Celebrating 40 Years of Scotland’s Photography Collection

26 October-16 March 2025. Entry free. Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1JD. 

Discover the stories within the photographs, marvel at historical pictures and visit some famous faces in this celebration of the nation’s photography collection. Celebrating 40 years of collecting photography, the National Galleries of Scotland have  brought together highlights from the nation’s world class collection of over 55,000 photographs.  

https://www.nationalgalleries.org/

The Unforgetting

26 October-17 November. Entry free. Fruitmarket Gallery, 45 Market Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1DF. 

Since 2019, artist Holly Davey has been making a body of work that includes photography, collage, sculpture, text and performance exploring marginalised and forgotten figures through history. Following two years of research into the Fruitmarket’s archive, Davey aims to give voice to the “silent” parts of its archive. 

https://www.fruitmarket.co.uk

The Unforgetting, Holly DaveyThe Unforgetting, Holly Davey (Image: Holly Davey)

GAFFER: Impressions from a Loch Fyne Skiff

2 November-2 February 2025. Entry from £9. Scottish Maritime Museum, The Linthouse Building, Harbour Road, Irvine, KA12 8BT. 

Through this latest exhibition, the Law family explore the real and imagined stories in the life of Kirsty, one of the few surviving Loch Fyne Skiffs. The family have collaborated through their different arts to capture the spirit of Kirsty, which they have owned and sailed for the last 25 years. 

https://www.scottishmaritimemuseum.org/

Scenes from the East Neuk

26-28 October. Entry free. Scottish Fisheries Museum, St Ayles Harbourhead, Anstruther, KY10 3AB. 

Enjoy beautiful scenes and still life captured in a range of styles by Crail Brushstrokes, a community of artists based in Crail. There’s landscapes and landmarks that’ll be familiar to many who live in, or visit, Crail as well as more abstract work and serene scenes from around the country. 

https://www.scotfishmuseum.org/

APPARATUS

2-24 November. Entry free. Strange Field, 105 French Street, Glasgow, G40 4EH. 

For the final exhibition of their 2024 programme, Glasgow-based visual artist Morwenna Kearsley will be showing at Strange Field. Primarily using analogue materials, Kearsley’s work positions the three dimensional world, the interior of the camera and the darkroom as interconnected spaces where light is a fundamental force. As her first major-scale solo exhibition, Kearsley has transformed Strange Field’s space into an immersive exhibition with this new series of large-scale photos. 

https://www.strangefield.org/

Dogs + Noir

26 October-23 November. Entry free. Detour Espresso, 39 Argyle Place, Edinburgh, EH9 1JT. 

Artist and printmaker AJ Kinroy’s new exhibition takes inspiration from Jean-Pierre Melville’s transposition of American film noir into 1970s France. Discover new works from the artist that feature French themes as well as themes from the 1970s, there’s also a theme of greyhounds, hence the dogs!

https://ajkinroy.format.com/#1

One Last Dance: Memoirs of Holyrood Boxing Gymnasium

31 October-4 November. Entry free. Outline Gallery, 5 Lochrin Place, Edinburgh, EH3 9QX. 

Anna Isola Crolla has captured the essence and power of the Holyrood Boxing Gym through an artist’s eye. The gym, which was situated in a former Victorian brewery, played a part in repurposing Edinburgh’s industrial heritage from a space once filled with workers into one filled with amateur boxing. 

https://annaisolacrolla.co.uk/

Michael Craik: The Space In Between

2-30 November. Entry free. &Gallery, 3 Dundas Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6QG. 

The space in between is a place that often passes unnoticed offering an opportunity to recalibrate before one's attention is redrawn. Such spaces are the building blocks of artist Michael Craik’s practice and are the subject of his latest exhibition. It also presents a series of works that recently came to fruition. 

https://andgallery.co.uk/

Art Car Boot Sale

26-27 October. Entry from £10. Tramway, 25 Albert Drive, Glasgow, G41 2PE. 

Scotland’s biggest contemporary art market is back this weekend with over 100 artists featured in this year’s curated showcase. On offer is art from award-winning established artists associated with prizes including the Turner Prize. 

https://www.tickettailor.com

Mimesis: African SoldierMimesis: African Soldier (Image: John Akomfrah)

Mimesis: African Soldier

26 October-31 August 2025. Entry free. Gallery of Modern Art, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow, G1 3AH. 

John Akomfrah’s exhibition at Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art reflects on the experience of soldiers from across the Commonwealth in WWI. His display aims to highlight the significant contribution of over six million African, Caribbean and South Asian people from across former colonies who served, fought, and died in the war.

https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk