Grassmarket Community Cinema: Short Film Screening and Quiz. A special evening for members of the Grassmarket Picturehouse to test their knowledge of film! A team of film fanatics will be putting together their favourite questions to challenge and entertain fellow film lovers. 7pm, Grassmarket Community Project, 86 Candlemaker Row. All welcome; free – donations to the Project also very welcome. The cafe will be open – please use it!
The Thirty-Nine Steps at 100: celebrating the centenary of John Buchan’s ‘shocker’. First published in 1915, Buchan’s novel has had enduring appeal; Literature and the Arts Curator Andrew Martin discusses this classic yarn of a man on the run. The centenary will also be celebrated by the Library’s Treasures display, which includes books, letters, film ephemera, scripts and comic book versions of the novel. 2pm, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge. Free but booking is required; please call 0131 623 3734 or book online here.
Palimpsest by Jane Couroussopoulos: palІm(p)sεst : something having diverse layers or aspects apparent beneath the surface. Jane Couroussopoulos studied painting, etching and engraving at City and Guilds of London Art School and moved to Edinburgh 27 years ago; she has been teaching as a community education tutor for Edinburgh City Council since 2002 and at Leith School of Art since 2003, where this year she has taken over as leader of the two day Drawing Course. In the last three years she has concentrated almost exclusively on drawing. The shrines and churches in this body of work are born of a fascination with the way these religious structures, small and large, individual and communal, punctuate our environment. Kandylakia is the Greek name for the roadside shrines seen along many winding roads in Greece – ostensible markers of lives lost, they also mark lives spared. Apart from the beautiful and lonely church at Polnish in the West Highlands, and the church in the bustling centre of Modena in Italy, the churches in Jane’s drawings are Orthodox churches, some built, and still stubbornly attended, in the most remote and inaccessible of places. 9am-4.30pm, Monday to Saturday, Leith School of Art, Great Junction Street. Ends 11th December 2015. Image: Polnish Church from the Old Road (c) Jane Couroussopoulos
Leith Central Community Council: all local residents are welcome to attend and to engage with what is happening in the local area. The draft minutes of the last meeting may be viewed here. 7pm, Nelson Room, McDonald Road Library, 2 McDonald Road.
National Galleries of Scotland Tea Dance: sing and dance along with your hosts Flyright Dance Company in the beautiful Great Hall, and enjoy live music provided by That Swing Sensation. Suitable for community groups including care homes and those with dementia. 2-4, Great Hall, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street. Booking is essential; please contact the Information Desk on 0131 624 6560. This event forms part of Luminate, Scotland’s Creative Ageing Festival. Image (c) Andy McGregor.
For Crying Out Loud: exclusive screenings for parents/carers (maximum of two adults per baby) and their babies under 12 months old. Baby changing, bottle-warming and buggy parking facilities are available. Today’s film is Zarafa (PG), the story of the undying friendship between 10-year-old Maki and an orphaned giraffe, Zarafa, intended as a gift for the King of France. Hassan, Prince of the Desert, is instructed to deliver the giraffe himself, but Maki makes up his mind to bring Zarafa back to its native land – even if it means risking his life. 11am, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4.50/£3.50 (babies admitted free) and may be purchased from the Filmhouse box office in person or by calling 0131 228 2688.
China Film Day: to celebrate the China-UK Year of Cultural Exchange and to promote the recent China-UK Film Co-production Agreement, Filmhouse, in conjunction with the Film Bureau of the State Administration of the Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television China, screens two new Chinese titles. To the Fore/Por fun (in Cantonese, English, Italian and Korean with English subtitles) will be shown at 5.45pm and and Go Away, Mr Tumour (in Mandarin with English subtitles) at 8.25pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Filmhouse box office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online.
Lost + Found in Edinburgh: a digital online exhibition hosted by The New Metropolitan web magazine, featuring images of the city’s abandoned places, ruins, urban quirks and contested spaces, created and collected by the people of Edinburgh. At tonight’s launch event an invited panel will discuss the exhibition, debate what it means to inhabit Edinburgh today, explore how Edinburgh might go beyond the official and touristic images and narratives of the city to tell new stories, and expose often ignored divisions across Edinburgh, responding to the contradictions and inequalities of contemporary urban citizenship. Speakers will include Ed Hollis, Director of Research, Edinburgh College of Art, Euan Leitch, Director of the Built Environment Forum Scotland, Angela McClanahan, Director of Visual Culture at Edinburgh College of Art and author of the upcoming Capital Ruins: An Anthropology of Post-Crash Urban Regeneration Sites, Euan McMeeken, Planning Officer at Major Developments, City of Edinburgh Council and Elasaid Munro, Research Associate at the Centre for Cultural Policy Research, University of Glasgow. 6-9pm, Auditorium, Level 1 via Lothian Street, National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street. Free but registration is required and may be made via eventbrite here. This event is in partnership with The University of Edinburgh’s Institute for the Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Being Human: the UK festival of the humanities. Image: view from the roof terrace garden at National Museum of Scotland by Magnus Hagdorn on Flickr Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Blackwell’s Edinburgh Book Group: join the Blackwell’s Book Group for lively, friendly book chatter – no previous experience required! The group meets monthly to discuss a wide range of books — from fiction to non-fiction, classics, contemporary, prizewinners and cult heroes. Currently reading The Quick by Lauren Owen. 6pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. All welcome; if you would like to come along, please email your name and address to events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk.
