Single Post - TRACS

The Scottish Storytelling Forum are looking to appoint an individual with passion and enthusiasm for Storytelling in Scotland who has excellent administrative and co ordination skills.

Duties to include but not limited to:

Answering enquiries and meeting with new and prospective apprentices
Co-ordination of Apprentice Days and events
Maintenance of Apprentice Database
Admin and Moderation of ‘Stories on the Way’ Facebook group
Attendance at SSF Board Meetings when presenting apprentices for addition to Directory
Development of Apprentice Programme – in collaboration with Development Officer and SSF Board
Reporting

Person Spec and Job Description

To apply, please submit your CV along with a covering letter (max. one page) detailing your relevant experience and why you are interested in this role. Applications should be sent to joanne@tracscotland.org

Deadline: Midnight, 31 August 2025

My Kind of Book, in partnership with the Scottish Storytelling Forum and supported by the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, are offering a paid training and mentorship opportunity in Sensory Storytelling with leading practitioner in the field, Ailie Finlay.

Sensory storytelling is the art of combining props, sensory stimuli and words to create a beautiful story ‘package’. Sensory stories are used with people with additional needs for fun and relaxation, to encourage communication and to promote understanding. This project is for you if you would like to understand why sensory storytelling is so important, learn some sensory story skills and make your storytelling practice more inclusive – particularly of people with severe or profound additional needs.

As part of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival: Lights of the North, an inclusive sensory storytelling event will take place at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on 25th October. In the lead-up to the event, you’ll have the opportunity to work with Ailie, receiving training and mentorship, before taking part in delivering the sensory storytelling experience on the day.

What’s included in this opportunity:

3 x training and mentoring sessions with Ailie Finlay
1 x co-delivery of a sensory storytelling session at the Scottish Storytelling Centre
Fee and expenses (to be paid to mentee): £270

To apply, please submit your Storytelling CV along with a brief statement (max. 500 words) confirming that you are available on the 25^th October and explaining how this opportunity would support your creative practice and how you envision incorporating it into your future work to, storytelling@tracscotland.org

Deadline: Wednesday 20^th August 12 noon

Applicants will be notified as soon as possible after Monday 25^th August

New show, Deiseil: Dancing in Time, from musician Amy Geddes and dancer Alison Carlyle is a powerful exploration of stepdance and Scotland’s percussive dance tradition.

Although stepdance has been gradually reintegrating back into Scottish culture over the last 30 years, it’s still a bit of a mystery to many. Someone might jump up for a few steps at a session, or appear on stage for a set or two… but what is this dance? Where did it come from, and why did it go?

The show is a piece of theatre which explores these questions using a collage of fiddle, feet, Gaelic song and spoken word. Presented in the round to evoke the atmosphere of an old-style ceilidh house, it takes you inside the unique relationship between dancer and musician in a journey through centuries of living tradition. Deiseil (pronounced like jay-shal) is Gaelic for ready but also has an older meaning of sunwise or clockwise, and the show reflects on how history echoes into the present, and what goes around comes around again.

Alison and Amy have created the show with renowned theatre director Gerry Mulgrew, as well as musicians who have contributed audio recordings which blend seamlessly with the live music and dance. The relationship between the rhythms of stepdance and the cadence of Gaelic language, poetry and song shines through in puirt a beul (or mouth music) from Mary Ann Kennedy and Allan MacDonald. The sound of the feet is the focus for an immersive performance, sometimes joyful, sometimes deeply moving, which draws you in to this thought-provoking part of our heritage.

You can catch the show during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival at theSpace @ Venue 45, 8th – 16th August (not 10th), 5.10pm with touring throughout Scotland being planned for next year.

Tickets: www.thespaceuk.com/shows/2025/deiseil-dancing-in-time

About Ivor

Born in 1923, Ivor Cutler was a unique man from Govan and famed for songs/lyrics such as Women of the World and I Believe in Bugs. A poet, humourist, environmentalist, musician, teacher, singer/songwriter and artist, his humble humanity urges us to care about each other and Scotland’s natural environment. He invites special relationships with quirky animals and brings unexpected perspective to everyday situations and achieving a long lasting cult following.

Why do I connect with Ivor?

I’m really attracted by the nature of ‘profound playfulness’ at the core of Ivor’s songs and poems. I think we all need to reconnect with our inner child in this way and in a way playfulness is the same as creativity – its all about trying things out. I think Cutler’s charm also reveals a kind of humble stoicism that resonates loudly with themes of resilience, sustainability and wellbeing.

