hiroshima nagasaki never again posterEdinburgh Hiroshima Commemoration: Edinburgh CND has organised two events for its supporters to mark this anniversary – (i) 12 noon: floating of paper lanterns in the pool outside The Scottish Parliament, Holyrood (ii) 7-9pm: a vigil, to which you are encouraged to bring candles, songs, posters and words (or just yourself) at Mound Place. All welcome. For more information please see Edinburgh CND’s website here or email edinburghCND@yahoo.com.

incognito the art of disguise at nomads tentIncognito: The Art of Disguise. A selling exhibition of tribal, ceremonial and performance masks from Africa and Asia. Traditional masks from Western and Central African tribes, including the Bamana, Guro and Kwale, a colourful selection of Topeng dance masks from Indonesia, curious masks from Northern India and contemporary Scottish works inspired by the traditional. Selected works by Glasgow-born artist and sculptor Dorothy Dick will accompany the main exhibition. Open preview with refreshments and live music from Rose Kagona of Jit Jive Band tonight 6-8pm, then during normal opening hours, The Nomad’s Tent, St Leonard’s Lane. Ends 31st August 2015. Sarah Worden, Senior Curator of African Collections at the National Museum of Scotland, will give a talk, Masks and Masquerade, at The Nomad’s Tent on 18th and 21st August – see The Nomad’s Tent website for details.

museum of edinburgh signPretty in Print: Lauren Wayland invites you to design and create a simple print of an Edinburgh object or landmark to take home with you. 2.30-4pm, Museum of Edinburgh, Huntly House, 142 Canongate. Tickets cost £4 and must be booked in advance via the Usher Hall Box Office, in person, by calling 0131 228 1155 or online here. Please note that these workshops are intended for children and adults to experience together; children must be accompanied by at least one paying adult, and no child should be booked into a workshop alone.

Dragon-Cartoon-Clip-Art_93There’s a Dragon in the Castle! Mike Durnan invites you to come and hear all about dragons, then make an amazing one yourself – bring your imagination and unleash your inner monster! 10.30am-12.30pm, Lauriston Castle, 2a Cramond Road South. Tickets cost £4 per person and must be booked in advance via the Usher Hall Box Office, in person, by calling 0131 228 1155 or online here. Please note that these workshops are intended for children and adults to experience together; children must be accompanied by at least one paying adult, and no child should be booked into a workshop alone.

INSIDE OUTPicturehouses Big Scream: screenings exclusively for babies under the age of 12 months and their parents or carers. Membership of the Big Scream Club is free – please ask at the Box Office – and tickets cost standard matinee prices. No adult without a baby will be admitted. Today’s film is Inside Out (U), an entrancing animated fable about 11 year old Riley, who is reluctantly uprooted from rural Minnesota to San Francisco, and whose emotions compete over how best to help her deal with the challenges of her new life. 10.30am, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online.

city art centre peploe - art fest exhibitionSpotlight Tours: Scottish Art: People, Places, Ideas. Guided tours of the City Art Centre’s Scottish Art collection, focusing on people, places and ideas. 11am or 3pm, City Art Centre (meet at reception), 2 Market Street. Free (suggested donation of £2), no booking required. Also on Saturday 8th August.

donald smith at ssc summer schoolCeltic Summer School: Scotland’s Poetry – A Carrying Stream. Donald Smith shows hows bards, poets and song makers are the keel of Scotland’s cultural vessel. 11am, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £7/£5 and may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579 or online here. The Celtic Summer School runs until 7th August 2015; you can buy tickets for individual events, or save money with a day or weekly pass – see the Centre’s website for details.

Image: Emma Bowen
Image: Emma Bowen

Making Faces! Making for Grown-Ups. A special evening opening of the children’s Making Faces! activities for people over 16 only. Unleash your childlike, creative side with hands-on art making activities; drop into the studio this summer and get inspired by an amazing variety of portraits from across the National Galleries’ exhibitions and collections. 5-7pm, Clore 1, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed.

water of leith visitor centre 2River Dipping: get into the river for this favourite activity! 2-3.30pm, Water of Leith Visitor Centre, 24 Lanark Road. £4 per child, accompanying adult free. Booking is essential and may be made by calling 0131 455 7367 or emailing admin@waterofleith.org.uk

how to stop worrying.. at gayfield

Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Bomb: an exhibition to commemorate Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Seventy years of film, music, art and literature come together in this interactive exhibition of popular culture exploring our love/hate relationship with the deadliest weapons on earth: nukes. Launch party tonight at 6pm, with music, comedy and spoken word, then 10am-5.30pm daily, Gayfield Creative Spaces, 11 Gayfield Square. Organised by WMD Awareness, an organisation giving young people in Britain a voice in the debate on nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. Ends 19th August 2015.

the jumpLooking Glass Books Presents Doug Johnstone: The Jump. The bestselling Scottish writer launches his latest novel, in which he uses the unique setting of the Forth Road Bridge to explore issues of grief, suicide and redemption. ‘A heart-stopping and moving psychological thriller’. 6.30pm, Looking Glass Books, Simpson Loan, Quartermile. To book your free place please email sophiep@faber.co.uk.

