Edinburgh Art Festival

🦚 EAF26 Exhibition Spotlight | Sadao Hasegawa: Carnal Desires As part of our EAF26 programme, EAF will be showing Scotland’s first exhibition of work by Japanese fetish artist Sadao Hasegawa. Taking place at Custom Lane ‘Carnal Desires’ is a rare exhibition revealing the under-recognised and largely unseen work of one of post-war Japan’s most influential gay fetish artists. Celebrated for his depiction of hypermasculine forms, Hasegawa’s paintings blend eroticism with pan-Asian folklore, science fiction, and popular culture, imagining a universe where chiseled men encounter mythic creatures, hybrid animals, and divine bodies unbound by earthly limits. While his illustrations were originally published in gay magazines across the US, UK, and Australia, much of his work has remained virtually inaccessible outside Japan. Featuring unearthed pieces from the archives of Tokyo’s Gallery Naruyama (@naruyamaakimitsu ), ‘Carnal Desires’ invites audiences into a provocative and fantastical queer cosmos, celebrating desire in its most unrestrained form. ‘Carnal Desires’ will be on show at Custom Lane (@custom_lane ) between 14—30 Aug, with free entry. Read more of our festival line-up online, at the link in our bio.

✏️ MEET THE WRITERS: EAF x The Skinny Emerging Writers Award 2026 We are buzzing to be announcing the writers joining us for the 2026 edition of our emerging commissions programme. Read on to find out more about the four writers, and be sure to keep an eye out for their pieces about EAF26 festival commissions appearing in the Skinny this summer. ✏️ Mayson Taylor (@m_taylor126 ) is a Weaver, Writer and Harpist based in Edinburgh. She is currently studying tapestry at West Dean College. She is a contributor to the forthcoming anthology Global Black Women Creatives and, as part of the Apophatic Art Project, is developing paper weaving into a feminist apophatic practise. Her work explores embodiment, voice, memory, and diasporic belonging. ✏️ Eve Whittle (@eve__whittle ) is a researcher and writer currently based in Glasgow. Guided by infrastructural critique and radical pedagogy, her work looks at resistance, care, collective imagination and institutional accountability. ✏️ Anna Olivia Riley (@annaoliviariley ) is a Queer writer and multidisciplinary artist from Cammeraygal Land in Sydney, currently studying and working in Edinburgh. She works with faithful, muddy words and homemade smooches landing on fantastically supple cheeks. She is interested in written, spoken and visual languages — merging romance with research. Curiosity is so good a beautiful thing, a gem of a find! Work that bites into life. Sweet and sour tears of love! ✏️ Khadea Santi (@khadeasanti ) is an artist-curator based in Edinburgh, working mainly with ceramics, writing and film. She explores interests in African cosmologies, critical autoethnography and histories, world-building collaboratively with groups and communities. Her previous writing includes a film review of ‘What The Owl Knows’ by The Otolith Group on the Cooper Gallery blog.

🎞️ Porty Pride Screening: Fairy Heights + Alasdair Join EAF and Bona Varda (@bonavarda ) at Porty Pride (@portypride ) for a special screening event! We will be showing two films which share local Scottish queer histories and acts of community resilience. Fairy Heights is a powerful short documentary exploring the Grassmarket housing block in Edinburgh, where queer residents built a vital network of care during the AIDS crisis. Through interviews with former residents, the film brings to life a community defined by solidarity and chosen family. Presented in partnership with Lavender Menace (@lavender_menace_returns ). Alasdair is an intimate documentary, offering a glimpse into the life of Alasdair Duncan, Gaelic broadcaster, translator and writer. Set against the landscape of the Isle of Skye, the short film follows Alasdair on a deeply moving 10-day journey to summit the highest peak in the Inner Hebrides, reflecting with honesty and depth on the realities of living with AIDS. This screening is presented in collaboration with Executive Producer Sam Maynard and journalist Duncan Campbell, appearing with Alasdair in the film. EAF will be selling a limited run of screen printed ‘Support Your Local Queer Archive’ t-shirts, raising money with Trans Masc Studies (@transmascstudies ) for Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive’s ongoing Save Lavender Menace fundraiser. 🗓️ Sunday 7 June, 4—5.30pm 📍Portobello Town Hall 🎟️ Ticketed, sliding scale Find out more and book tickets at the link in our bio. Image credits: 1+2) Alasdair, stills. 3+4) Fairy Heights, stills.

