What's On Scotland 27 May-3 Jun: Abbas Akhavan at Mount Stuart & more

This week we venture outside the Central Belt for Abbas Akhavan's exhibition on the Isle of Bute. Elsewhere, Tracey Emin comes to Jupiter Artland and Riverside Festival kicks off in Glasgow.

Feature by Anahit Behrooz | 27 May 2022
  • you used to call it blue sometimes

There is – if the stacks of Union Jack bunting at Tesco haven't made it abundantly clear – a Jubilee Bank Holiday coming up, and what better way to celebrate/ignore it than by taking a trip to the Isle of Bute over the long weekend. Specifically, we recommend heading to Mount Stuart, the island's manor-house-turned-arts-space where Iranian-Canadian artist Abbas Akhavan's new exhibition study for a garden has taken over the house and grounds.

Akhavan's first exhibition in Scotland, study for a garden is specifically inspired by the artist's experience of Mount Stuart's grounds, from the manor's vaulted sandstone crypt to the glasshouses. Combining drawing, audio, and installation, Akhavan's work interrogates the boundaries between the artificial and natural, and the emplacement of humans within their surroundings.

Having opened at the end of April, the exhibition extends until 2 October, which gives you plenty of time to find a wee chunk of time (this Bank Holiday? Next Bank Holiday? Skive off work?) to whisk away to Bute.

Movement with DJ Sama’ Abdulhadi
Sub Club, Glasgow. 1 Jun, 11pm
One of the biggest names of the Palestinian underground rave scene comes to Glasgow for one unmissable night. Making her Sub Club debut, DJ and producer Sama’ Abdulhadi has a unique musical sensibility, informed as much by the Berlin techno scene as it is by electronic music from Beirut and the delirious beats of traditional Arab music. Image: Tristan Hollingsworth.

Tracey Emin: I Lay Here For You
Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh. 28 May-30 Sep
Tracey Emin’s first Scottish show since 2008, I Lay Here For You is proof that some things are well worth waiting for. Taking the form of a giant bronze sculpture of a woman curled against the atmospheric woodlands of Jupiter Artland, this startlingly vulnerable installation continues Emin’s career-long investigation of the politics of intimacy. Image: Allan Pollock Morris, courtesy Jupiter Artland.


ADVERTISEMENT | Scottish Opera: Don Giovanni
Edinburgh + Glasgow. Until 25 Jun
Book now for Scottish Opera’s Don Giovanni

Dark, atmospheric and ablaze with drama, this is full-blooded opera at its best brought to life by Mozart’s spell-binding music. Be transported to the backstreets of 17th century Venice, the hunting ground of the amorous Don Giovanni. A mercurial rogue who flits from irresistible charm to brute violence in a heartbeat.

Don’t miss this ‘gothic rollercoaster’ The Herald. Performing in Edinburgh and Glasgow this June.

★★★★ The Times ★★★★ The Stage ★★★★ The Telegraph ★★★★ The Herald


Riverside Festival
The Riverside Museum, Glasgow, 2-4 Jun
Make good use of the long Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend with Riverside Festival, Glasgow's inner-city music festival taking place on the banks of the River Clyde. Headliners include Charlotte de Witte and Róisín Murphy with stage presence from the likes of Nightwave and TAAHLIAH and late night DJ sessions at SWG3. Image: Spit Turner.

WOODED
Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh, 27-28 May, 7:30pm
Taking place in the quiet, eerie woods at night, WOODED follows seven characters, told across four separate narratives, as they bring the weight of their histories and futures into the woods. Focusing on the weight of female relationships, told through music and movement, WOODED interrogates the ways in which we are bound together, even when apart. Image: Untie My Tongue Theatre.


ADVERTISEMENT | Green Court: Bah Bah Black Sheep
Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh. 2 Jun, 6pm
A lively early evening event as Secure Scotland present a 'moot' court to address the practice of Wool Scouring in Scotland, with issues of access to justice, green-washing, evidence gathering, and environmental criminality as highlighted by the sheep in the bath. Actor John Bett, as ‘the judge’, will hear submissions from advocates posing different viewpoints and a variety of evidence. All attending may petition to present questions and opinions.


Tay Late: Because We Must
V&A Dundee, Dundee. 27 May, 7:30pm
Tay Lates are back with a celebration of the fabulous and avant-garde exhibition Michael Clark: Cosmic Dancer. Co-curated with Glasgwegian fashion designer Charles Jeffrey, this late night at the museum includes costume performances by queer creatives, DJ sets from JungleHussi and Henri and a queer-focused tour of the V&A's collections. Image: Richard Haughton.

GSA Graduate Degree Show 2022
Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow. 1-19 Jun
Celebrating the creativity of Scotland's brightest young things, the Glasgow School of Art's Degree Show 2022 is the first public exhibition of student works to be shown in two years. Work by over 600 students from five different schools, including Fine Art and Visualisation, collectively addresses ideas of climate crisis, race and representation, and the place of art in the modern world. Image: Glasgow School of Art.

The Green Court: Bah Bah Black Sheep
Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh, 2 Jun, 6pm
A mock judicial trial revolving around the practice of wool scouring – the process by which raw wool is cleansed in order to be used in the textile industry – this fascinating half-theatre, half-debate presented by Secure Scotlans explores contemporary ecological and political concerns. Image: Courtesy of Secure Scotland.

TROLLOPS
The Berkeley Suite, Glasgow. 27 May, 11pm
Free tonight? Head to the launch event of TROLLOPS, a new queer and trans pop-up bar and club night celebrating and platforming Glasgow's sex worker community. Think gorgeously performed stage shows, DJ sets, and plenty of dancing into the wee hours of the night: tickets are selling fast so snap yours up quick. Image: Femme Castratrice.