to set up an environment where people are encouraged to collaborate and take risks. Artists are split into four teams, given a common starting theme and challenged to make an innovative and unique piece of theatre.
Scrapyard is organised by Edinburgh based artists, director Caitlin Skinner (Sanitise (Scotsman Fringe First winner 2014), Artistic Director of Village Pub Theatre, Associate Artist with Strange Theatre: Goddess, Mother a la Carte), performer Melanie Jordan (Sanitise, Associate Artist with Plutot La Vie, TORN, Clown Cabaret), producer Lianne Whitelaw (Sanitise) and writer Hana Mackechnie.
This is the third Scrapyard following on from successful projects at the Traverse in April 2013 and as part of manipulate 2014. “
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Big news for you Edinburgh foodies! The lovely people at Nonna’s Kitchen are back from their holidays and will reopen the restaurant in Morningside on Friday. Book your table now.
And just in case you need to know they already have their Christmas and New Year menus up on their site to tantalise your tastebuds. Click here.
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The Sick Kids Friends Foundation (SKFF) is inviting art lovers to discover a unique exhibition where a number of specially commissioned artworks by some of Scotland’s most renowned artists will be sold to raise funds for the children’s charity.
The Postcards for Sick Kids 2014 ‘Small Pictures for Big Projects’ event will exhibit over 100 works of art generously donated by more than 70 distinguished artists and painters from across Scotland and beyond.
Works will be shown at the prestigious Lyon & Turnbull auction house, Edinburgh between Thursday, 6 November and Saturday, 8 November.
Each postcard sized masterpiece will hang anonymously, with the identity of the artist only revealed upon purchase of the postcard. For just £500, attendees will have the opportunity to own one of these truly unique pieces from contributors such as David Michie, Donald Provan, Helga Chart and Jack Knox.
All proceeds will be donated to the Foundation’s Artists in Residence programme at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (RHSC) in Edinburgh.
This programme uses art to enrich the hospital environment and promote sick children’s recovery. SKFF fund the provision of art, music and drama therapy and art works around the hospital and have helped employ three long term art residencies within the RHSC, as well as short term creative writer and illustrator posts.
Harnessing the inspiration and strength that art can deliver for children and their families, Artists in Residence is now a comfort to thousands of patients and will be transferred to the new RHSC when it opens in 2017.
Since its launch in 1999, Postcards for Sick Kids exhibitions have raised more than £250,000 in support of the Foundation’s work at the RHSC. The most recent display held in 2012 gathered an impressive £46,500, a target which organisers are hoping to surpass at this year’s event to help further expand the art therapy initiative.
One mother, whose son Noah received treatment at the RHSC following diagnosis of cancer of the soft-tissues behind the eye, has spoken of the benefits the project brings to young patients and their families.
Brenda Duncan said: “At the Sick Kids, children are often stuck in bed for days, weeks even. Their world has been turned upside down and filled with new emotions, fears and insecurities.
“With nothing much to do, stuck in that bed, surely writing and drawing would be a positive way to organise thoughts without really realising it. The encouragement we, as a family, have received from the Artists in Residence has certainly given us confidence in our ideas and abilities.”
Maureen Harrison, chief executive of SKFF, said: “We’re very excited to unveil Postcards for Sick Kids 2014. We’ve been overwhelmed by the response from so many gifted artists who have produced some beautiful pieces for the exhibition.
“Small Pictures for Big Projects is all about people buying an original work of art while helping us fund vital initiatives which help make thousands of sick children feel better.
“The event would not be possible without the help of our corporate partner Lindsays and we are also grateful to Investec, Drambuie, Lyon and Turnbull and Fastframe for their support.”
Alasdair Cummings, Managing Partner at Lindsays, said: “As long term supporters of the SKFF, we’re delighted to be involved in this exclusive event. I am sure that visitors to the exhibition will have a wonderful time as they help the Foundation continue to provide a vital artistic outlet for patients of the RHSC.”
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One of the police boxes which was sold in 2012 has come up for sale again, although we are not sure that anything was done with it by the buyer. The one up for sale is in Drumsheugh Place. (curiously we do not have a photo of it!)
Now, the price is an amazing… £15-20,000 and the details are on the auction site here. There are also various others being sold by the Scottish Police Authority in cooperation with the City of Edinburgh Council and you can read more about those here.
We have a storyboard of photos of the police boxes we have spotted around town. You can see that here. (And you can add your own photos, thoughts or videos to the storyboard of course!)
Otherwise we have various pages here about the boxes we have spotted around town. Which one do you like?
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
