LeithLate have reminded us about their series of outdoor live events this Autumn.

They have also set up a new online Virtual Tour of Leith’s murals and art studios, as part of Leith100 – marking the centenary of Leith’s amalgamation with the city of Edinburgh.

From 25 September to 4 October, LeithLate brings back the Light-Up Leith History Mural for a bumper run of 10 nights. The unique projection event breathes new life into the beloved Leith History Mural, painted on a North Junction St gable end by Tim Chalk and Paul Grimes in the 1980s. 

The globally-renowned Leith-based Double-Take Projections have expertly animated this beautiful piece of art and created a bespoke soundscape which plays underneath. The family-friendly, community event invites audiences of all ages to experience this local treasure in a whole new light. 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.

In conjunction with the Light-Up Leith History Mural, LeithLate is collaborating with Empty Kitchens, Full Hearts (EKFH) who are hosted at the Leith Theatre. EKFH is a movement of volunteer chefs who have responded to the Covid-19 crisis by taking food donations and turning it into meals and treats for those most in need. Every day, EKFH has been delivering free meals to over 500 individuals facing food insecurity, plus offering free walk-in lunch and dinners daily to hundreds more. This collaboration will allow the public to purchase one of the delicious, high-quality meals they provide to so many in need, with all profits going to help their organisation continue their vital work in the community. 

On 4 October, LeithLate will host the special closing event at Into the Future with Food: a night that will be part discussion, part dinner, all celebration and suitable for all ages. In collaboration with The Pitt street food market, the event promises food, drink and an unmissable discussion on the future of the beloved history mural originally titled “Into the Future with a Strong Community”. Should we be restoring? Or should this spark off something else involving a new generation of Leithers and artists? What would a living memory mural look like? Tickets for the event, priced by donation,  will be released in September. 

To coincide with the return of Light-Up Leith History Mural, Cameron Foster – the originator of the wildly popular Leith Mural Tours- will be conducting what may be his final ever in-person tours of Leith’s fascinating murals. These will run in the afternoon of Sunday 27 September and Sunday 4 October and are priced on a pay-what-you-can scale of £0-£4. 

Cameron’s beautifully crafted and researched tours will be archived for posterity on LeithLate’s 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 the organisation was able to support 18 creatives during the pandemic 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 the virtual tapestry mapping Murals and Studios in Leith. LeithLate Virtual Tours are live here www.leithlate.co.uk/virtualtours

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)   www.leithlate.co.uk/virtualtours

Light-Up Leith History Mural (Free) – North Junction Street, Friday 25 September – Sunday 4 October 8pm-10pm

Mural Tours (Pay what you can, £0-£4) – Sunday 27 September and Sunday 4 October

Into the Future with Food (Ticketed TBC) – The Pitt, Sunday 4 October

Main image above by Chris Scott

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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.