During the early years of the Edinburgh International Festival, it included visual art exhibitions. Artists who have been featured at the festival include Édouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonard in 1948, Leslie Hunter, Francis Cadell and Samuel Peploe in 1949, and Rembrandt in 1950. However, the festival’s focus eventually shifted to performing arts. Visual arts were excluded from the programming in 1966.
In 2001, Scottish Sunday newspaper Scotland on Sunday launched a campaign to create a representation for visual arts at the annual Edinburgh Festival. The campaign brought together a group of gallery directors who founded the Edinburgh Art Festival. The inaugural festival was held in 2004 and was an immediate success. It has been held every year since its inception. The event is run by a small, dedicated team with financial support from Creative Scotland, the City of Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Government.
Over the years, the Edinburgh Art Festival has grown to become the largest visual arts festival in Scotland. It brings together Edinburgh’s leading galleries, museums and artist-run spaces to showcase works by established and emerging artists. The festival runs over a month in August and features over 45 exhibitions in about 30 galleries, museums and other venues throughout Edinburgh.
The Edinburgh Art Festival offers an extensive program of exhibitions (including partner exhibitions and pop-up exhibitions), guided tours, artists’ talks, film screenings, lectures, workshops, special events for children and families, live performances, and more. The festival runs a commissions program to support Scottish and international artists, encouraging them to create new and ambitions works. Most events are free to attend.
Photo: edinburghartfestival.com