EAF26 Event Spotlight | Magnus Westwell: Caught Hold of Nothing “he reached out beyond the trammel of himself and caught hold of nothing with both hands.” — John Glenday, Vitruvian Man For EAF26, we are thrilled to be opening the festival with a glimpse into an experimental, developing work by contemporary dancer and violinist, Magnus Westwell (@magnuswestwell ). In the intimate duet in situ at the Biscuit Factory (@biscuitfactoryedin ), performed with Océane Robin (@oceanerobin_ ), Westwell plays live strings to exhaustion over pre-recorded and looped organ and piano. Inspired by John Glenday’s poem ‘Vitruvian Man’, the work explores repetition, decay, and transformation. Music and movement break down and rebuild in tandem, leading to a vulnerable, cathartic, and deeply embodied experience that invites audiences into the liminal space of experimental interdisciplinary performance. Don’t miss the opportunity to join us for an electrifying opening to the festival — tickets are available now on our site (linked in bio) Image credit: Magnus Westwell. Photo: Josie Rae Turnbull.

Last chance to apply for our Festival Co-ordinator role! Are you interested in visual art? Do you have great organisational skills? Are you confident at communicating? Do you have experience in leading a team? We’d love to hear from you! We are looking for a Festival Co-ordinator to manage our team of front of house Programme Assistants at EAF26. As Festival Co-ordinator you will play a key role in creating a welcoming environment in EAF spaces, and making sure our exciting range of events and exhibitions all run smoothly for visitors. → Contract: 5 days/week, Fixed Term → Dates: 20 July—4 Sept → Hours: 7.5hr/day (with evening + weekend work in August) → Rate of pay: £14.70/hr Apply by 11 May, midnight at the link in our bio. Photo: Courtesy of Art Fund

Hiring: Programme Assistants We are looking for enthusiastic, friendly and engaged individuals to join our team of Programme Assistants for EAF26! Our Programme Assistants have a key role in the festival, offering a friendly first point of contact for visitors to our programme and making sure events run smoothly. As a Programme Assistant, you will welcome audiences to the festival and offer information about the artworks and wider festival programme, learn how to open and close exhibitions, and assist with EAF events on the door. You’ll also help with the evaluation of the festival, getting visitors’ feedback to help us understand who comes to the festival and what they want to see more of. It’s a great way to get involved with the festival on the ground, and be a part of EAF during our most exciting time. → Contract: Fixed term, 10—30 Aug → Hours: Part-Time and Full-Time posts available, minimum contract 12hrs per week → Rate of pay: £13.45 per hour Applications close 1 June. If you’re enthusiastic, approachable and passionate about visual and performance art, we want to hear from you! For more information and to apply, head to the link in our bio. Photos: Courtesy of Art Fund.

🌸 Partner Openings: May The cherry blossoms are out and so are some beautiful new exhibitions at our Partner Galleries! Explore these exhibitions opening at galleries across the city this month. → Åsa Johannesson: The Queering of Photography at Stills (@stillsedinburgh ) | 1 May — 27 June → Guy Role: Spring Song at The Scottish Gallery (@scottishgallery ) | 7—30 May → Dawnne McGeachy: Holding Water at The Scottish Gallery (@scottishgallery ) | 7—30 May → Sheila Anderson-Hardy: Wild at The Scottish Gallery (@scottishgallery ) | 7—30 May → Jean F. Watson: An Artistic Legacy at City Art Centre (@cultureedinburgh ) | 16 May—4 Oct → Wendy McMurdo: The Digital Mirror at National Galleries Scotland: Portrait (@nationalgalleriesscot ) | 30 May—25 Oct Find out more about our Partner Galleries on our website, link in bio. Image credits: Åsa Johannesson, Frame #4, 2025. Guy Royle, Artemis of Ephesus, 2026. Courtesy of The Scottish Gallery. Dawnne McGeachy, Sea State, Easing, 2026. Courtesy of The Scottish Gallery. Sheila Anderson-Hardy, Morning Alarm Call. Courtesy of The Scottish Gallery. Elizabeth Blackadder, Irises, 1982. © Royal Scottish Academy. All Rights Reserved 2026 Bridgeman Images. City of Edinburgh Council Museums & Galleries. Wendy McMurdo, The Somnambulist, 1995 © Wendy McMurdo. All rights-reserved, DACS 2026. Courtesy Patricia Fleming Gallery, Glasgow.

Two weeks left to apply! We are hiring for two exciting roles to add to our 2026 festival team — come work with us! If you’re interested in being part of the small but dedicated team that makes EAF happen, we would love to hear from you. 🌟 Production + Events Assistant Work with our curator and lead technician to support admin, planning, and delivery of our exhibitions and events. → Contract: 2 days/week, increasing to 3 during August, Fixed Term → Dates: 1 June—4 Sept → Hours: 7.5hr/day (with evening + weekend work in August) → Rate of pay: £14.70/hr 🌟 Festival Co-ordinator Manage our team of front of house Programme Assistants, ensuring our exciting range of events and exhibitions all run smoothly for visitors. → Contract: 5 days/week, Fixed Term → Dates: 20 July—4 Sept → Hours: 7.5hr/day (with evening + weekend work in August) → Rate of pay: £14.70/hr Apply by 11 May, midnight 🔗 Follow the link in our bio to find out more, and apply. Photo: Programme Assistants, EAF25. Courtesy Art Fund.