Growing up he was my first introduction to ‘traditional’ Scottish music. And one of my favourite songs of his is the very first single I properly released – I Worn My Elbows. I also sang I Worn My Elbows song for the final of the Young Traditional Musician of the Year alongside a term I coined (and hope catches on)…’elbowography’.

About the show: Ivory Cutlery

It is a 50-minute visual, musical storytelling performance, inspired by iconic Scottish artist Ivor Cutler. I’ll be performing in the mediums of singing, BSL signed song, movement, physical theatre, contemporary dance and Scottish step dance.

It’s a show for family and adult audiences, tempting adults to reconnect with their uninhibited wilder childhood imaginations. A Scottish celebration of being playfully present through the beauty of the mundane, it reflects Cutler’s art and brings contemporary spirit, tone and essence to support the sharing of his ‘traditional’ songs.

The Artist Process

Whilst missing out on British Sign Language until adulthood, I’m increasingly growing my ability to find my own voice personally and artistically. This project has allowed me to become more playful with BSL signed songs and with self-expression. Some of Ivor’s songs are abstract, and some are very literal and some are both, so there is a sense of freedom in deciding what approach to take for each song. I’ve also been enjoying exploring body percussion, step dance and contemporary dance woven into the signed songs. Switching from hands to feet – switching from language and storytelling with my hands to rhythmic body percussion. Sometimes it’s chaos and confusion but a bit of that suits Ivor’s style as well as reflecting D/deaf experience.

Who is this show for?

It’s important to note that this show is not just for d/Deaf community but for HoH and hearing people equally. It will be performed in English and SSE and BSL. There will be an interpreter and a performer. There will be some captions but not for some of the visual communication.

Dates for Fringe Performances

Venue: Deaf Action – 49 Albany Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3QY
Date: 08/08/25, 15/08/25 – 17/08/25
Time: 6:30m (Fri), 4:30pm (Fri), 4:30pm (Sat), 4:30pm (Sun)
Duration: 50 minutes
Room: Blackwood Bar

Venue: Summerhall – 1, Summerhall, Edinburgh EH9 1PL
Date: 09/08/25
Time: 5:30pm (Sat)
Duration: 50 minutes
Room: Dissection Room

Booking info here and here

Where I would like to take the show next

This show is set to evolve into a different iteration by bringing in a fantastic box player I’ve been working with on Ivor’s material, as well as another physical performer for further ‘playful’ possibilities with a view to touring across Scotland.

Evie Waddell is a Gaelic and Scots singer, fiddler, and visual musical performer from Stirlingshire. Her proficiency in Gaelic come from her Gaelic-medium education, and she is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with a BMus in Traditional Music. Her work draws influence from Jo Miller, Ivor Cutler, Martyn Bennett, Lisa O’Neill, and Rhiannon Giddens.

Evie’s performance style blends music with movement, including contemporary dance, Scottish traditional step dance, and British Sign Language (BSL). She performed with WHYTE in Theatre Gu Leòr’s production MAIM (2020) and went on to create and tour her own BSL-integrated show Fàilte Gu BSL (2022-23). She won the Danny Kyle Open Stage at Celtic Connections in 2023, was a semi-finalist in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician award 2024, and released the visual EP Cluich! in February 2024 following her debut EP Leviathan in December 2022. She is currently managed by The Bothy Society.

eviewaddell.co.uk | Instagram | Facebook

📷 Photos of Evie Waddell by Elly Lucas

The Scottish International Storytelling Festival, now in its 36th year, (22nd October to 1st November 2025) is the world’s largest celebration of storytelling – encompassing a wealth of cultures, traditions and styles. This year’s programme, inspired by the traditional folklore, myths, and legends of Nordic culture, includes storytelling events for adults and families, workshops, exhibitions, and discussion events online.

Under the theme ‘Lights of the North’, storytellers from Scotland will be joining storytellers from Norway, Finland, Sweden, Germany, and Iceland for an 11 day celebration, thanks to continued support from Creative Scotland’s Multi-Year Funding and the Scottish Government Festivals EXPO Fund.

Among the international storytellers taking part, are Hjörleifur Stefánsson who will present classic folk tales from Iceland; award-winning Swedish actor and storyteller Jerker Fahlström; nature writer and storyteller Georgiana Keable Jerstad and folktale performer Mimesis Heidi Dahlsveen from Norway; storyteller and folk singer Anna-Maria Toivonen from Finland; and Suse Weisse from Germany, whose dark myths and fairytales include stories by authors such as Calvino and the Brothers Grimm.

