In Focus: Robert Delaunay’s The Cardiff Team in context. Art historian Jonathan Blackwood takes a close look at Delaunay’s The Cardiff Team (1913) in the context of aesthetic developments at the time. Themes such as the development of Cubism and Orphism, relations between Delaunay, his wife Sonia Terc Delaunay, and Frantisek Kupka, and the straining towards abstraction in painting, will all be outlined in detail. The links between high modernism and popular entertainment are also considered in a talk that will open out a familiar painting to new scrutiny. 12.45-1.30pm, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed.
Happy Easter at Magdalene Community Centre: today Magdalene Minis – Egg Painting and Choosing. 1.30pm, Magdalene Community Centre, 106b Magdalene Drive.
Sofi’s Cult Movie Nights: see popular classics on the silver screen in the cosy, darkened back room. Free popcorn! This week: Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (PG). 8pm, Sofi’s, 63-65 Henderson Street.
Make a Bunny Mask: for ages 4-11 years. 2-3pm, Sighthill Library, 55 Sighthill Road. Free.
Lunchtime Concert: SINK. Daniil Doumnov (accordion), Tim Vincent-Smith (violin) and Matt Wright (soprano sax) are an Edinburgh-based trio who explore the tactile air by means of vibrations influenced by (among others) Beethoven, Cage, Zorn and Matt’s dog Daisy. 12.15pm, St Giles Cathedral, High Street. Free.
Easter Holidays @ Gilmerton Library: Board Games Tournament – Scrabble and Battleships. For children of all ages. 2.30pm, Gilmerton Library, 13 Newtoft Street. Free.
Toddler Time: short screenings exclusively for pre-school children and their parents and carers. Today: Q Pootle 5 Programme 3 – join the stars of the hit CBeeBies show (created by best-selling children’s author and illustrator Nick Butterworth) as they tackle everyday problems of the final frontier; with friendship at the heart of the series, Q Pootle 5 and his friends find fun and adventure wherever they go. 11am, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets cost £3 for members of the Toddler Time Club: membership is free, please ask at the Box Office. Tickets may be purchased online here or by calling the Box Office on 0871 902 5723. Adults accompanying club members are admitted free; no adult will be admitted unaccompanied by a pre-school child.
Make a Butterfly Mobile: for ages 4-11 years. 2-3pm, Ratho Library, 6 School Wynd. Free.
Joseph Pearce’s Book Club: an informal gathering with coffee and cakes, beer and books – new members very welcome. Currently reading The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov and Larissa Volokhonsky. 6.30pm, Joseph Pearce’s, 23 Elm Row. For more information please call 0131 556 4140.
Tiny Tales: Hare, There and Everywhere: it’s spring – but where, oh where, is Hare? Join storyteller Renita Boyle, Wiggly Woo and friends at the bottom of the garden for a seek-and-find parachute play adventure for toddlers aged 1-3 years. 10am or 11.30am (40 minute sessions), Storytelling Bothy, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £5 per child and may be booked online here or by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579.
Make a Spring Garland: for ages 5-11 years. 2-3pm, Wester Hailes Library, 1 Westside Plaza. Free.
.My Fountain: Fountainbridge Residents’ Group. Get involved in local issues and have your say. 6.15-7.45pm, Fountainbridge Library, 137 Dundee Street. All welcome.
Easter Fun & Games @ Oxgangs Library: Easter X-box Challenge. For ages 7-12. 11am, Oxgangs Library, Oxgangs Road North.
Martin Scorsese Presents Masterpieces of Polish Cinema: a season of films curated by Scorsese, all screened in pristine digital restorations. Today: Ashes and Diamonds (Popiol i dimant) (12A). (In Polish with English subtitles). Andrzej Wajda’s superb film vividly captures the turbulence and confusion immediately following the Second World War, as a former resistance hero turns anti-Communist assassin. 6.15pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be obtained online here or by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688. The film will be introduced by Dr Pasquale Iannone (University of Edinburgh). It will be shown again at 8.45pm on Wednesday 29th April 2015.
Puppet Animation Festival: Clydebuilt Puppet Theatre Presents 3 Bears. The shiny metal world of Goldilocks meets the lovely natural wooden world of the three bears – the result, a very sticky adventure all round. For ages 3+. 10.30am, WHALE Arts, 30 Westburn Grove. To book please contact WHALE on 0131 458 3267.
Garden Buddies: help work commence on the Big Lottery Awards for All funded library garden. 2.30-3.30pm, Granton Library, Wardieburn Terrace. Free.
Blackwell’s Edinburgh Presents The Monthly Book Quiz: if you know your Waugh from your Peace and your Meyer from your Heyer, try the monthly quiz – you’ll be tested on everything from classics to current bestsellers. Teams of up to 5 people welcome. 6-7.15pm, Caffe Nero, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. Free and unticketed, but please arrive early as space is limited.
