Talks & lectures
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373 events
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Conversations: Nicola Boud and Kristian Bezuidenhout
Australian clarinettist Nicola Boud and fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout discuss their Queen’s Hall recital with Richard Morrison, chief music critic of The Times.
The Hub, Edinburgh
Thu 15 Aug
Conversations: Philip Glass and Patti Smith
Philip Glass is joined by Patti Smith to discuss their cross-art form collaboration The Poet Speaks with writer and broadcaster Richard Coles.
The Hub, Edinburgh
Tue 13 Aug
Conversations: The Wooster Group
Elizabeth LeCompte and company members talk to Andrew Quick about their complex interpretation of Hamlet.
The Hub, Edinburgh
Mon 12 Aug
Cornelia Parker
Cornelia Parker is one of the most profound and poetic artists working in Britain today. Her wide-ranging practice, chiefly in sculpture and installation, touches on the fragility of human experience. Exploring everything from ghosts and gravity to relics and the unconscious, she transforms everyday, ordinary objects…
Purcell Room, London SE1
Sun 26 May
£10 Booking: £1.75 (Members £0.00) (£50) / 0844 875 0073
- 16:30
Cowalfest
Walking festival that takes place amid the natural splendour of the Cowal peninsula with walks focussing on heritage, wildlife or just a good work-out. As well as an extensive range of guided walks for all ages and abilities, there are also drama workshops for children, horse riding, orienteering, exhibitions, art…
Cowal Peninsula
Fri 4 Oct
Times & prices vary; most walks free / 01369 703785
Sat 5 Oct
Times & prices vary; most walks free / 01369 703785
Sun 6 Oct
Times & prices vary; most walks free / 01369 703785
Cultural Dialogue
August 2012 saw the inaugural Edinburgh International Culture Summit, an event that brought together Culture Ministers and officials from over 30 nations for a series of conversations about forging international dialogue through culture. Initiated by the Edinburgh International Festival in partnership with the British…
The Hub, Edinburgh
Fri 30 Aug
£6 / 0131 473 2000
Cultural Forum 2013: Global Citizenship
Ahead of June's G8 summit, this series of events brings together international figures from politics, business, academia and the arts to debate migration, resources and culture. Curated by Zamyn in partnership with Accenture, Africa Progress Panel, Barclays, Penguin Books, SOAS, University of London and Tate.
Tate Modern, London SE1
Wed 29 May
Free / 020 7887 8888
- 19:00 – 21:00
Thu 30 May
Free / 020 7887 8888
- 19:00 – 21:00
Fri 31 May
Free / 020 7887 8888
- 19:00 – 21:00
Curators Talk
Curators from the Nam June Paik Art Center, Tate and Talbot Rice Gallery discuss the work and legacy of Nam June Paik.
Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh
Sat 10 Aug
Free / 0131 473 2000
Dance Odysseys Discussion
An overview of this unique weekend of dance, chaired by Scottish Ballet’s Artistic Director Christopher Hampson.
Edinburgh Festival Theatre
Fri 16 Aug
Dance on Film Talk
Curator of Dance Odysseys films Nele Hertling shares her thoughts on dance on celluloid.
Edinburgh Festival Theatre
Mon 19 Aug
David Watkin
Johann Sebastian Bach's Suites for Solo Cello are some of the greatest works ever written for solo instrument, and also some of the most problematic; the composer's manuscript has long since been lost and they almost certainly weren't written for an instrument that closely resembles the modern cello. SCO principal cellist…
Paxton House and Country Park, Berwick upon Tweed
Wed 24 Jul
£16 (£8) / 01289 386291
This performance contains the first, third and fifth of the Cello Suites. Part of Music at Paxton.
Defend Free State Education For All!
Coalition 'reforms' are making education a privilege for the few. Join staff and students fighting back as ordinary families cannot afford tuition fees, privatisation threatens universities including Sussex, schools like Worthing High are forced into academies, GCSE grades are undermined. Christine Blower (NUT leader)…
Friends' Meeting House, Brighton
Wed 29 May
The Digital Alternative
How do you set up a poetry website? What are the advantages and disadvantages of online publishing? Join us as we consider the digital alternative to poetry magazines in discussion with website editors Helen Ivory from 'Ink, Sweat & Tears', Caleb Klaces from 'Like Starlings' and Claire Trévien from 'Sabotage…
Saison Poetry Library, London SE1
Wed 5 Jun
Free / 0844 875 0073
- 20:00
Discussion: Lines Lost
Artist Stuart McAdam and Claudia Zeiske, Director of Deveron Arts, will lead a discussion with a panel of experts about the relationship between art and walking, and the history of the railways in Scotland. This event is the culmination of a guided walk that McAdam will lead earlier in the afternoon along the Innocent…
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
Thu 1 Aug
Free / 0131 225 6671
Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.
