Scottish Art Highlights: January 2026

Supported by the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt Partnership, Edinburgh Art Festival HQ is the temporary home to a quilt panel commemorating the life of Derek Allan Fraser. Lovingly handstitched, the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt tells stories of people who lost their lives during the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 80s and 90s. Fraser was a proud Scottish gay man who worked at London Lighthouse, a centre for people affected by HIV and AIDS. Each square of fabric is a facet of Fraser’s life, as told by those who loved him most. The quilt can be inspected from the window of the French Institute of Scotland until 31 March, in anticipation of the arrival of the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt in its entirety at Tramway this September.

The Royal Scottish Academy. Photo: Sean Christie.

The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, celebrates their 200th birthday with an expansive programme of exhibitions throughout 2026. To kick off the celebrations, Origin Stories explores the network of artistic connections that the artist-led organisation has nurtured through teaching and tutorship. Alongside, RSA presents Generation, which traces the connections and routes of 16 architects who formerly worked at the practice of Richard Murphy RSA. Both exhibitions run from 24 January until 8 March.

Meanwhile, at the Glasgow School of Art, Mother Curator celebrates motherhood in "its fullness, its challenges, its strengths and profound creativity." The group exhibition is grounded in lived experience, uniting works by GSA staff and students who are mothers to question the systematic undervaluing of motherhood. The exhibition runs 10-26 January in the Reid Gallery.