Plant pot painting: for ages 5-12 years. 3-4pm, Muirhouse Library, 15 Pennywell Court. Free.
Puppet Animation Festival: Lens On Legs – A Clay Animation Adventure. Help to uncover extraterrestrial life on Mars as you explore storytelling, model making and camera-handling techniques to make your own stop-motion film in this two day workshop.
Use claymation to build original characters while learning about life on Mars. For ages 10+. 11am-3.30pm today and Tuesday 14th April, North Edinburgh Arts, Pennywell Court. £2/£1/50p. To book please contact NEA on 0131 315 2151 or email admin@northedinburgharts.co.uk
For Crying Out Loud: regular screenings for carers and their babies under 12 months (no more than 2 adults per infant). Baby changing, bottle-warming and buggy parking facilities are available. Today’s film is Still Life (12A): a hit at Edinburgh International Film Festival, Still Life is a poignant drama about a lonely, sweetly idealistic man who finds fulfilment in helping everyone but himself. 11am, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4.50/£3.50 and may be obtained by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688.
Superhero Masks: 3-4pm, Balerno Library, 1 Main Street. The library is also running a storybook competition during the holidays; collect a blank storybook from the library and complete it – there will be a prize for the best one returned.
Pear Tree Quiz: if you know your physics from your psychics – or maybe you are still mourning the loss of 15-to-1? – try the Pear Tree’s weekly quiz. Cash prizes. 9-11pm, Pear Tree House, West Nicolson Street. £1 per team: tables fill up fast, so please arrive early.
Gilmerton Community Garden Graffiti Art Workshops: help brighten up the garden space with Bridgend Growing Communities and Gilmerton Community Centre. Today there will be a Design Session – come along and help plan some ideas, then on Wednesday 15th April come back for the Graffiti Day – a full day session with a professional artist, using your ideas from today to create some artwork for the Community Garden. 12 noon-2pm today, then 10am-3pm on Wednesday 15th, Gilmerton Community Centre, 4 Drum Street. Both sessions are free but booking is essential; please contact the Centre on 0131 664 2335 or email cld-gilmerton@ea.edin.sch.uk Free – you just need to bring your lunch on Wednesday.
Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland: who’s looking out for our historic buildings? A round-table debate with representatives from different disciplines on the challenges to be faced under new planning legislation. There will be an opportunity to contribute and to ask questions. 6.30-8.30pm, Sanctuary, St Andrew’s & St George’s West Church, 13 George Street. £5/£2.50 (students). Non-members warmly welcomed.
Making Friendship Bracelets: for ages 12+. 6-7pm, Moredun Library, 92 Moredun Park Road. Free.
Picturehouse Docs: Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck (15). Noted documentarian Brett Morgen turns his attention to perhaps the most influential rock star of the 90s, Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain; the film includes interviews with Courtney Love, bassist Krist Novoselic and (in archive footage) drummer Dave Grohl. ‘A veritable feast for fans’. 6.20pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be obtained online here or by calling the Box Office on 0871 902 5723. Also showing on Tuesday 14th, Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th April 2015: times vary – see website for details.
LGBT Spiritual Space: Maxwell Reay, NHS Mental Health Community Chaplain, offers a supportive space for people to discuss and develop ideas of spirituality and identity. For people of all faiths and none. Today: opportunities for individual conversations and information regarding spiritual needs. 6.30-7.30pm, (within weekly Drop-In, which runs 5.30-8pm), LGBT Health and Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. For more information please contact Alison Wren on 0131 652 3283 or email alison@lgbthealth.org.uk.
LGBT Police Surgery: seek advice, raise concerns around safety issues, report incidents or discuss policing in your area with an officer from Police Scotland. No appointment needed for this informal setting. 6.30-7.30pm, LGBT Health and Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. For support around safety issues or to meet with the police outwith the police surgery, please contact George Burrows on 0131 652 3281 or by emailing george@lgbthealth.org.uk.
Spring Break Activities at Craigmillar Library: today 1.30-2.30pm Craft with Sooz, 4-5pm Minecraft with Joe C, 6-7pm Games Tournament. All children welcome; any child under 8 years must be supervised by a family member over 12 years. Craigmillar Library, 101 Niddrie Mains Road. Free.
Cameo Culture Shock: the best in cult and genre films. Today: Solaris (PG): this original 1973 Tarkovsky version of the film is a meditation on the nature of desire and memory, and the self-imposed walls that keep us from realising our greatest wishes. 8.30pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be obtained online here or by calling the Box Office on 0871 902 5723.
Tricolour: a monthly night showcasing three different poetry and spoken word talents. Three different voices, three different styles, three different takes on life. This month: Rachel McCrum, Marianne Macrae and Jenny Lindsay. 6.30pm, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge. Free places may be booked online here or by calling 0131 623 3734.
