LeithLate now have a virtual tour map which is live online now, but they also have some events planned for next month which you can book ahead.
The map shows the various murals and art studios in the area and has 18 new audio and video commissions from Leith-based artists and creators.
Cameron Foster’s beautifully crafted and researched tours will be archived for posterity as LeithLate launches its permanent online resource LeithLate Virtual Tours. This interactive digital map has been created in collaboration with the Culture & Community Mapping Project, with funding from Data Driven Innovation and Edinburgh Futures Institute at the University of Edinburgh.
The online map showcases the many murals and art studios found across the Leith community. Users can click and explore the map, revealing entertaining and informative audio histories of the sites from Cameron Foster and many of the original artists plus video tours of studios from the artists who currently create there. Together, these first-hand and personal accounts create a beautiful archive for spaces explored and capture a moment in time.
Through LeithLate Virtual Tours and their collaboration with the Culture & Community Mapping Project we were able to support 18 creatives during this difficult time by commissioning videos and audio from mural artists Tim Chalk, Kirsty Whiten, Rabiya Choudhry, Richie Cumming and Fraser Gray and studio artists Louise Smurthwaite and Jessica Kirkpatrick from St. Margaret’s House, Khadea Kuchenmeister from Rhubaba, Megan Chapman and Mairi Brown from Out of the Blue Drill Hall, Juli Bolaños-Durman from Custom Lane, Jacqueline Bell and James Donald from Coburg House, Sharon Quigley and Bridgid Collins from Albion Business Centre, Helen Miles and Judy Clark from OOTB Abbeymount Studios.
LeithLate has also worked with Matchbox Cineclub to add subtitles which makes the entire experience as accessible as possible.
LeithLate Virtual Tours will continue to grow as they add more murals, studios and voices into this virtual tapestry mapping Murals and Studios in Leith. LeithLate Virtual Tours are live now www.leithlate.co.uk/virtualtours
In late September the fabulous Tim Chalk and Paul Grimes mural will be lit up as free projection events breath new life into the gable end just along from Leith Library.
Double-Take Projections will animate the artwork along with a bespoke ‘soundscape’.
Empty Kitchens, Full Hearts will open up their kitchens in Leith Theatre, all staffed by volunteer chefs, so that the public can buy meals from them, with all profits being ploughed back into the organisation’s community work.
From 25 September to 4 October LeithLate brings back the Light-up Leith History Mural for a run of 10 nights. The projection event will literally light up the Chalk and Grimes 1980s artwork with a production by Double-Take who are based in Leith. The event is made in collaboration with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s Curating Conversations across the Arts research project, with funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Empty Kitchens, Full Hearts have made Leith Theatre their base, and have responded to the Covid-19 crisis by using donations of food and turning them into meals for over 500 people in need.
On 27 September Cameron Foster who started Leith Mural Tours will conduct possibly his final in person tour of the murals. These will run on 27 September and 4 October and are priced on a pay what you can scale.
The closing event on 4 October 2020 is a night that will be discussion on the theme of “Into the Future with a Strong Community”, dinner and celebration. Tickets will be released in September.
Morvern Cunningham, LeithLate founder and trustee, said:“We are thrilled to be able to return this autumn with further events both online and in person in this unprecedented year for both ourselves and our communities. We are particularly delighted to be able to support 18 artists during lockdown thanks to the Virtual Tours, at a time when grassroots support of creatives is needed more than ever.”
LeithLate Virtual Tours (Online) – at www.leithlate.co.uk/virtualtours
Light-Up Leith History Mural (Free) – North Junction Street, Friday 25 Sept – Sunday 4 Oct 8pm-10pm
Mural Tours (Pay what you can, £0-£4) – Sunday 27 Sept & Sunday 4 Oct
Into the Future with Food (Ticketed TBC) – The Pitt, Sunday 4 Oct
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