Home (and Other Stories): a one-night only performance, developed and written by Crisis Skylight Edinburgh’s clients, with music and spoken word sessions that will give the audience an insight into the issues affecting single homeless people in the current political climate. The evening will include a director’s cut of scenes from Skylight’s award-winning play Home. 7.30pm, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43 High Street. Free tickets may be obtained via eventbrite here.
Mischa Kuball: Artist’s Talk. Mischa Kuball is best known for his use of light as a medium – in installations and photography – to explore architectural spaces, their contexts and related social and political discourses. As well as gallery and museum exhibitions, he has developed large-scale participatory projects exploring the politics of private and public spaces and the relationship between artist, artwork and audience. Mischa will present a talk on some of his projects over the last 30 years, projects that have drawn upon photographic apparatus, imagery and theory. Mischa Kuball is based in Düsseldorf; since 2007 he has been a professor at the Academy of Media Arts, Cologne and Associate Professor for Media Art at Hochschule für Gestaltung/ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany. 6-7pm, Stills, Cockburn Street. Free tickets may be obtained via eventbrite here.
The History of the Union Canal: come and meet the Scottish Waterways Trust and hear about the part the canal played in this bustling part of Edinburgh. 6.30pm, Fountainbridge Library, 137 Dundee Street. Free but please reserve your place by calling the library on 0131 529 5616 or emailing fountainbridge.library@edinburgh.gov.uk.
Reputation Management in 18th Century Europe: Angelica Kauffman, the Women and the Men. Writer and broadcaster Professor Amanda Vickery (Queen Mary College, University of London) will consider the economic success and reputation management of one of the contemporaries of Jean-Etienne Liotard, Angelica Kauffman (1741-1807), focusing on her London career, 1766-81. 
Kauffman (pictured here in a self-portrait) was one of only two female artists admitted to the fledgling Royal Academy; she achieved unique recognition and spectacular commercial success, all the while sustaining a reputation for ingenuous innocence. Professor Vickery asks how Kauffman pulled this off. 6-7.30pm, Hawthornden Theatre, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free but tickets are required and may be obtained from the gallery’s information desk, in person or by calling 0131 624 6560. The National Gallery’s Jean-Etienne Liotard exhibition ends on 13th September 2015.
Poussin in Britain: currently on loan from the Fitzwilliam Museum, Nicolas Poussin’s Extreme Unction (c.1638-40) is one of a set of paintings representing the Seven Sacraments, painted for Cassiano dal Pozzo during the 1630s. In 1785 it was purchased by the Duke of Rutland and brought to Britain from Italy. Tamsin Foulkes, Poussin Research and Project Assistant, will provide an introduction to the taste for Poussin amongst British art collectors of the period. 12.45-1.30pm, Hawthornden Theatre, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed.
Cafe des Artistes #13: Damien Hirst. Dave Hopkins (University of Glasgow) and Harry Weeks (University of Edinburgh) will lead a discussion about the English artist (reportedly the UK’s richest), entrepreneur and art collector. There will be special live streaming to the Pier Art Centre, Stromness, Orkney, where ARTIST ROOMS: Damien Hirst is currently on display. No prior knowledge required. Refreshments provided. 6-8pm, The Fruitmarket Gallery, 45 Market Street. Free but please reserve your place via eventbrite here.
The Scottish Gallery: New Exhibitions. (1) Willow Weaving – an insight into the creative world of contemporary baskets and sculptural objects. Willow weaving is a genre which has been in decline as a world craft due to increasing industrialisation, but in recent years it has enjoyed a renaissance as an art form in its own right. Each of the seven artists and craftsmen included in this exhibition contributes to this renaissance (2) Modern Masters – Metalwork and Jewellery. This exhibition coincides with the opening of The Silversmith’s Art at the National Museum of Scotland on 18th September. The museum exhibition will showcase 150 masterpieces made between 2000 -2015 by 66 contemporary silversmiths, the core collection coming from The Goldsmiths’Company, London. ‘Modern Masters’ includes a number of world class artists alongside emerging talent (3) David McClure – Works on Paper: selected by the artist’s son, Robin McClure. David McClure is from a group of highly regarded painters that included James Cumming, William Baillie, John Houston, Elizabeth Blackadder and David Michie, all of whom graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in the early 1950s (4) George Devlin – The Memorial Exhibition: a celebration of the life and work of the artist, who died last year. George Devlin’s approach to painting landscape was established by the Impressionists in the 1880s: to sit in front of the subject, en plein air and work until the picture was essentially complete. He studied at Glasgow School of Art 1955-60. 10am-6pm Monday to Friday, 10am-4pm Saturdays, The Scottish Gallery, 16 Dundas Street. All four exhibitions end 3rd October 2015.
Linlithgow Folk Festival: your first opportunity to get out of the city this week is quite close at hand – the 17th Linlithgow Folk Festival starts today with a free concert, Kind Tae Strangers, and continues over the weekend with poetry, music, musical cruises on the Union Canal, children’s entertainment, fun singing sessions, outdoor performances, a craft fair, songwriting workshop, pub sessions and a family ceilidh. Performers include The Emily Smith Band, Ian Walker, The Mairs Family Band, Blue Dubh, The Tonkerers, Ewen McVicar and Christine Kydd. Many events are free, for others tickets may be purchased from the Burgh Halls Box Office, The Cross, in person or on 01506 282720, or online via yapsody here. The full festival programme may be seen here.
Discovering Family History at NLS: find out how the National Library can help you with your family history research. The workshop will include some practical information on how to get a library card and use library resources; if you plan to register for a library card when you visit, please bring evidence of identity – details of what is acceptable may be found on the NLS website here. 6pm, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge. Free but please book your place by calling 0131 623 3734 or online here.
Waterloo: The Aftermath. Paul O’Keeffe, author of Waterloo: The Aftermath and a new edition of Walter Scott’s writings on Waterloo, investigates the looting of the battlefield, the clearing of its dead and wounded and its invasion by sensation- and souvenir-seeking tourists. 6.30-8pm (doors open 6.15pm). Auditorium, Level One, National Museum of Scotland – enter via Lothian Street at rear of building. Tickets cost £6/£5 and may be purchased from the museum’s reception in person, by calling 0300 123 6789 or online here.
City Centre Voluntary Sector Forum: a meeting to discuss and gather local community activists’ views on the development of a forum for voluntary, community and third sector groups. Tea and biscuits provided! 12 noon-2pm, South Bridge Resource Centre, 6 Infirmary Street. For more information please contact June Dickson (EVOC) on 0131 555 9114. All welcome.
Osiligi Masaai Warriors: a seven-piece group from southern Kenya, performing authentic and exciting tribal song and dance along with the famed Maasai jumping. This entertaining and educational show includes audience participation (!), a Q & A session on the lives of the Maasai, and a Powerpoint and DVD presentation about the UK charity Osiligi Charity Projects, which the group supports and which has led to the transformation of their local community, with new water stations, a new church/community centre and a state-of-the-art primary school and medical centre. 7pm, Palmerston Place Church, Palmerston Place. Tickets cost £5 and may be purchased via Ticket Source here.
Boda 11th Birthday Quiz: a special themed quiz on the eve of Boda’s birthday. For teams of four. 8pm, Boda Bar, 229 Leith Walk. Free to enter.
Wiff Waff Wednesday: a monthly ping pong night with music for all ages, and great food and drink available to purchase from the Drill Hall Arts Cafe. ‘Friendship first, competition second’. 6-10.30pm, Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 36 Dalmeny Street. Free entry.
