Thursday in Edinburgh – What’s On Today

Bubble Day: North Edinburgh Arts has been appointed by Urban Union to develop an arts strategy for the regeneration project at Pennywell. Come along to this creative thinking day and have your say! 12 noon-4pm, Community Shop, Pennywell Road. Tea and cakes provided! Contact North Edinburgh Arts for more information.

Live Music Now Netherlands: Duo Ivoire. As part of an ongoing Live Music Now exchange programme Duo Ivoire, featuring Joukeline Sizoo on harp and Sophie Gourlet on flute, present a programme of French music by Faure and Francaix, along with the Sonata for flute and harp by Italian film composer Nino Rota. 6-6.30pm, National Gallery of Scotland, The Mound.  Free and unticketed.

Books in Focus: Small Scottish Presses. The NGS’s series of Books in Focus sessions looks at artists’ books held in the special collections of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.  This session will focus on publications produced by small 20th century Scottish presses, including artists’ books published by Helen Douglas’ and Telfer Stokes’ Weproductions, the Moschatel Press and the Morning Star Press.  11.30am-12.30pm, Reading Room, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art TWO, Belford Road. Limited places: please book by calling 0131 624 6268 or emailing gmainfo@nationalgalleries.org

Stigma Free Arts Cafe….Inspiring Tastes of Life: take a break and bring your lunch to an inspiring and safe cafe space and enjoy poets, musicians, dancers, speakers and visual artists.  All welcome! 12 noon-2pm, Augustine United Church, 41-43 George IV Bridge. Free, no booking required. Part of Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival 2014.

Oui Love Tour: Andrea Balency and NLF3. Oui Love showcases the cutting-edge creativity and pop nous of France’s current exports, featuring the exquisite dubstep-R ‘n’ B-pop hybrid of Andrea Balency and the chiming Afro-tinged experimental grooves of NLF3, plus local support act. 7-11pm, Sneaky Pete’s, 73 Cowgate. Admission free but ticketed: reserve your ticket via eventbrite. Supported by bureauexport and the Institut Francais: more information here.

Rushton and Tyman: Stop Thief! Rushton & Tyman’s Flaghall is a space of potential multiple uses – a community hall, an exhibition space or a meeting place. In this exhibition the artists re-imagine Flaghall as a reading room where texts, talks and performances are brought together under the title Stop Thief!  Visitors to the exhibition at this time will experience live interventions in the gallery, further exploring themes raised in this work. 5pm, City Art Centre, 2 Market Street. Free.

John Currie’s Infra Red Scanner: looking at a hot world through very cool technology! Professor John Currie’s inaugural lecture will explore the application of infra red technology through the medium of music. Professor Currie will show how the development of research using infra red thermography at Napier over the last 30 years has provided a greater understanding of the world in which we live, drawing examples from whisky making to the animal world, from outer space to your living room, all tempered with a little light music….The lecture will be followed by a drinks reception. 6-7pm, The Lindsay Stewart Lecture Theatre, Craiglockhart Campus, Edinburgh Napier University. Free but please register your attendance with lectures@napier.ac.uk

Mystic Hymns of Sufi Poets: mediaeval Italy and Turkey produced two of the greatest mystics, St Francis and Rumi. 800 years after their deaths, Latif Bolat, Turkish singer, composer and scholar of Turkish music and folklore, presents this programme celebrating their legacies with poetry, music, movement and philosophical ideas, reflecting the devotional and mystical aspect of Anatolian culture accumulated over thousands of years. 6pm, Italian Cultural Institute, 82 Nicolson Street.  Free. Part of Journeys, a project delivering a message of unity and fraternity in the face of conflicts.

Antonio Pacitti: Joy and Protest. An exhibition presenting two sides of the Scottish-Italian painter, sculptor and potter, who died in 2009. Pacitti was inspired by nature but also by injustice and oppression. ‘No other artist painted with so much love, brightness and enthusiasm‘ – Craigie Aitchison (The Guardian.) Today until 24th October 2014, 2-5pm Mondays, 9.30am-5pm Tuesday -Thursday, 9am-12 noon Fridays, Italian Cultural Institute, 82 Nicolson Street.  Free. Part of Journeys, a project delivering a message of unity and fraternity in the face of conflicts.

Highlight Arts Launch: the team behind Reel Syria, Reel Iraq and Reel Afghanistan are celebrating their transformation into Highlight Arts with a free evening at the Scottish Storytelling Centre. Live music, film and poetry with collaborators old and new, including Shooglenifty, Krystelle Bamford, singer Kaela Ewan, Syrian writer Golan Haji, DJ Dolphin Boy, plus films by director Roxana Vilk and some specially curated Arctic region shorts. 7.30pm, Scottish Storytelling Centre, Royal Mile. Free but booking essential: up to four tickets per person. Call Box Office on 0131 556 9579 or book via the Centre’s website.

Adding Gender Equality to Your Shopping Bag: Edinburgh Fair Trade City Group lead a discussion on what more could be done to promote gender equality in the world of Fair Trade, both at home and abroad, looking at Equal Exchange’s Coffee Grown by Women, the work of Get Paper Industries in Nepal and Weaving Destination’s work with trafficked women in India. 6.30-8pm, One World Shop, St John’s Church, Princes Street (corner of Lothian Rd.)

The Scotland-Russia Forum: monthly meeting for sparkling Russian/English conversation over tea and cakes. 11am, Cafe, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall. No need to book, all very welcome. No charge apart from cost of any refreshments you may wish to purchase in the cafe.

Engineers Without Borders Charity Fundraiser Party: live bands and a party vibe to raise money for projects, including local outreach and international projects in countries with harsh developmental barriers. Music from Jack Wright (soft rock/country) and the 17-piece Edinburgh University Jazz Orchestra. 9pm (entry from 8pm) The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. £5/£4, cash on door only.