Five things you need to know today
Monarchs of the Glen
Christopher Baker, author and curator, talks all things ‘Monarch of the Glen’ with Dovecot Studios Director, Celia Joicey on 15 January.
This conversation is a chance to gain a unique perspective on how Baker curated the four walls of Dovecot’s Tapestry Balcony Gallery to celebrate the cultural significance of Edwin Landseer’s The Monarch of the Glen. To commemorate the 150th anniversary of Landseer’s death, Baker highlights how reproductions of The Monarch of the Glen have been used for numerous agendas, ranging from the celebratory and political, to the comic and subversive.
There will be an opportunity to ask Christopher Baker questions at the end of the session and The Monarch of the Glen book by Christoper Baker will also be available to purchase at the Dovecot shop.
Tickets £12.50
At the Fruitmarket Gallery
| Last chance to see Zarina Bhimji Flagging it up which ends on 28 January 2024. British artist Zarina Bhimji makes photographs, films and installations which engage with themes such as institutional power and subjectivity. Her work grows from observation and felt sense and is rooted in a careful use of colour and light. Embracing slippages and ambiguities, it is evocative rather than descriptive or documentary in its pace, setting and mood. This exhibition spans Bhimji’s career and includes a newly commissioned film, Blind Spot (2023). If you can’t make it to see the exhibition, watch the Exhibition Walkthrough. |
[vimeo 887586036 w=640 h=360]
Zarina Bhimji Exhibition Walk through from Fruitmarket on Vimeo.
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Council resumes this week
Business will include the Policy and Sustainability Committee on Tuesday and the Transport and Environment Committee (TEC) meeting on Thursday morning.
TEC now meets monthly to cope with the large agenda it has to cover.
Scottish Parliament – MSPs are back at work
The parliament reconvenes today with the prospect of a General Election this year looming large.
One of the end of year announcements made by the parliament’s Finance and Public Administration Committee at the end of last year was that there will be a formal inquiry into the number and remit of Scotland’s Commissioners.
Scotland currently has seven commissioners directly responsible to Parliament. An eighth – the Patients Safety Commissioner – was agreed by Parliament in September 2023.
A further six commissioners have been proposed, or are being considered, that could potentially bring the total number to 14 by the end of this five-year session of Parliament.
Finance and Public Administration Committee Convener Kenneth Gibson said: “Seven commissioners cost £16.6m, according to budget figures for 2023/24. Each office comes with its own staff and its own running costs. The smallest cost £0.3m and the largest £6.7m. More are being proposed, or considered, by both the government and by backbench MSPs.
“Our committee believes this inquiry is both timely and necessary.”
Mr Gibson added: “The Scottish Government has already stated there is very little published research on commissioners in Scotland – or the UK – and little evaluation exploring their pros and cons, powers or ways of working.
“Our committee will therefore investigate whether a more coherent and strategic approach is needed for the creation of such commissioners in Scotland.”