Festival favourites returning from Scotland include Ruth Kirkpatrick, Mara Menzies, Marjolein Robertson, Daniel Serridge, and Niall Moorjani, with many more to be announced when the full programme launches in September.

The Festival takes place at the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh and in venues across Scotland as part of the festival’s Go Local programme and its Story Ripple events. It is organised by TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland), and is a key platform for showcasing Scotland’s intangible cultural heritage, which includes traditional songs, dances, storytelling, customs, local languages and rituals of everyday life, passed down through the generations. This year, storytelling traditions of the Travelling community will be highlighted in the programme, with celebrated Traveller tradition bearers Jess Smith and Jimmy Williamson taking part, along with a celebratory event exploring Martyn Bennett’s use of Traveller stories and culture through his musical legacy.

As well as events for adults and families, the Festival includes performances from young emerging voices in association with FEST (Federation for European Storytelling); and networking events for those interested in storytelling skills and sources, community projects and creative collaboration.

Plus, new for 2025, the festival is partnering with the Scottish Wildlife Trust on its Words of the Wild nature writing competition for aspiring writers to tell their own story based on the theme ‘From Source to Sea’ about Scotland’s freshwater and marine habitat. The competition closes in July, with the winner being announced at this year’s festival.

Full details of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival’s programme will be announced on Wednesday 10 September at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, High Street, Edinburgh.

Professional Development Opportunities for Traditional Musicians

We’re excited to launch our Workshops Programme Autumn 2025 – a series of practical, industry-focused sessions designed to equip you with the essential knowledge and skills for your career as a self-employed traditional musician.

Following the success of our 2024 pilot in Glasgow and Edinburgh, we’re expanding! This year, you can join us not only in Glasgow and Edinburgh, but also in Inverness and Aberdeen.

From recording and releasing your music, to writing successful funding applications, planning tours, and managing your finances – our workshops are designed to help you succeed in the traditional music landscape today.

———-

INVERNESS
Eden Court

Recording & Releasing Your Music
with Barry Reid
Fri 19 Sept | 10am (3hrs)

Self-Promotion & Booking Gigs
with Ewan MacPherson
Fri 19 Sept | 2pm (3hrs)

Funding & Finances
with Fiona Dalgetty
Sat 20 Sept | 10am (3hrs)

———-

GLASGOW
Scottish Music Centre

Self-Promotion & Organising a Tour
with Katch Holmes
Fri 26 Sept | 10am (7hrs)

Funding & Finances
with Ailie Robertson
Fri 3 Oct | 10am (3hrs)

Recording & Releasing Your Music
with Euan Burton
Fri 3 Oct | 2pm (3hrs)

———-

EDINBURGH
Scottish Storytelling Centre

Self-Promotion & Organising a Tour
with Katch Holmes
Sat 27 Sept | 10.30am (7hrs)

Funding & Finances
with Ailie Robertson
Sat 4 Oct | 10.30am (3hrs)

Recording & Releasing Your Music
with Tom Oakes
Sat 4 Oct | 2.30pm (3hrs)

———-

ABERDEEN
Aberdeen Arts Centre

Funding & Finances
with Simon Gall
Fri 10 Oct | 10am (3hrs)

Recording & Releasing Your Music
with Tom Oakes
Fri 10 Oct | 2pm (3hrs)

———-

PRICING

3 hour workshops:
£15 / £13 / £7.50 (TMFS Members)
7 hour workshops:
£30 / £28 / £15 (TMFS Members)

TMFS members can enjoy an exclusive 50% discount on all workshops

Click here to book for INVERNESS, GLASGOW and ABERDEEN workshops
Click here to book for EDINBURGH workshops

These workshops are supported by TRACS (Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland) through Creative Scotland Multi-Year Funding

TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland) is looking for a Digital Marketing & Communications Officer (0.6 FTE, fixed term 12 months) to join our team dedicated to championing our shared living heritage of traditional music, song, storytelling, dance, crafts, customs and local languages.

Reporting to the Marketing & Communications Manager, the Digital Marketing & Communications Officer will be responsible for growing TRACS’ online communities by creating engaging content and ensuring our digital presence reflects our organisation’s vision and values.

Hours: 0.6 FTE (21 hours, 3 days per week)
Contract: Fixed term, 12 months
Salary: £16,200 per annum (£27,000 pro rata)
Location: TRACS office at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh
Application Deadline: Monday, 23rd June 2025
Interviews: Thursday, 3rd July 2025

Could this be me?