EAF26 Spotlight: Del LaGrace Volcano For EAF26 we are thrilled to present ‘Love Bites Back,’ an exhibition of photography by pioneering queer artist Del LaGrace Volcano (@dellagracevolcano ), as part of a collaboration with Auto Italia (@autoitalialondon ). Del LaGrace Volcano’s practice encompasses photography, performance, writing and non-compliant gender activism. Working since the early 1980s, Volcano’s photographs are intimate, defiant and historically vital. Their images are not only portraits but acts of visibility and urgent interventions that insist on the inclusion of gender non-conforming presence in cultural memory. ‘Love Bites Back’ draws work from their Queer Archive of Resistance, focusing on photographs made in the UK, including Edinburgh, between 1982 and 1995. These incredible photographs will be on display at our new home at 92 Constitution Street, from 14—30 August. A sister show, ‘Sensual / Mutual,’ will be held at Auto Italia (London) (@autoitalialondon ) from 16 July—25 October. Both shows will highlight the role of photography as a tool for solidarity, desire and resistance. Image credits: 1) Del LaGrace Volcano, Samois at San Francisco Pride, 1980. 2) Del LaGrace Volcano. Edinburgh. 3) Sylvia at Greyfriars, Edinburgh 1989. 4) Love Bites at Bird in Bush Road, London 1988. Courtesy of the artist. 5) Del LaGrace Volcano. 'My (X) girlfriend Sylvia McFarlane with her Grans in our leather jackets.' Edinburgh 1989

JUPITER RISING X EAF26 ON SALE NOW!💫 Did you know that Jupiter Rising tickets are available? The first phase of Rising tickets can be found on our website (including bus tickets to get you to and from Rising!) Get ready to experience an evening like no other, filled with art, music and joy. Full line-up details coming soon - watch this space for further updates 🪩 📅 Saturday 22 August ⏰5pm-1am 🎟️£20 (phase one) 🔗 Tickets at the link in our bio Photos: Ponyboy, Jupiter Rising x EAF 2025; Sett Studios, March of the Wyrd, Jupiter Rising x EAF 2025. Photography by Charlotte Cullen

We are thrilled to be continuing to partner with over twenty brilliant galleries and spaces across the city for EAF26. Our Partner galleries mean so much to us, filling the city with world class art year-round. Edinburgh’s historic and contemporary galleries are part of the magic of the city, and we hope you immerse yourself in the huge array of work spreading across Edinburgh! EAF26 will feature the first major museum exhibition of photographer Catherine Opie’s work to be shown in Scotland at National Galleries Scotland: National (@nationalgalleriesscotland ), a group show celebrating soil at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh (@rgbecreative ), an exhibition responding the work of artist Frank Walter at Ingleby (@inglebygallery ), an ambitious new commission of Katie Paterson’s amulets at Collective (@collective_edin ), and so much more! Keep an eye out for our regular Partner openings posts, and weekly highlights in the lead up to August, to be in the know when these exhibitions open across the city! Image credits: 1) Catherine Opie, Chloe, 1993 © Catherine Opie. Courtesy the artist, Regen Projects, Los Angeles and Thomas Dane Gallery 2) Study for North Bridge, Rachel McBrinn & Jonathan Webb, 2026, still. 3) Katie Paterson, Afterlife, Folkestone Triennial 2025. © Thierry Bal 4) Frank Walter, Black Swans with Sunburst. Photo: John McKenzie 5) Jamie Fitzpatrick, Memorial to Sausage Politics, 2017. Courtesy of the artist. 6) Cosprop, Inside The Costume House © Paul Bulley. Courtesy of Dovecot Studios. 7) Robert Sibbald, Description of the Isles of Orkney and Shetland (Edinburgh, 1711). Blackie House Library and Museum. 8) Kate Downie, Riverbank. Courtesy of The Scottish Gallery.

Happy 20th (plus a bit) birthday to @theskinnymag 🎂 One of our all-time favourite cultural magazines (and, without question, the best party throwers). Thank you for championing artists, shaping conversations, and keeping things sharp, curious, and just the right amount of chaotic. Here’s some of our favourite covers from the past few years ✨ We adore you 💥 Here’s to many more years of brilliant print, big nights out, and everything in between. Love, EAF x