Have Fun with the Dogs’ Trust! Come along to the library and enjoy some fun canine-themed activities for half term. 2-3pm, Central Children’s Library, George IV Bridge. For more information contact the Dogs Trust Education and Community Officer on 0131 242 8027 or rachel.bliss@dogstrust.org.uk.
Children’s Crafts: 3pm, Piershill Library, 30 Piersfield Terrace. Also at same time on Thursday 19th and Friday 20th February.
Paddington Bear Storytime with stories and crafts – don’t forget the marmalade sandwiches! 2pm, Drumbrae Library Hub, 81 Drumbrae Drive.
Grand (Hair) Designs: Renaissance Edition. Feeling grey, plague-ridden or poxy? Jackie Spicer (History of Art, Edinburgh College of Art) and Anna Canning (Medical Herbalist) test out Renaissance recipes for hair and makeup that haven’t seen the light since 1530. Beard dye, hair removal and the original platinum bleach will feature. Free samples! 1-3pm, Farmer Education Suite, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street. Free but please RSVP to J.N.Spicer@sms.ed.ac.uk.
Zoolab Minibeasts: a gentle introduction to the world of classification – meet some invertebrates, including arthropods, molluscs, crustaceans and arachnids! 1.45-2.45pm, Portobello Library, Rosefield Avenue. Please contact staff for more details. Free.
Lunchtime Concert: Mhairi Lawson (soprano) and Jan Waterfield (piano) perform Haydn Arianna a Naxos Hob XXVIb/2, Schubert Lieder, Felix & Fanny Mendelssohn Lieder and Mozart Die ihr das unermesslichen Weltalls Schoepfer K619. 1.10pm, Reid Concert Hall, Bristo Square. Free and open to all.
Common Weal Edinburgh North & Leith: EU – Workings of the Parliament with Per Johansson. Per started his career as a trainee judge in the Swedish courts, then moved to Brussels where he worked as an EU Affairs consultant before joining the European Civil Service. After 5 years in the European Commission and with the European Data Protection Office, he moved to Edinburgh to become Head of Office for the European Parliament. 7-9.30pm, Area C Coffee House, 239 Leith Walk. All welcome.
Common Weal Edinburgh North & Leith Reading Group. 7.45pm, Pilmeny Resource Centre, 15 Buchanan Street – please note new time and venue.
French Cinema: Adieu Berthe. Armand, a pharmacist in the Parisian suburbs, leads a peaceful life between his job, his loving family and his extravagant mistress. His world is shaken when his grandmother Berthe dies. In French with English subtitles. 6-7.30pm, Institut francais d’Ecosse, 13 Randolph Crescent. Free, no booking required. Also showing 1-2.30pm on Wednesday 18th February 2015.
St John’s Shrove Tuesday Social Event – Iolanthe or The Peer and the Peri: a fabulous evening before Lent begins. The choir will sing a concert version of Iolanthe while you enjoy sweet or savoury pancakes and a glass of wine of fruit juice (more wine available by donation). 7.30pm, St John’s Church, Princes Street. Tickets cost £5/£2.50.
Representing Muslims in Scotland and the North-East: a series of seminars with British Muslim writers, poets and filmmakers. Tonight Iyat Hayatleh, a Palestinian poet and translator who moved from Syria to Scotland in 2000, and published his first collection of poems Beyond All Measure in 2007. Iyat has since collaborated with Scottish poet Tessa Ranford on a two-way translation project for a book Rug of a Thousand Colours, with poems inspired by the Five Pillars of Islam. Refreshments will be available after the talk. 5.30pm, Project Room, First Floor, 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh. Free: all welcome.
The Gildas Quartet: as part of the ‘Cranked Up Composition’ event – an opportunity to write, workshop and hear the premiere of a new string quartet composition within 24 hours – in the University of Edinburgh’s Innovative Learning Week, the Gildas Quartet will play a series of works composed by students in 24 hours. 7pm, City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, Nicolson Square. Free and open to all.
Bookbug: songs and rhymes for young children and their parents/carers. 10.30am today and every Tuesday and Saturday, Corstorphine Library, 12 Kirk Loan. Free: all very welcome!
Little Ducks Club: stories, singing, crafting and playing for children and parents/carers at this city centre toddler group. 10am, Undercroft Cafe, St Andrew’s and St George’s West Church, 13 George Street. For more information please contact Angela Grant, Child, Youth & Family Worker, on 07731 465 642. All welcome!
A Look at Contemporary South African Photography: many photographers working in South Africa today are dealing with complex issues related to the country’s political past. Anne Lyden, NGS International Photography Curator, offers a survey of some of the leading practitioners who, through their photographic images, seek to rethink and redefine issues of race, identity and culture in the post-apartheid country. 12.45-1.30pm, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed. Ponte City: an immersive study of the iconic Johannesburg building by Mikhael Subotzky and Patrick Waterhouse, continues at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street, until 26th April 2015. Admission is free.
Click Clack: a monthly night of live music and other performing arts of an experimental nature – ‘funky and idiosyncratic’. Tonight Liz Lochhead reads her poetry accompanied by Steve Kettley on tenor sax, plus The Enormous Yes and Bitter Together. 7-10pm, Henry’s Cellar Bar, Morrison Street. £6/students £4.
Edinburgh College of Art Thursday Research Seminar Series – Experimental Histories: Queer Lives On Film. A screening as part of the University of Edinburgh’s Innovative Learning Week. 5-6pm, Common Room, Minto House, 20-22 Chambers Street. Free and open to all.