We are looking for an enthusiastic and skilled Digital Marketing and Communications Officer to join our team, with a focus on digital marketing and communications. This role involves managing and growing our digital presence across our channels including social media, websites and e-newsletters.

Our ideal candidate will have a solid understanding of digital content creation and be skilled at crafting materials that captivate online audiences. You’ll be experienced in managing digital platforms, developing impactful campaigns, and using analytics to inform and refine your work. Experience in editing and producing polished marketing materials is also essential.

How to apply

Download the full job description from our website
Send your CV with a covering letter to recruitment@tracscotland.org

If you require an application form in another format, please email recruitment@tracscotland.org

All applicants must be eligible to work in the UK.

TRACS commits itself to meeting the aims and commitments set out in its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy. This includes not discriminating under the Equality Act 2010 and building an accurate picture of the make-up of the workforce in encouraging equality and diversity.

TRACS is an accredited Living Wage Employer, committed to paying a wage based on the cost of living to our staff.

This role is supported by Creative Scotland Multi-Year Funding.

Review by Catherine Coutts

Many readers will be aware of UNESCO’s involvement in world heritage through the seven sites in Scotland, including St Kilda, the Forth Bridge and the Antonine Wall. But did you know that for many years, UNESCO has promoted intangible cultural heritage such as traditional dancing?

Scots will soon be invited to nominate their favourite traditions to be included on an official living heritage list. Submissions will be welcomed from all parts of the country, including the indigenous dance communities and those who have brought dance traditions from overseas to Scotland.

In the eve of UNESCO’s International Dance Day, as part of the Pomegranates Festival, the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland hosted the first public discussion on the opportunities for Scottish dances to be included on this list, whether they be at risk (such as the step dance Dusty Miller) or representative (such as the Highland Fling, Sword Dance, Gay Gordons, Dashing White Sergeant or Strip the Willow).

The evening opened with a demonstration of the Seann Triubhas by World Under18 Highland Dancing Champion, Eilidh Gammons. Eilidh’s dancing showed grace, power and perfect technique, demonstrating why she dominates the competitive highland dancing scene. She was nearly upstaged, however, by Lily and Lucy Clark, two youngsters starting on their dance journey who presented a very neat Highland Fling and Sword Dance with the biggest smiles.

The second performance came from the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society (RSCDS). The raked seating at the Scottish Storytelling Centre provided the optimum view for watching their formations, as the six dancers effortlessly flowed through them in perfect synchronisation. Whilst current choreography trends in both Country and Highland are fast and dynamic with dazzling costumes, it was refreshing to see both Scottish groups keeping the presentation traditional, allowing both the dances and their technique to shine.

The choice of music supported the dancers rather than competing against them, with Stephen Clark piping for Highland and Matthew MacLennan on the box for Country.

Four members of Falkirk’s Parzenica warmly executed a Polonaise wearing beautiful, colourful costumes of the Polish regions. This Polish group dance has already been recognised as part of UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Just like our Ceilidh dances, it is used for family and community celebrations.

The expert panel provided challenging and thought-provoking inputs with diverse perspectives on the preservation of traditional dances, including Hungarian Csárdás and Buso – both already inscribed in UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Wendy Timmons did a magnificent job in chairing the panel and keeping the discussions on track, however most speakers chose not to use a microphone which was to the detriment of the audience sitting further back.

A feature of the discussions was the work of bodies such as the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland, Royal Scottish Country Dance Society and Royal Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing in supporting Scottish dance in schools. This tied in well with UNESCO’s third strand of intangible culture: good safeguarding practices. We are in a unique position in Scotland where our social dances are known and danced by a huge portion of the population. While our display dances are danced mainly by the young and fit, their names are well known.

It was an exciting evening to attend. I am looking forward to the next steps and seeing the dances which our communities would like to see included on a submission to UNESCO.

This review was written by Catherine Coutts with the editorial support of Róisín O’Brien and Iliyana Nedkova as a follow up of our inaugural Traditional Dance Criticism Course.

Trad Dance as Intangible Cultural Heritage event was held at Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh 28 April 2025 as part of the Pomegranates Festival 25-30 April 2025. It was Scotland’s first public gathering exploring the opportunities for traditional dance as intangible cultural heritage.

Images courtesy of Basya Volodarskaya.

