Celebrating Leith and North Edinburgh January 2012
Elsewhere on Leith & North:
LGBT Lives Exhibition 2011
Leith Festival Arts 2009
Edinburgh Mela 2010
Return of the Soul
Parallel Lives 2: On Tour
Edinburgh Poetry Garden
Dialogues of Wind & Bamboo
104 pairs of shoes exhibition
Leith & North: Please email any news items to: news@leithandnorth.org.uk Leith Festival 2009: Arts venues spring up all over LeithView of the face of the Circe sculpture, with the  red rim  of the foyer's cupola behind Ocean Terminal really came into its own as an arts venue during this year's Leith Festival, but there were exhibitions at Out of the Blue Drill Hall, the Arts Complex and an original sculpture (a permanent fixture, in the Secret Garden of South Leith Parish Church. These pictures represent the venues that Leith & North was able to visit in 2009.

Man in blue tee shirt with arms folded between the foot of a 50' white ball dress and the foot of a 50' red ball dress Grey and sand coloured bas relief sculpture on garden wall with red roses beneath Left <<<: Duncan Robertson at his Dress Down exhibition at Out of the Blue Drill Hall
Right >>>:
Graciela Ainsworth's specially commissioned sculpture.
Out of the Blue Drill Hall hosted Duncan Robertson's "Dress Down", an exhibiton of photos and two epic sculptures which used dress as a metaphor for the human form (see above, and right, for the full impression).

South Leith Parish Church commissioned local artist, Graciela Ainsworth to create a sculpture, (above, ) as a permanent memorial to all those buried in Leith, especially those in unamrked graves. The words are from 1st Corinthians, in the Christian Holy Book, and read:

When buried ugly & weak; When raised beautiful & strong.
When buried, a physical body; When raised a spiritual body.

Duncan Robertson's web site >>>
Graciela Ainsworth's web site (uses Flash) >>>

Framed black and white etching of Aung Suu Kyi Four children aged around 10,  holding copies of the Burma Book with Mark Lazarowicz, at Ocean Terminall Left <<<: Burma's imprisoned leader, Aung Suu Kyi
Right >>>:
Mark Lazarowicz with pupils from Pirniehall Primary

Crombie's, the celebrated Broughton St butcher sponsored Pot Pourri, a competition and exhibition of art work by local primary schools including Fort, St. Mary's Leith Walk, Lorne and many others. Prizes for posters were handed out by Malcolm Chisholm and Mark Lazarowicz (MSP and MP for Edinburgh North and Leith,) on Leith Gala Day.

Forthview, Pirniehall, and St. Mary's Leith Primaries combined with three Burmese schools, and two other Edinburgh schools to produce a book of etchings of Burmese scenes. Alastair Greig from Edinburgh's Amnesty Burma Group gave a copy of OUR BURMA BOOK to Archbishop Desmond Tutu when he attended the Church of Scotland General Assembly this year. Prints from OUR BURMA BOOK, which was produced with Lottery funding, will be available for sale.

Forthview's Burma blog with more images from the Burma Book >>>
Pirniehall's Burma blog >>>

Black and white snow flake designs Various posters displayed on pillars in Ocean Terminal Left <<<: Pictures from Primary Pot Pourri on display at Ocean Terminal
Right >>>:
More pictures from Primary Pot Pourri

Melissa Milan seated beside her work Head and shoulders  detail of an Indian woman in a blue hooded dress Left <<<: Melissa Milan, London and Rio based artist.
Right >>>:
Painting by Parthasarathi Ray.

Another highlight of Leith Festival 2009, was the wood sculpture of (Leith based painter and sculptor,) Arran Ross, who has also exhibited at Edinburgh's City Art Centre. Arran's theme for Leith was "Spacewalk"; his space men could be seen inside Ocean Terminal, while Arran himself worked with his chain saw, in full view of passing Leithers.

Seven foot tree trunk lying in a pile of sawdust with Arran Ross' chain saw carving it as Leithers watch on Astonaut in the foreground with another astronaut pointing a ray gunn at an alienArran in red cagoule and safety helmet at work on a  tree trunk Left <<<: Arran Ross' space men in the Ocean Terminal
Right >>>:
Arran outside with a facsimile tram behind him.

Arran Ross' web site >>>

View of  people sitting round tables looking towards Les making a presentation in the  Thomas Morton Hall, Leith