The Edinburgh Reporter March 2023

19

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

This month in history...

EACH MONTH Jerry Ozaniec,

Secretary of the Old Edinburgh

Club, reminds us of some of the

notable historical events which

have taken place in Edinburgh.

3RD

In 1847, Alexander Graham Bell

was born at a home in South

Charlotte Street.

7TH

In 1744, the Honourable Company

of Edinburgh Golfers was founded;

the oldest known golf club in the

world, it produced 13 "Rules of Golf"

for its first competition which was

played for the "Silver Club"; the club

played on the five holes at Leith

Links for nearly a century.

In 1924, sculptor Sir Eduardo

Paolozzi was born in Leith.

8TH

In 1859, Kenneth Grahame, author

of "The Wind in the Willows", was

born in Edinburgh.

In 1940, an artillery shell was fired

into Leith from Inchkeith Defensive

Battery! Here's the report: “Several

people had remarkable escapes

when a 100lb shell crashed through

the walls of this house in Leith,

Scotland. The shell, which had been

fired from a costal battery across the

bows of a trawler, struck the water,

ricocheted, skimmed the housetops,

went through a factory roof and

struck a house.” The picture shows

the local police inspecting the

damage. The story “allegedly” was

that a young lieutenant arrived on

Inchkeith with the Royal

Artillery during these

dark war years and the

gun crew were ordered

to fire a salvo across

the bows of the trawler.

Despite the attempts of

the gun crew who tried

to tell this young officer

that the shells were not

blanks, the officer

dismissed their protests

and curtly ordered the crew to fire,

resulting in the shelling of

Salamander Street. Thankfully no

one was injured and it was

amusingly known in Leith as the

“Battle of Salamander Street”.

17TH

In 1800, Catherine Sinclair,

Scottish novelist and a writer of

children's literature which departed

from the moralising

approach common in

that period, was born

at 9 Charlotte Square in

Edinburgh near which

there is a memorial to

her. She is credited

with discovering

that the author of

the anonymous

Waverley Novels was

Sir Walter Scott.

For richer...

...For poorer

Hamming it up at the

Festival Theatre

Artist Lisa inspired by wildlife

POOR THINGS: AN EXHIBITION OF

SCULPTURE IN THE CONTEXT OF CLASS

Brought together by artists Emma Hart

and Dean Kenning

04 March – 21 May

Exhibition Galleries at Fruitmarket

45 Market Street, EH1 1DF

POOR THINGS is an exhibition that has

come out of conversations about art and

social class. Conversations that artists Emma

Hart and Dean Kenning have had together as

friends, and with the Fruitmarket, a free

public space for art. In order to explore these

things Hart and Kenning have brought

together what they consider to be some of

the best “Poor Things” made by

contemporary artists based in the UK.

In a spirit of solidarity they will engage

with te each of the artists in front of their

sculptures and fire up conversation. Audio

recordings of these conversations will be

available for visitors to listen to while going

round the exhibition and will be collated for

a publication to be launched while the

exhibition is ongoing.

Fiona Bradley, Director, Fruitmarket, said:

“I am looking forward to seeing the work of

these artists come together with each other

and our audience.”

The exhibition features artists : Linda

Aloysius, Eric Bainbridge, Jonathan Baldock,

Simeon Barclay, Joseph Buckley, Beagles and

Ramsay, Chila Burman, Andrew Cooper,

Jamie Cooper, Penny Goring, Brian Griffiths,

Emma Hart, Lee Holden, Dean Kenning, Josie

KO, Rosie McGinn, Rebecca Moss, Janette

Parris, Anne Ryan, Aled Simons, Laura Yuile.

HAMILTON

28 Feb - 27 Apr 2024

Festival Theatre Edinburgh

HAMILTON THE Broadway sensation

is coming to Edinburgh next spring,

and Sir Cameron Mackintosh was in town

to herald the announcement.

Mackintosh and his fellow producer

Jeffrey Seller say they are delighted to bring

the hip hop history to the capital of

Scotland. And of course Hamilton, the first

Secretary of the Treasury, and one of the

Founding Fathers, had Scottish heritage.

His father was born in Ayrshire in the 1700s

before moving to Nevis in the West Indies.

Hamilton is the story of America then,

told by America now. Featuring a score that

blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B and Broadway,

Hamilton has taken the story of American

founding father Alexander Hamilton and

created a revolutionary moment in

theatre—a musical that has had a profound

impact on culture, politics, and education.

With book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel

Miranda, direction by Thomas Kail,

choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, and

musical supervision and orchestrations by

Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton is based on Ron

Chernow’s acclaimed biography. The

Hamilton creative team previously

collaborated on the Tony Award-Winning

Best Musical In the Heights.

http://www.capitaltheatres.com

LISA HOOPER SWLA

1 March - 16 April 2023

Opening hours: Wed-Sun

(10-4) • Free entry

Scottish Ornithologists’

Club, Aberlady EH32 0PY

PRESENTING new prints by

Lisa Hooper accompanied

by glass sculptures by

Graham Muir.

Hooper is an established

wildlife artist and has been

working, primarily as a

printmaker, for 30 years. She

lives in west Galloway and

takes inspiration from the

birds and wildlife she sees

close to home and on

frequent visits to Orkney

and Shetland. She presents

a new body of prints, mostly

woodcuts and linocuts as

well as some etchings.

Lisa values the focus that

printmaking encourages

and has developed a

distinctive style, producing

colourful, bold compositions

sometimes flirting with

abstraction. Her work is well

regarded by her peers, she is

an elected member of the

Society of Wildlife Artists.

She has published two

books with Langford Press,

First Impressions and

Printing Wildlife.

Lisa’s work is

accompanied by glass

sculptures by Graham Muir.

Graham’s glass waves are

inspired the beauty and

power of the sea but also by

the process of making glass

itself, which he describes as

a conversation between the

glass and the artist.

Sir Eduardo Paolozzi