Open Eye Gallery: New Exhibitions. (1) Carola Gordon: Edinburgh Walking – Hidden Gardens, Green Spaces and the Patrick Geddes Legacy. Oil and watercolour works originating from Carola’s interest in geographical spaces of Edinburgh city centre, explored through touring the hidden gardens originally constructed by the town planner and sociologist Patrick Geddes (1854-1932); (2) Paul Barnes: Nature’s Way – unique, illustrative and thoughtful paintings portraying imagined creatures which possess human like qualities and identities. Barnes’s work is inspired by an array of historical folklore, cultural and natural cues, with this body of work taking its title from the song ‘Nature’s Way’ by Spirit which relates to the idea of how our surroundings inspire, guide and in some ways determine individual personalities and choices; (3) Helen Wilson: Relative Values. The distinguished Glasgow-based painter has also spent considerable time in Aberdeenshire; her work explores personal histories within this area and further afield, both from her own associations and others’ perspectives. Acknowledging the importance of people and surroundings that may otherwise go un-merited underpins Wilson’s work, be it a street, an object, a game of cricket or even a portion of fish and chips; all are of significance to memory and how a place is perceived. She will also show Construction Pieces, in which she transforms cabinets into miniature sections of high streets. The constructions appear as modern day dolls’ houses hand painted with intricate detail; (4) Henry Fraser: Still Life. Edinburgh College of Art graduate Henry Fraser is renowned for his abstracted figure paintings conveying the transience of the human condition. His insightful characters are recognisable by their small eyes and simplified bodies; his mark making appears minimalist and takes great skill to accomplish. Still Life sees a slight shift in his subject matter, an exploration into more mysterious forms and characters, his intention being to illustrate captured conversations, chance encounters and personal experiences which would otherwise have been lost to time. Plus new hand-made silver jewellery by Sally Cuthbert. 10am-6pm Monday to Friday, 10am-4pm Saturdays, Open Eye Gallery, Abercromby Place. Carola Gordon’s and Sally Cuthbert’s exhibitions end 2nd November; Paul Barnes’, Helen Wilson’s and Henry Fraser’s continue until 4th November 2015.
SMHAFF: Dancing with Maria (in Spanish with English subtitles). Elderly Argentinian dancer Maria Fux has taught her method throughout her life, inspired by her inner rhythms and innate connection with music. At her vibrant Buenos Aires studio, she welcomes dancers from all backgrounds, including men and women with physical and mental impairments. Now, at the age of 90, her biggest challenge is the fight against the limits of her own body. This joyous documentary is alive with movement and passion. A discussion on issues raised by the film will follow the screening. 6pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £6/£4 and may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online here. Part of Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival 2015.
Remembering the North British Rubber Company at Castle Mill Works: an exhibition by Edinburgh Printmakers celebrating the fascinating history of the former North British Rubber Company building at Gilmore Park, by Fountainbridge. The exhibition includes a series of new photogravure prints by photographer and artist Norman McBeath, along with stories of those who worked at the company or whose families did, and the objects made in the factory. Castle Mill Works once stood at the heart of a major industrial complex employing thousands of people in Dalry, Gorgie and Fountainbridge; with the help of Heritage Lottery Fund, Creative Scotland. Historic Scotland and many other funders, it will be restored as Edinburgh Printmakers’ new home in 2018. 10am-3pm Monday to Thursday, 12 noon-3pm Fridays, 12.30-2.30pm Saturdays, St Bride’s Centre, Orwell Terrace, Dalry. Ends 30th November 2015.
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. Suitable for people of all faiths or no faith at all. 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 & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. For more information please contact Alison Wren on 0131 652 3283 or email alison@lgbthealth.org.
Sofi’s Cult Movies: popular classics on the silver screen in the cosy, darkened back room. Free popcorn! Tonight’s film is Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (PG) starring Danny Elfman and Chris Sarandon. 8pm, Sofi’s, 65 Henderson Street. Free.
Cameo Culture Shock: the best in cult and genre films. Tonight: The Shining (15) Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece of modern horror, widely considered to be the most terrifying movie of all time. Based on Stephen King’s bestselling novel, this tale of a family man and would-be writer (Jack Nicholson) going mad as winter caretaker of the cursed Overlook Hotel is a seminal work of the genre. 9pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online here; prices vary.
