News.Scotland.Org

Scotland, May 5: In an interesting move the dreams of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde who was the creator of Robert Louis Stevenson will be given focus at the Ullapool Book Festival. The event’s lecture titled Robert Louis Stevenson will be delivered by author Louise Welsh, will deal focus on how far dreams interpreted his creativity.

The first novel of Welsh, The Cutting Room, has already been translated into 19 languages and had won international awards such as the CWA John Creasey Memorial Dagger and the Saltire First Book Award.

Robert Louis Stevenson was brought up in Edinburgh in the 1800s is also renowned for his novels Kidnapped and Treasure Island. The festival is termed as the “most northerly mainland” book event is in its fourth year will commence on 16 May and end on 18 May.

Several prominent writers are expected to participate in this prestigious event among them is the Canadian writer Alistair MacLeod, he will give a reading. Mac Leod will also conduct a writing workshop and also visit Ullapool High School.

Other participants include fiction writers Luke Sutherland, James Robertson and Zoe Strachan; Alan Spence, organiser of literary festival WORD in Aberdeen will also participate in the event.

Scotland, May 1: In a whopping auction the White Roses and the Red Roses, an artwork of Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh fetched £1,700,500. The decorative panel was first displayed in the year 1902, with this auction the decorated panel set a new world record for highest amount achieved by a Scottish art work.

The Heart of the Rose, another panel by the same artist was sold for £490,900 at the same auction held at Christie’s in London. The artist Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh was the wife of renowned designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

The White Rose and Red Rose panel is purchased by a private US buyer. The artwork was decorated with jewelled gesso, a type of plaster and paint. This incomparable decorative panel is a joint work of Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh and her husband. The celebrity couples created lot of artistic works, with Macdonald Mackintosh creating the interiors of her husband’s work.

While commenting on this Professor Pamela Robertson, senior curator of Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow said: “It was a rare treat for the art lovers when Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh’s works come up at auction. Only some of her art works exist today and most of them are in public collection.”

Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh was born in 1864 and died in 1933.

Scotland, Apr 22: A week long Edinburgh Mela will begin from August 25 onwards. It is a multi-cultural festival that includes dance, music and other theatre art forms. With a new director at the helm the mela will be bigger this year than the previous years. Earlier the festival was a weekend celebration, this year it is extended to a week long festival. The location of the festival is changed from Pilrig Park to the impressive waterfront near Ocean Terminal in Leith.

While commenting on this the newly appointed director of the festival said: “There will be several changes in the mela, but it will retain all its unique features. This exhilarating festival will include a perfect blend of theatre, dance and music; the ambiance of the mela will be great this year as it includes a world premier. Shifting the event to a larger site and making it a week long event will mark the beginning of a new era of brand new Edinburgh Mela festival”

Port operator, Forth Ports and the property developer has come forward to sponsor the event. Organisers feel that the new sponsorship packages will boost the festival and allows it to provide a perfect platform to host various cultural events that reflects the diverse art forms of Scotland.

The Scottish Arts Council and Edinburgh City Council are supporting the week long Edinburgh Mela that will end on 31 August. The city’s minority ethnic communities with the aim of reflecting and celebrating Scotland’s cultural diversity took initiative and started the mela in the year 1995. This year Edinburgh Mela is expected to attract more visitors than ever.

Scotland, Apr 11: After enduring ten years of theft attempt, a collection of rare paintings of David Roberts worth £500,000 will be kept for display next year at the National Galleries of Scotland. The 19th century art works of David Roberts were owned by Helen Guiterman who left the painting to The Art Fund charity in 1998 and it didn’t get fulfilled. For forging Helen Guiterman’s will her cousin’s grandson Shaun Gray was sentenced to three years of imprisonment.

The Art Fund has taken several steps to make sure the wishes of Guiterman to get fulfilled. They began to study the case after a delay occurred in handing over of the art work and they also found that Gray is the executor of the will. When The Art Fund found that Gray had forged the will and indulging in false accounting they raised the alarm. Gray was arrested when he plead guilty of charges levelled against him.

Gray also forged the documents to make himself owner to the valuable properties of Helen Guiterman that includes estate and collection of six oil paintings and 51 watercolours of David Roberts. The Art Funds finally recovered the art works and will take necessary steps to ensure its safety until it could be legally owned by the National Gallery of Scotland.

The collection of rare art works of renowned painter David Roberts includes famous Nuns in the Calefactory at Carmona. Robert hailed from Stockbridge in Edinburgh and was born in the year 1796. He is very popular and critically acclaimed during his lifetime. The paintings from the collection will be kept for display in the exhibition named Imagining Spain: From Goya to Picasso, The British and Spain to be held from 18 July to 11 October next year.

Scotland, Apr 7: An impressive map of Dundee is to be created as the joint effort of the people of the region. They consider this as a form of art. A GPS device will be given to the walkers and their path is projected with the help of computer and there after to the large canvas that is kept at Abertay University.

The volunteers will then mark the route using colour threads. Already several paths were stitched using different coloured threads and the volunteers are preparing to add more routes to the canvas. This innovative attempt named as “Running Stitch” is a joint effort of artists Jen Southern, Chris St Amand, and Jen Hamilton.

While commenting on this Donna Holford-Lovell, the Cultural Projects Officer of the university said: “We are inviting more people be a part of this project, whether as a stitcher, backpacker or both. The participants are asked to prepare for a personal journey in and around Dundee. They will visit places that they have never visited before. Soon after completion the map will be kept for display at the Signals in the City exhibition that boasts several art works.”

As the map is a joint effort of several people it will offer personal experience to many. The exhibition will conclude on 2 May.

