What's On Scotland 16-30 Oct: Scottish International Storytelling Festival & more

It's your local friendly events editor, refusing to acknowledge second lockdown and instead focusing on far cuter things. Did you know, for example, that we launched our very first merch earlier this month? We partnered with the incredible folks over at 1 of 100, an independent, Glasgow-based business who make incredible T shirts out of organic, sustainable cotton, to produce these beautiful babies, illustrated by long time collaborator Jacky Sheridan and emblazoned with a message that I think we can all get behind right now.

These are super duper limited edition T shirts: only 100 will ever be made and each shirt comes with its own little number on it, as well as a free (!) tote bag! We are super excited for our own ones to arrive, and we hope you will be too.

Speaking of showing up for the arts, the second half of October is packed full of creative shenanigans - both online and off - perfect for offsetting the darkening days and the...oh god...what was that other thing? Oh yes, the continuing apocalypse. There's the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, a live set with Scottish punk group Bikini Body, and a day full of Black History Month events. Read on for more!

LimbicTV: Bikini Body
Online. 24 Oct, 8pm
LimbicTV, a new streaming channel set up to showcase outstanding grassroots musical talent, is welcoming Edinburgh-based feminist punk band Bikini Body to their rota, whose acerbic lyrics and intoxicating lyrics are exactly perfect for screaming along to in your living room. Image: Cameron Fitzsimmons.

Emergence
Online. Until 27 Oct
Mull Theatre's new digital programme Emergence brings together two plays - Strange Rocks by Oliver Emanuel and Undocumented by Anita Vettesse - that explore ideas of connection, loss and isolation, staged and directed by the theatre's 2020/2021 Director Beth Morton. Image: Sarah Darling Photography.

Scottish International Storytelling Festival
Online and various venues. 17-31 Oct
This year's Scottish International Storytelling Festival is themed around water, and there is a gorgeous variety of online shows to catch, from storytelling walks through the Botanic Gardens to a staged and streamed show examining Scotland's role in the transatlantic slave trade. Image: Kavion Robinson.

Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh. 24 Oct 2020 - 5 Sep 2021
If you are anything like me, you grew up on Ray Harryhausen movies. This retrospective gives an unparalleled look at the grandfather of cinematic special effects, from never-before-seen concept sketches to his iconic stop motion models. Image: The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation Photography.

Inexhuastible Well
Ltd. Ink Corporation, Edinburgh. 16-25 Oct
This exhibition of new works from local artists Thomas Ada, Fran Gordon, Gabriele Jogelaite, and Matthew Wilson takes an interdisciplinary approach to print media, exploring the outcomes and possibilities found in the repetitive, the layered and the infinite. Image: Matthw Wilson.

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Black History Month Live!
Online. 24 Oct, 12pm
This all-day celebration of Black History Month, put together by the African Caribbean Society of Scotland, kicks off at noon and goes til late, with poetry readings by Courtney Stoddart and history talks by Lisa Williams among much more. Tune into their Youtube or Facebook for a cultural extravaganza. Image: Ben Grieve.

10 Past 6: 10 Year Anniversary Special
Six Foot Gallery, Glasgow. 22 Oct - 10 Nov
This exhibition brings together emerging and established artists and creatives to celebrate Six Foot Gallery's tenth anniversary. There's print work, there's sculpture, and there's painting all on offer, don your mask and help them ring in the next ten. Image: Myria Christophini Njenga.