Five things you need to know today
Photography exhibition in Craigmillar, slow traffic at the Transport Committee meeting today, and piano playing with eight hands to enjoy on Saturday
Transport and Environment Committee
The Transport and Environment Committee meets today at the City Chambers amid a flurry of deputations, many of whom have been moved to put forward their case on the way the committee is addressing the City Mobility Plan which is item 7.5 on the agenda.
The deputations can mostly be read below, although some will be presented verbally only or in person in addition to the written submissions.
It is always sobering to read deputations to this committee in particular, but also any of the council committees. People who are volunteers take it upon themselves to read the hundreds of pages of text which the council reports produce and then comment on the proposals. That comment is always articulate, in depth, and draws upon local knowledge.
What is evident from several of these deputations is that nothing in the transport field in Edinburgh is moving fast enough, and that the council's transport officers are under stress and lacking in numbers. They could have been written ten years ago.
Helter Skelter art
A Leith artist has given a new lease of life to the Montgomery Street Helter Skelter which was removed due to safety concerns during the renovation at the play park.
For more than half a century an ornate slide or Helter Skelter stood in Montgomery Street Park, and became an integral part of the community.
Leithers far and wide were able to recall playing with, drawing on, or as local artist Paul Meikle has recently discovered, peeing down, the structure. Regardless of how it was interacted with, fond and priceless memories were made and it is those memories that Paul could not allow to be destroyed when Edinburgh Council decided that was its fate.
When the council deemed the structure unsafe for use it was set to be scrapped alongside the decades worth of memories it holds. Paul, an artist whose work focuses on decaying environments, saw an opportunity and contacted those involved with a plan to ensure that this once local staple and its stories live on forever.
At Pianodrome on Saturday
"Square music" is an invention of the creative team behind Pianodrome. It means four pianists performing on two grand pianos and two uprights which are actually built into the amphitheatre.
At the Red Bus Warehouse 28 West Harbour Road EH5 1PN at 4pm. Free entry. Donations welcome.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/square-music-tickets-1328301047189?aff=oddtdtcreator
Dine outdoors under the starlight at Jupiter Artland
The next monthly outdoor dining event at Jupiter Artland takes place on 29 May.
The three course feast is made by Chef Stefano Caddeo with canapés and a main course prepared over a BBQ before your eyes.
"Step into an Enchanted Evening Beneath the Stars As twilight falls, the woodland awakens. Dine beneath a canopy of ancient trees and starlight, where the air shimmers with enchantment and the forest whispers its secrets. This is no ordinary supper—it’s a midsummer night’s dream brought to life.
"As twilight falls, the woodland awakens. Dine beneath a canopy of ancient trees and starlight, where the air shimmers with enchantment and the forest whispers its secrets. This is no ordinary supper—it’s a midsummer night’s dream brought to life."
Craigmillar Now Arts - Laleh Sherkat
Craigmillar Now Arts & Heritage Centre from 30 May to 29 June 2025
Open Wednesday – Sunday, 11am – 4pm
Laleh Sherkat (b. 1963) is an award-winning Iranian photographer living in Craigmillar.
This exhibition will present a selection of Laleh’s early work, taken during her studies at The University of Tehran and shortly after graduating.
The photographs focus on the lives of women in Iran during the politically turbulent period that followed the Islamic Revolution in 1979. There are six series of work in the show; ‘Women in Prison,’ (1984); ‘Women at Work,’ taken in factories across Tehran between 1984-1988; ‘Morgue Workers,’ (1993); Bandari Women, (1993) and Nomad Women, (1988). There is also a selection of work taken during the last few months of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988.
Laleh Sherkat said: 'I faced restrictions that my male counterparts did not, but I sought to transcend these limitations and enrich my personal and artistic experience. I have always been deeply committed to documenting the realities of women’s lives and amplifying their voices—an enduring concern that lies at the heart of these bodies of work.'
As a woman Laleh was able to navigate women’s spaces more easily and gain the trust of female subjects. This allowed Laleh to capture women and communities that might have otherwise remained undocumented.
These photographs have never been exhibited in the UK and offer audiences a rare glimpse into the life of women in Iran during the 1980s and early 90s.