Scotland, Apr 2: Eric Stewart a former call centre employee from South Lanarkshire got a golden opportunity to train with the leading celebrity photographer Rankin. He is a student at Motherwell College identified his skills while taking evening classes in photography. Eric hails from Stonehouse got a two-week work placement after sending Rankin samples of his work.

Eric said that he is an ardent fan of Rankin who has captured celebrities like Kylie, the Queen and Madonna. On the guidance of the evening course tutor Eric resigned his call centre job to study full-time photography course.

While commenting on this Eric said: “As part of our course we had to find a work placement so I decided to take a chance to approach my favourite photographer. Rankin is one of the best photographers in the world now. I’m eagerly waiting to see how he works, how he interact with the models and want to know where his ideas come from.”

“The work placement will be an amazing opportunity for Eric. Rankin is a well known photographer and I know how Eric admires his work. I’m looking forward to hear the experience of Eric after the training,” said David McShane, head of the department of creative arts, media and design of the college.

Eric Stewart will start his placement in April. Even though the location is mainly based in London he might get an opportunity to work on places anywhere in the world.

Scotland, Mar 6: In an attempt to celebrate the World Book Day in great style, hundreds of events are scheduled to take place all across Scotland. The main highlight of these events is the display of the world’s biggest book named Bhutan.

The biggest book is the compilation of excellent photographs that captures the inimitable landscapes, culture and people of Bhutan. The book measures 5 ft 7 inches, and will be exhibited at the National Library of Scotland.

Various initiatives to encourage the reading habit among young generation will be taken as part of the World Book Day. Those who visit Edinburgh Zoo will get a chance to choose an animal to illustrate. Thousands of book tokens will also be distributed among children to promote reading habit in them.

World Book Day is considered as the biggest annual celebration that is dedicated to reading in the UK.

February, 28

Music is all set to rock the buzzing Edinburgh city with the Celtic music festival. It is known that many award winning musicians from all over the Scotland will participate in this festival gracing the occasion. Many renowned and classic musicians will display their mesmerising performance at this three week long music festival to be held in Edinburgh. Artist like Karine Polwart, Kris Drever, Julie Fowlis, Lauren McColl and veteran stars like Jackie Leven and Mike Heron will also stage their appearance in the fest.

This musical festival will not only incorporate musicians from Scotland but many overseas musicians will also render their performance in the Celtic music festival. Eyes still remain on the special overseas musicians, the Appalachian multi-instrumentalist Laura Boosinger and Nashville veteran Billy Joe Shaver who are about to enthral the audience by their musical treat. This time this festival is designed in a grand manner with over 30 venues to host this mega event, which will attract huge crowd turnout.

The sixth annual music festival is considered to be a big event and even the Edinburgh city council have said, that this year’s programme would be the best so far. The festival will also benefit the Ceilidh culture and will provide them with great monetary benefit.

Every year huge number of tourist from around the globe reaches here to witness this musical fest. Beginning from 21^st March till 13^th April this festival will showcase different style of music and great performances of renowned musicians. The festival will support and encourage more and more new talents to come up in their musical field. Edinburgh too has gained reputation as a traditional art hub in the UK with this annual music festival. So preparations are going on full swing and the city is getting ready to embrace this musical treat which is about to glorify the Edinburgh city.

Scotland, Jan 24: One of the biggest musical festivals of Scotland is all set to begin in Dundee in June. The grand gala will set stage for more than 50 bands from across the world. Workshops that depict the influence of digital revolution will be conducted alongside the musical programmes. Earlier this festival was held in the year 2001 and it provides base for many skilful performers to showcase their talent.

The organiser of the event Shaun Arnold said: “I am eagerly waiting for Dundee to host the goNorth this year. You can not only feel the thrill of discovering new bands but also the strong sense of community. The city has a wealth of talent; this festival provides great venues for them to cater the needs of the enthusiastic audiences. One thing is for sure this musical festival will linger in your mind for a lifetime.”

The festival will be held across several city venues on 5th and 6th of June. Fringe events will be held from first of the month. Online registration of the musicians will be enabled and they will be short-listed by the panel of experts early in March.

While commenting on this Lord Provost John Letford said: “This is an extraordinary event for Dundee and will enhance the city’s growing reputation as a musical, cultural and artistic centre of excellence. It has already gained reputation by hosting Radio 1’s Big Weekend and the goNorth is also expected to turn out as a huge success.”

GoNorth musical festival will help to upgrade the profile of the musicians and Dundee with its diverse hub for the various art forms is an ideal place to host this impressive musical festival.

Scotland, Jan 16: One of the prestigious and Europe’s biggest music festivals will begin with a spectacular torchlight procession through Glasgow. The 15th annual Celtic Connections festival will provide platform for more than 1000 performers from over 20 countries. Two pipe bands will lead the group of blazing torches that starts from George Square to the Royal Concert hall to officially start the festival on Wednesday.

The festival will last for 19 days spiced with concerts at 14 different venues across the city. Among the prominent performers are country music star Steve Earle, ex-Rolling Stone bassist Bill Wyman and KD Lang. The Scottish groups like the Capercaillie and Teenage Fanclub, African world music star Baaba Maal and choirs from Bulgaria and Italy will participate in this impressive musical event.

The festival’s club has organised some grand late night jam sessions over the years. This will be assisted by the dedicated members of Celtic music radio station that will include news and other music concerts from Celtic Connections.

The remarkable festival began to occupy the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall’s January schedule. It has grown dramatically over the years and is now fetching revenue of over £6.8m to the local economy. Hundreds of people participated in last year’s procession and lots more are expected this year.