Culture
A celebration of old Scottish traditions
The 31st Scottish International Storytelling Festival will celebrate old traditions and new connections. Showcasing how music, dance and story communicate shared experiences that are ‘Beyond Words’, the event will run from 19–31 October. In this UN International Year of Indigenous Languages, First Nation and Scottish tradition bearers will share their heritage, while contemporary narratives of…
Read MoreThe story of Glasgow Art School’s two blazes
The whole of Scotland was stunned in May 2014, when a fire tore through the west wing of the Glasgow School of Art, destroying its famous library. Designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the building was one of the finest examples of modern architecture in the world. What followed was the biggest conservation project in Europe:…
Read MoreXpoNorth will give talent a good showcase
XpoNorth has revealed the acts invited to showcase at this year’s edition Scotland’s leading conference and showcase for the creative industries. Taking place across 3 and 4 July, the live programme will see some of the most exciting artists from the Highlands and Islands and the rest of Scotland perform across a host of city…
Read MoreBodyguard star to be honoured in Glasgow
Bodyguard’s Richard Madden, celebrated soprano and a West End designer are to be honoured by Scotland’s national conservatoire. Actor Richard Madden, lighting designer Paule Constable and soprano Margaret Marshall OBE will receive the honours as part of the Conservatoire’s summer graduation on Thursday, July 4. The trio will join more than 300 graduands who will…
Read MoreBig change for the Wigtown Poetry Prize
Wigtown’s international poetry prize has announced major changes designed to celebrate the richness of Scotland’s three national languages. For the first time the £1500 prize will be open to English, Scottish Gaelic and Scots language poems, with entries invited from around the globe. The change marks the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages in…
Read MoreA night of female empowerment at Eusebi Deli
I’m lucky enough to be able to attend some fabulous events as part of my job. Hotel stays, restaurant openings and spa days. It’s tough but somehow I get through it. However, last month I attended an event which left me with so much more than a goody bag. I felt inspired, strong, fierce and…
Read MoreThe Scotsman who made a lasting mark on Russia
Catherine the Great’s favourite architect was the brilliant, mysterious Scot, Charles Cameron. Charles Cameron came from mysterious beginnings, origins which he deliberately made foggier. By his mid-thirties, in 1779, without ever having created a building in his life, he was appointed by Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, to lead a classical architectural revival. Talented…
Read MoreThe forgotten daughter of Sir William Burrell
Behind the remarkable collection gifted to Glasgow by philanthropist Sir William Burrell, lies a bitter family feud and a daughter who could never fulfil her father’s expectations. More than twenty years ago I set out to unravel a mystery, but with no idea where my mission would lead. It all began with the death in…
Read MoreEight in ten Scots parents don’t get kids’ slang
New research finds 82% of Scottish parents don’t understand their children’s modern day slang. ‘Obvs’, ‘savage’, ‘sick’, ‘squad’ and ‘awks’ among the words most commonly used, as parents say their kids use at least three words a day that they do not understand. Nearly 8 out of 10 of Scottish parents do not understand their…
Read MoreThe Scotsman who was a hero to Albert Einstein
When Albert Einstein, perhaps the most famous physicist of all time, published his special theory of relativity in 1905, he used the opening sentence to mention one of Scotland’s greatest scientific minds – James Clerk Maxwell. Later, when marking the centenary of Maxwell’s birth, Einstein wrote: ‘The theory of relativity owes its origins to Maxwell’s…
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