2025 was another successful year for the Pomegranates Festival, which ran from 25th to 30th April. The packed five-day programme of traditional dance, saw ticket sales up by 40% on 2024; a sold-out Ceilidh Plus event mixing Scottish, Hungarian and Polish social dancing; and a packed house for Charlotte McLean’s new not for glory dance theatre gig piece, brought to life by the incredible sure footing of Irish traditional dancer Jack Anderson and music from Malin Lewis.

Emma Ready, and Sean Edwards performing in Hidden Faces – this year’s festival finale

The Pomegranates Festival celebrates Scottish and world traditional dance practised by anyone, including cultural migrant communities across Scotland. Now in its fourth year, the festival has grown from a two-day showcase of work performed by local dancers, into a five-day festival of workshops, exhibitions, walking tours, debates and a showcase for new work.

Marking UNESCO International Dance Day on 29 April, this year’s festival finale Hidden Faces, was a powerful example of the strength of workshopping that the festival has anchored in its programme from the outset. The piece – a hip hop dance theatre tribute to the masked trad dances from around the world – was created across 2 intensive days, choreographed by 2 guest artists – hip hop dancer and clowning theatre practitioner Sean Edwards, and Scotland’s only professional B-girl Emma Ready; performed by 15 dancers and 3 musicians all based in Scotland; and produced with direction from Jonzi D, founder of Breakin’ Convention, MC, spoken word artist and hip hop dancer.

Other new work that premiered this year was the festival commission Sequins – a hip hop piece fused with Congolese traditional Luba dance by Kalubi Mukengela-Jacoby, a Belgian Scot dance artist with Congolese heritage who choreographed and performed her solo to another festival commission Sequins of Poems to Dance To, a set of 10 poems written and spoken by broadcaster Ian McMillan with a haunting soundscape by Robert Russell.

One of the festival themes this year was masks, and the dancers took inspiration from the exhibition Masks by Lorraine Pritchard which was on display in the Storytelling Centre and the Edinburgh Central Library. The exhibition included handcrafted Venetian style masks, books on the Venice Carnival and a collection of photos and newly-commissioned documentary film by Franzis Sánchez shot at this year’s Carnival and at various locations across Edinburgh.

Audiences also enjoyed a lively discussion following the screening of ten short films by home-grown and international teams of choreographers and cinematographers with an innovative focus of traditional dance on screen; a fantastic new piece of contemporary dance rooted in traditional dance and music Socratic Circles workshopped with pupils from Royal Mile and Abbeyhill local primary school, and postgraduate dance students from Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh; and a new podcast and a sold-out walking tour of Edinburgh with historian and dancer Alena Schmakova exploring Mary, Queen of Scots’ passion for dance.

Wendy Timmons and Iliyana Nedkova, co-curators and producers of the Pomegranates Festival said:

“We couldn’t be happier with this new edition of Pomegranates. It is really rewarding, also on behalf of the 100s of the dance artists featured and our new and returning guests, to know that the festival has earned its unique place in Edinburgh’s cultural calendar and is treasured by anyone passionate about trad dance and its links to poetry and art, film and fashion, craft and heritage. We are proud that through this year’s 3 festival themes – trad dance, masks and intangible cultural heritage – we were able to focus on the fine examples of already recognised living heritage, such as the Hungarian Csardas and Buso, Polish Polonaise, Chinese Yi cultural dance and the world heritage site of Venice and its Carnival. We are determined to build on the festival success of convening Scotland’s first-ever gathering about traditional dance and UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention. Watch this space as we continue to explore the opportunities this 2003 UNESCO Convention opens up for Scotland’s traditional dances in an international context.”

The Pomegranates Festival plans to return in spring 2026 with a new five-day programme of Scottish and world traditional dance. Dates to be confirmed.

The Pomegranates Festival is initiated and curated by Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland and presented and produced in partnership with Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland, Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh City Libraries, Dance Base and the Scottish Storytelling Centre. Supported by Creative Scotland’s multi-year funding programme through TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland) and Edinburgh Local Community Fund through the University of Edinburgh,

#PomegranatesFestival

More information visit https://www.tdfs.org/pomegranates/

Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland

Established in 2014,Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland is the only national organisation of its kind dedicated to the advancement of all forms of traditional and social dance. It advocates for and supports the diverse Scottish and world trad dance forms practised in Scotland ranging from Ceilidh to Old Time, Swing to Hip Hop as an integral part of our global intangible cultural heritage. It provides free membership to over 250 traditional dance artists and organisations and supports them through three major routes – productions, residencies and festivals such as Pomegranates. A registered charity (SCIO SC045085) and a founding member of Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland (TRACS) www.tdfs.org

