The Edinburgh Reporter September 2023

18 WHAT’S ON

CULTURE • LITERATURE • ART • EVENTS • MUSIC • MUSEUMS...

Let’s set sail

on the Art

Walk

Ambitious VESSEL exhibition takes

to the waves at Porty festival

4TH

In 1611, the council ordered the
burgh treasurer to plan the
construction of a school for Mr Patrik
Henrysoun, master of the song
school. And in 1808, Edinburgh-
based John Home, Scottish
playwright, historian and kirk
minister, died. Among his most
famous works is Douglas, a verse
tragedy which enjoyed such a
successful run in his native Edinburgh
that it was transferred south to
Covent Garden. Also in 1964, the
Forth Road Bridge was opened by
the Queen. At 6,156 feet long and a
centre span of 3300 feet, it was the
longest in Europe at that time.

7TH
In 1736, John Porteous was
lynched by a mob in Edinburgh;
people protesting the execution of
smuggler Andrew Wilson the
previous April were fired upon by
troops commanded by Captain of
the City Guard, John Porteous. He

was sentenced to death but was

reprieved following an appeal; a

furious crowd stormed the jail

where Porteous was held and

dragged him to the Grassmarket,

where he was hanged. And in 1782,

Susan Edmonstone Ferrier, Scottish

novelist (Scotland’s “Jane Austen”),

was born in Edinburgh. Also in 1842,

Queen Victoria visited Edinburgh for

the first time.

10TH

In 1547, the Battle of Pinkie

Cleugh was fought between

Scottish and English forces; the

battle, which was fought close to

Musselburgh, was fought as part

of the ‘rough wooing’ in which

England’s King Henry VIII tried to

demand a marriage between his

son Edward and the young Mary

Queen of Scots. And in 1883,

Mr Henry Irving and the London

Lyceum Company opened the

Lyceum Theatre.

24TH

In 1959, the top coat of tanny grit

was put over the wires of the Mound

electric blanket.

The complete list of all notable

events in the month of September

can be read on our website:

theedinburghreporter.co.uk

Looking back in time...

Artist Wayne Antony

in the studio

By STEPHEN RAFFERTY

ALMOST 30 PRIVATE homes and studios and
10 local businesses will feature a wide range of
art and artists in the Art Walk Porty Festival
from 1-10 September.
The annual arts festival features an eclectic
programme of contemporary art, with a walking,
participatory and live arts focus from local and
international artists, which organisers Art Walk
Porty say is compelling work that furthers the
debate around art and the environment.
The Open Studios programme features 28
private addresses which are open to the public
on the weekends of 2-3 September and 9-
September with some also open by appointment

during the week.

Art in Shops is a series of small exhibitions

across 11 sites involving Portobello shops, cafes

and businesses, with many of the artists

responding to the festival’s VESSEL theme

which highlights how Portobello’s coastal

ecologies and industrial histories are connected

with questions concerning drought, climate

resilience and climate-induced migration.

Art Walk Porty has also commissioned work

across 16 coastal locations, including Portobello

Beach and promenade and Portobello kilns,

Aberlady nature reserve and the Seafield

wastewater treatment plant.

The central VESSEL exhibition at the Art

Walk hub at 189 Portobello High Street) will be

open on both festival weekends. The exhibition

programme includes an array of walks, talks,

workshops, tastings, site-specific installations

and film screenings.

On Sunday 10 September, the artist Jenny

Pope will launch her new coracle boat sculpture

constructed with recycled fabric collected from

Portobello residents. The coracle links early

innovations in maritime travel with today’s

climate crisis to address collective anxiety

and resilience.

Afloat film night is a programme of short

films curated by Rosy Naylor and exploring

ideas around environmental change and our

relationship to the landscapes around us.

Screened outdoors on Portobello Promenade,

the programme includes films by Ruth Barrie,

Juliana Capes, Kathy Hinde, Joanne Matthews,

Julia Parks, Zoe Paterson Macinnes and Aymen

Zedani.

Rosy Naylor, Curator/Director of Art Walk

Projects, said: “Our festival theme VESSEL

connects the ecology of Portobello with global

questions concerning water scarcity and

resilience in the face of climate change. We have

commissioned work from local and international

artists that deals with the immediate impact of

climate change and explores the wide-ranging

effects on a worldwide scale.”

For full details and opening times visit

http://www.artwalkporty.co.uk

Playwright,

historian and kirk

minister, John Home

Workers laying

the tanny grit

Compiled by Jerry Ozaniec, Membership Secretary of the

Old Edinburgh Club. E: [email protected]