Cafe Voices: Journey Through Love. At the Centre’s monthly storytelling session Wendy Woolfson leads a journey through the stages of love, inviting the audience to feel their own connections, and share in the familiar feelings that love can evoke. Including traditional tales alongside true stories and songs, this promises to be an entertaining, thought-provoking and uplifting evening. The evening will be split into two halves with an open-floor section for storytellers to tell their own tales in the second half, all in the relaxed setting of the Storytelling Court. 7pm, Scottish Storytelling Centre, High Street. Tickets cost £5 and can be purchased online here or by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579.
Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop Artists’ Talk: Jean Philippe Dordolo and Kadie Salmon. Two Sculpture Workshop Micro Residents discuss their practices and the work they have been developing over the course of their residency. 6-8pm, Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, 21 Hawthornvale. Admission is free.
Edinburgh College of Art Thursday Research Seminar Series: Shadows of Herself: Lee Miller’s Collage. Chaired by Dr Patricia Allmer (ECA). 5.15pm, Lecture Room 1, Minto House, University of Edinburgh, Chambers Street. Free and open to all.
The Thursday Club: A Musical Afternoon with George Ross and friends. 2pm, Upper Hall, Mayfield Salisbury Church, West Mayfield. All very welcome: contact Florence Smith on 0131 663 1234 for more information.
Easel Sketching in the Gallery: led by artist Damian Callan, with a different subject every month and sometimes a model. All materials supplied. 2-4pm, Main Gallery Floor, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free: no booking required. Also at same times on Friday 13th February 2015.
2015 Iranian Film Festival: a season of classic and contemporary films from Iran, including a number of Scottish premieres, shown as part of the Edinburgh Iranian Festival. Today: The Prince (15) 6.10pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets can be booked online here or by calling the box office on 0131 228 2688. Prices vary: there are deals for purchasing multiple tickets for this season. This screening will be followed by a Q & A session with the director. The 2015 Iranian Film Festival is curated by Dr Nacim Pak-Shiraz and sponsored by The Sutton Gallery, Arts & Business Scotland, The School of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies of the University of Edinburgh, and the Filmhouse.
Ecumenical Friends at St Cuthbert’s: Simon Barrow – Ekklesia: Christian Political Think-Tank. 12.30pm, St Cuthbert’s Parish Church, 5 Lothian Road. All warmly welcome: £1.50 per person, tea and coffee provided, bring your own packed lunch. These events are organised by Edinburgh City Centre Churches TOGETHER.
LGBT History Month: Out There Anthology. Writers Zoe Strachan, Roy Gill and Janette Ayachi present readings from Out There: An Anthology of Scottish LGBT Writing, which includes contributions from Scotland’s leading and emerging LGBT writers. 6pm, Waterstones West End, 128 Princes Street: free tickets are available from the shop. Please contact the store or www.lgbthistory.org.uk for more details. For more about LGBT History Month, read The Edinburgh Reporter’s article here.
The Friendship Club: a friendly meeting place for senior citizens – all very welcome, with or without any church connection, and whether you would like to attend every week or just occasionally. Tea, home baking, board games, card games, sometimes live music – and lots of chat! The club’s aim is to provide a relaxed friendly and welcoming meeting place for senior citizens: ‘There is always a smiling face waiting to welcome you’. 2-3.30pm, Ground Floor, Annan House, 10 Palmerston Place. Contact Palmerston Place Church for more information.
Portrait Gallery Curator’s Talk: Beauty By Design. A chance to chat to Gallery curators about the current exhibitions: this month Tricia Allerston, Deputy Director of the Scottish National Gallery, talks about Beauty By Design. 5.30-6pm, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street. Free and unticketed.
The Drawing Room: informal, artist-led drawing sessions, each developed by a contemporary artist and reflecting concerns within that artist’s work. All materials supplied, no experience necessary. Please note: this month’s session takes place at Modern TWO in the Two Roberts exhibition. 5.30-6.45pm, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art TWO, Belford Road. Free but booking is required: please contact the Education Department on 0131 624 6410 or email education@nationalgalleries.org.
Getting Started at the National Library: learn how to register as a reader (please bring ID if you wish to register after the workshop), find your way around the Library, request materials and find out about other services. The workshop includes a short tour of the Reading Room and will last about 90 minutes. 2.30pm, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge. Booking essential, either online here or by calling 0131 623 3734. The next workshop will be held at 6pm on 11th March 2015.
The Jonathan Mills Lectures: Curating in Time. In this age of information and the internet, does the idea of curating become fixed on objects, or in space, or time? Jonathan Mills, composer, festival director and Visiting Professor at the University of Edinburgh, proposes that we consider the temporal as well as the spatial – the musical as well as the visual – potential of the acts of keeping, preserving, archiving, curating. 5pm, Hunter Lecture Theatre, Hunter Building, Edinburgh College of Art, Lauriston Place. This is the second in a series of lectures: the next one Ethereal Eye – a musical meditation for an unbuilt city will take place on 19th February 2015.
Reid School of Music Research Seminar Series: Hitchcock, Psycho and the Aesthetic of ‘absolute music’. Chaired by Professor John Butt (University of Glasgow). 5.15pm, Lecture Room A, Alison House, University of Edinburgh, 12 Nicolson Square.
eBook Surgery: find out how to borrow eBooks, emagazines and audiobooks for free. 2-5pm, Leith Library, 28-30 Ferry Road. Please contact the library for more details and to book a 30 minute appointment.