- 16:00 – 17:30
The Dog Beneath the Skin
The first of three shared readings in which the audience join in. At this intimate event all audience members share in the reading aloud of part of WH Auden and Christopher Isherwood's The Dog Beneath the Skin. Join us as we celebrate the range of poetry in the Poetry Library's collection as part of the library's…
Saison Poetry Library, London SE1
Tue 22 Oct
£5 Booking: £1.75 (Members £0.00) (£50) / 0844 875 0073
- 20:00
Doors Open Day: Greenock Cut
Learn how the viaduct changed the lives of the people of Greenock with this walk and talk.
Greenock Cut Visitor Centre, Near Inverkip
Sat 14 Sep
Free / 01475 521 458
- 13:00 – 15:00
Dragonflies in Action
Walk and talk with 'dragonfly geek' Ruary Mackenzie Dodds from BBC Springwatch.
RSPB Loch Leven Nature Reserve, Kinross
Sat 29 Jun
Included in admission / 01577 862355
- 14:15 – 15:45
Drawing the Story: Mary Talbot, Glyn Dillon and Stephen Collins
Three authors discuss the graphic form, which is enjoying a long-overdue renaissance. Join Mary Talbot (Costa Award-winning author of 'Dotter of Her Father's Eyes'), Glyn Dillon (author of cult bestseller 'The Nao of Brown') and Stephen Collins (cartoonist for 'The Guardian' and author of the hotly anticipated 'The…
Purcell Room, London SE1
Sun 26 May
£10 Booking: £1.75 (Members £0.00) (£50) / 0844 875 0073
- 14:00
Dundee Mountain Film Festival
The UK's longest continuous running mountain film festival (now in its 31st year) showcases an international programme of films by local film makers, presentations and book signings by world renowned mountaineers, adventurers and expedition leaders, and art and photography exhibitions.
Bonar Hall, Dundee
Fri 22 Nov
Times vary / £6–£15 / 01382 730699
Sat 23 Nov
Times vary / £6–£15 / 01382 730699
Earl Slick: Diary of a Sideman
The omnipresent guitarist Earl Slick, whose most recent project was David Bowie's The Next Day, discusses his new book.
Purcell Room, London SE1
Thu 20 Jun
£15 Booking: £1.75 (Members £0.00) (£50) / 0844 875 0073
- 19:45
Edinburgh Café Scientifique
Explore the latest ideas in science and technology, outside a traditional academic context, at this forum for debating and promoting public engagement.
Filmhouse Café Bar, Edinburgh
Mon 10 Jun
Free / 0131 228 2688
Tonight: 'MC1R, Red Hair and Evolution in Action' with Professor Ian Jackson. Find out why gingers are so common in Scotland (hint: it has something to do with the gene MC1R) and why this might be the case.
- 20:30 – 22:30
Mon 8 Jul
Free / 0131 228 2688
Tonight: 'Two Faces of Plastics: Destroying and Saving Our Planet' with Dr. Michael P Shaver. The professor looks at both the good and bad sides of the easily vilified product.
- 20:30
Edinburgh Lectures: Scotland's Forgotten Cats: A Tale of Two Kitties
Dr David Hetherington looks at the two feline species native to Scotland: the Scottish wildcat and the Eurasian lynx. The lynx is extinct, but the wildcat hangs on – although only with help from conservationists like Hetherington, who set up the Cairngorms Wildcat Project.
National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
Thu 6 Jun
£5 / 0300 123 6789
Edinburgh Short Film Festival
A selection of the best shorts by filmmakers from around the world.
The Granary, Edinburgh
Sat 8 Jun
£4 (£3) / 0131 554 9465
Part of Leith Festival.
- 19:30
Sun 9 Jun
£4 (£3) / 0131 554 9465
Part of Leith Festival.
- 19:30
Fri 14 Jun
£4 (£3) / 0131 554 9465
Part of Leith Festival.
- 19:30
Summerhall, Edinburgh
Fri 7 Jun
£4 (£3) / 0845 874 3001
Part of Leith Festival.
- 19:30
Sat 15 Jun
£4 (£3) / 0845 874 3001
Part of Leith Festival.
- 19:30
SUPERCUBE, Edinburgh
Wed 12 Jun
£3 / 0131 226 4218
Short film roulette.
- 19:00 – 23:00
Also on at:
Edinburgh Skeptics in the Pub
Regular meet-ups of Edinburgh's most enquiring minds, breaking down doctrine with pints and chat.
The Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh
Thu 20 Jun
Thu 18 Jul
Free / 07896 745991
Tonight: Dealing Reasonably with Irrational Fear.
- 19:30 – 22:00
Edinburgh Tarot Group
Join up with other folks interested in the mystical art of tarot at this monthly group, and share tips and tricks while you practice doing readings for other members.
The Jekyll & Hyde, Edinburgh
Mon 27 May
£4 / 0131 225 2022
- 14:00 – 17:00
Mon 24 Jun
£4 / 0131 225 2022
- 14:00 – 17:00
Mon 29 Jul
£4 / 0131 225 2022
- 14:00 – 17:00

