What's On Scotland 2-9 Sep: OMOS & more

This week, we're doing some time travelling. In 1594, a performance was given to King James VI of Scotland in Stirling Castle, in which a lion was intended to pull a chariot across the stage during the play. Fearing for the safety of the audience, the lion was eventually replaced by an unnamed Black man, whose specificity and presence has long been erased from the history books.

This story, and the ongoing invisibilised labour of Black performers in the arts, forms the basis of OMOS (Our Story, Our Movement), an astonishing new moving image work taking place in Edinburgh's Royal Scottish Academy from 3 Sep-2 Oct.

Paying homage to the ongoing creative legacies of Black, queer performers in Scotland, OMOS deftly spans across genres of drag, opera, and pole artistry, to craft a work that is as visually mesmerising as it is gut-wrenching. Its outstanding collaborative approach is led by cabaret performer Rhys Hollis along with Andrea Baker, Divine Tasinda and Kheanna Walker, who journey through magical forests and waterfalls towards Stirling Castle to reclaim space and narrative. Entry to the exhibition is free, and there are exciting workshops and events running in tandem throughout the month.

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Echo in the Dark
Hospitalfield, Arbroath, 8-10 Sep, 7:30pm
Merging bat echolocation with EDM (yes, you read that right), this major new collaboration sees artist and composer Hanna Tuulikki stage a series of raves around Scotland, informed by the calls of bats local to the UK, in order to explore new methods of ecological co-existence. The first shows premiere at Hospitalfield this month, with a Scottish tour to follow. Image: Laurence Winram.

Norman Gilbert
Tramway, Glasgow, 3 Sep-5 Feb
Tramway goes super local in this major new exhibition of Southside-artist Norman Gilbert, one of the 20th century’s most seminal Glasgow-based artists. Featuring many of his vibrant, formally inventive paintings depicting scenes of everyday domesticity, this exhibition also brings together black-and-white studies showing his creative process, as well as textiles and ephemera from his studio. Image: Norman Gilbert.

ADVERTISEMENT | Aberdeen International Comedy Festival
Various venues, Aberdeen, 6-16 Oct, various times
Comedy returns with a bang in October with a line-up of gut-busting comedians set to grace the granite city for 11 days from Thursday 6 to Sunday 16 October! With around 50 shows taking place at over 20 venues across the city centre, comedy fans will find something for everyone in this year's star-studded line-up. Headliners include the legendary David O’Doherty, deadpan Jack Dee, Netflix sensation Daniel Sloss and Britain’s Got Talent winner Daliso Chaponda.

Scotland in Colour 2022
Old Royal High School, Edinburgh, 3 Sep, 12pm
Hosted by Intercultural Youth Scotland, this fourth edition of Scotland in Colour celebrates the creativity and culture of Black people and People of Colour living in Scotland, with a programme of music and performance held in the atmospheric Pianodrome. Heading the lineup is beloved rapper Bemz, with appearances from Billy Got Waves, Grace & The Flat Boys and DJing by Iso Yso and Optimistic Soul among others.

Hurray for the Riff Raff
St Luke’s, Glasgow, 2 Sep, 7:30pm
New Orleans-based band Hurray for the Riff Raff heads to Glasgow this week, bringing their eponymously scrappy brand of folk to the equally folksy stage of St Luke's. With ten albums under their belt in almost as many years, Hurray for the Riff Raff are as genre-pushing as they are prolific, with their latest album Life On Earth being some of their best work yet. Image: Akasha Rabut.

ADVERTISEMENT | Memoirs of a Spacewoman
The Briggait, Glasgow, 23-24 Sep
A two-day extravaganza of visual art, food and heritage activities to celebrate the life and work of Scottish writer Naomi Mitchison and her involvement in the politics of west coast fishing communities. Includes a new collective sculptural installation by artist Rhona Taylor, cooking demonstrations, performance and local crafts. All free! Part of Scotland’s Year of Stories.

Pre-code Hollywood: Rules Are Made to be Broken
Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow, until 19 Sep
The Hay's Code, introduced in 1934, came to define the Golden Age of Hollywood, creating a structure of rules and censorship around which American cinema bent itself. This fascinating new film season, curated by critics Pamela Hutchinson and Christina Newland, showcases some of the most risqué and boundary-pushing films created in the years before the Code, when Hollywood was a whole different landscape.

Stereo Presents: DJ Lag + Optimistic Soul + Elanda
Stereo, Glasgow, 3 Sep, 11pm
DJ Lag, one of the biggest global names in Gqom - a subgenre of house created and lovingly crafted in South Africa - arrives in Stereo this weekend to bring the best of the bass-heavy, soul-thrumming music to Scotland's west coast. Supported by African EDM producer and DJ Optimistic Soul and Afro-Scots DJ ELANDA, DJ Lag's Glasgow stop-off is not to be missed. Image: Courtesy of artist.

CLT DRP
Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh, 7 Sep, 7pm
Having toured with the likes of Svalbard and Heriot, Brighton-based electro-punk outfit CLT DRP are now headlining their own journey around the UK, with a stop in Edinburgh's beloved indie venue Sneaky Pete's. Expect plenty of smart, appropriately angry lyrics, intoxicatingly discordant guitar riffs, and a healthy amount of chaos. Image: Courtesy of artist.