TRACS (Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland) (SCIO, SC043009) is a co-operative network which champions our shared traditions of music, song, storytelling, dance, crafts, customs and local languages. TRACS celebrates the local distinctiveness of Scotland’s places: our intangible cultural heritage. TRACS brings together the Traditional Music Forum (SCIO SC042867), the Scottish Storytelling Forum (SCIO SC052330) and the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland (SCIO SC045085). Supported by Creative Scotland and The City of Edinburgh Council. www.tracscotland.org

Moray House School of Education and Sport has been making a major contribution to the fields of education and sport for 175 years. Moray House staff, students and alumni have influenced, improved and transformed learning, teaching and policy worldwide. The innovative and unique Master’s in Dance Science and Education gives dancers the scientific theory and specialist skills to push the frontiers of dance and dance education.

Moray House School of Education and Sport

Centre for Research in Education, Inclusion and Diversity (CREID)

MSc Dance Science and Education

Creative Scotland is the public body that supports culture and creativity across all parts of Scotland, distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery, which, now in its 30th year, has supported over 14,600 projects with more than £501.9 million in funding through Creative Scotland and its predecessor, the Scottish Arts Council. Further information at creativescotland.com and the social media channels on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. More about the value of art and creativity in Scotland at www.ourcreativevoice.scot

Exhibition Review by Catherine Coutts

Do I really want to go to see an exhibition about masks? At the start of the decade, masks (the ugly type with elastic bands, which cannot be recycled and were often to be found littering almost everywhere) were a topic of significant discussion. How effective and necessary were they in reducing the spread of COVID-19? Would high-grade masks have been better? What scientific evidence was there to support prolonged use? And why could I never find one in a nice toile de jouy fabric?

Thankfully, we seem to have left those face covers in the past and today finds me looking at an exhibition of altogether more attractive, entertaining and honestly priced masks.

Lorraine Pritchard of Rainemaker Studio is the artist-in-residence at this year’s Pomegranates Festival and the exhibition is curated by Iliyana Nedkova and Wendy Timmons of the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland. The curatorial emphasis is on the role of masks in traditional dance, one of the themes that define this year’s Pomegranates. The exhibition also focuses on the Venice Carnival – a prime example, recognised by UNESCO, of our global intangible cultural heritage, another of the festival themes. As the only Scottish artist performing at the Venice Carnival for the last four years, Lorraine is also the only local artist who completed a course in Venetian mask making with master sculptor and mask maker Agostino Dessi in Florence, Italy. Her fascination with the intricate detail and transformative power of masks led her to collaborate with the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland and complete a set of 15 newly-commissioned masks which came alive on the stage at the Pomegranates Festival dance theatre finale Hidden Faces.

Pritchard’s first work from her Florence training is also in the exhibition. Named Pierrot, it is made in the traditional Venetian style. It radiates the sadness that one would expect from the clown, but I quickly move on to some more playful works, including Carmen, an elaborate wearable wall mask with bronze relief detail and flamboyant headdress. The humour continues with Tynie, a specially commissioned Heart of Midlothian mask, on loan from a private collection, resplendent in the Hearts tartan, a golden tassle and at least four maroon jingle balls that I could see (a quick look at the Rainemaker website shows that other football teams are available).

The 20-plus masks featured in the exhibition all have their own personalities and stylistic mannerisms as they burst off of the walls of the Scottish Storytelling Centre. Hatter, Disco Lizard and others are cleverly displayed in frames and on mirrors. Particularly attractive are the half masks – the mask is covering the eye area (rather like Batman’s Robin) but with beautiful flowers, feathers and other adornments above it.

Other highlights include Lilibet (inspired by the late Queen’s platinum jubilee), Taggart (Lorraine’s first Harris Tweed Jolly mask, linking Scotland with Venice but still emanating an air of menace) and Maneki, a golden painted cat mask.

I leave the exhibition with a smile on my face having looked at so many beautiful and intricately crafted things. There were too many masks to really go into any detail here, so why don’t you go along yourself and choose your favourites?

Masks by Lorraine Pritchard at the Scottish Storytelling Centre is on from 3 April – 12 May 2025 daily between 10am and 6pm and until late on performance nights at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, High Street, Edinburgh. Entry is free and no registration is required. Masks was complemented by the Venice Carnival exhibition by Lorraine Pritchard, showing at Edinburgh Central Library. Further details here

Job Opportunity – Storytelling Apprenticeship Co-ordinator

Opportunity: Sensory Storytelling Training/Mentorship

Deiseil: Dancing in Time