Record Breakers: Street Games. For ages 5-11. 2.30pm, Oxgangs Library, Oxgangs Road North.

alina bzhezhinskaAlina Bzhehzinska: the critically-acclaimed harpist returns with a programme that includes jazz and world traditional tunes from her new book Steps to Excellence. 6-6.30pm, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed.

scots languageCeltic Summer School: Scots – A Musical Introduction. The best way to understand Scots is to hear it or to sing it. Fred Freeman offers both in this session, clearing away the linguistic cobwebs from the vigorous and pithy ‘mither tongue’. 1pm, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £6/£4 and may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579 or online here. The Celtic Summer School runs until 7th August 2015; you can buy tickets for individual events, or save money with a day or weekly pass – see the Centre’s website for details.

blackwell's fringe 6th august 2015Blackwell’s Edinburgh Presents Writers at the Fringe: every Thursday throughout the Fringe, Blackwell’s invites a selection of Scottish performers to give a taste of their work. New and unpublished works of literary art stand alongside established novelists, with any and all genres free to be expressed, from poetry to cutting-edge drama, folk music, contemporary fiction and all that is found between. Tonight’s line-up is Irene Taylor, Grahame Howard, Catherine Gault, Jonathan Whitelaw and Anne Donovan. 5.45pm for 6pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. Free tickets may be obtained from the shop’s front desk, by calling 0131 622 8229, emailing events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk, via eventbrite here or from the Fringe Box Office here.

burns at ssc summer schoolCeltic Summer School: Burns and the National Music. Fred Freeman explains why Robert Burns is the defining figure in Scotland’s national music. Hear the songs as they ought to be heard and explore the musical legacy of Scotland’s national poet. 2.30pm, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £9/£7 and may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579 or online here. The Celtic Summer School runs until 7th August 2015; you can buy tickets for individual events, or save money with a day or weekly pass – see the Centre’s website for details.

Pride, oil on glass, (c) Ilona Szalay
Pride, oil on glass, (c) Ilona Szalay

Ilona Szalay: Witness. A new exhibition by the award-winning Beirut-born painter, a stunning collection of Szalay’s trademark oil on glass paintings, including freestanding works for Arusha’s tall Georgian windows and a grid of fourteen glass works based on the artist’s self-portrait. Ilona’s paintings trace a path through a world of conflict and power play, a place of rigid hierarchy and fierce competition. The opening event tonight will include a unique chance to view a selection of the artist’s animations. Preview 6-9pm tonight, Arusha Gallery, 13a Dundas Street. Please contact gallery for subsequent opening times. Ends 31st August 2015.

The Scottish Gallery: New Exhibitions. (1) James Morrison: The North Wind – new paintings by Scotland’s senior landscape painter, with subjects varying from epic views across Angus and the west coast, to descriptions of a summer hedgerow, humming with life; (2) Joan Eardley: In Context – this exhibition seeks to illuminate two important aspects of Joan Eardley, firstly to explore how she came to paint what she did, and secondly to tell the poignant story of how her dedication to the life of an artist inspired a number of painters to form a loose colony at Catterline. Other artists included in this exhibition are James Cowie, Angus Neil, Lilian Neilson and James Morrison. the scottish gallery(3) Fine Lines: a showcase of applied arts – furniture, ceramics, sculpture, silversmithing, jewellery and glass – from international artists. 10am-6pm Monday to Friday, 10am-4pm Saturdays, The Scottish Gallery, 16 Dundas Street. All three exhibitions end 5th September 2015. The Scottish Gallery is a partner of Edinburgh Art Festival.

the flint at bodaThe Flint: Live Music Showcase. Free acoustic music sessions – tonight’s acts are The Bicycling Elk (soulful folk from Boda’s own Lucas) and samaniona, an Edinburgh-based folk-blues duo. 7-10pm, Boda Bar, 229 Leith Walk. All welcome!

nick gouldNick Gould’s Jazzmain plays Horace Silver: the Edinburgh tenor sax player with his mainstream quintet, playing music from the amazing legacy of composer/pianist legend Horace Silver. Fresh from their successful Edinburgh Jazz Festival performance, the band consists of Ewan Mains (trumpet), Steve Grossart (piano), John Hay (bass) and Kevin Dorrian (drums). 9pm (entry from 8pm), The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street.  £5/£4 on the door: please note that this venue is cash only.

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