RBGE Creative Programmes

RBGE Creative Programmes A unique place for contemporary art, exhibitions + events, embedded within the world of plants.

This is Constanza Dessain’s Studio Compost. It is made up of twenty-one prints which preserve fruit and vegetables in ...
29/05/2026

This is Constanza Dessain’s Studio Compost. It is made up of twenty-one prints which preserve fruit and vegetables in acetate and gelatine between glass panes.

Studio Compost celebrates the unseen transformations that take place in our bins, as Dessain’s prints record processes of osmosis, leakage, rot and desiccation. These works honour the plants and animals that replenish our soil by dying, and the bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms that help decompose them, creating beautiful and intricate patterns and shapes.

You can view Studio Compost in our exhibition Earth Matters at Inverleith House until 1 November.
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🌱 Earth Matters
📅 20 Mar – 1 Nov 2026
⏰ Open daily 10:30 – 16:30
📍 Inverleith House
🎟️ Free Exhibition
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Image: Constanza Dessain, Studio Compost, 2025-26
Photos: Lynsey Wilson and Charlotte Büchner.
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Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

A creative partnership with Susanna Beaumont, Design Exhibition Scotland, Earth Matters is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery and Edinburgh Geological Society, with special thanks to the James Hutton Institute. The exhibition is part of Edinburgh Science Festival, Edinburgh Art Festival, RSA200: Celebrating Together and James Hutton Tercentenary 2026.

We are delighted to launch an open call to artists, makers and designers, based in the United Kingdom and Ireland, to su...
28/05/2026

We are delighted to launch an open call to artists, makers and designers, based in the United Kingdom and Ireland, to submit expressions of interest to exhibit in Flower Power. The exhibition will run 19 March – 31 October 2027 in Inverleith House Gallery, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

Flower Power will be a group show featuring contemporary creatives, from a broad range of disciplines, including sculpture, photography, fashion, music and floral installations. The exhibition will draw on the Botanics’ collections, including botanical illustrations and herbarium specimens, and bring research to life, such as our current work on pollination ecology. 🌺

The deadline for submissions is 9am on Monday 15 June 2026.

🔗 To find out more about the exhibition and how to apply, follow this link: https://www.rbge.org.uk/about-us/jobs-and-volunteering/vacancies/flower-power-open-call/

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Image: Meconopsis (Himalayan poppies) in Dawyck Botanic Garden, 2024. Photo: Eilidh Cameron.

Final month to visit Herbology! 🌸 Founded as a physic garden in 1670, the Botanics’ history is rooted in the growth, stu...
28/05/2026

Final month to visit Herbology! 🌸

Founded as a physic garden in 1670, the Botanics’ history is rooted in the growth, study and use of herbs for medicinal purposes. This exhibition celebrates 20 years of our contemporary herbology course and the enduring healing and cultural power of plants.

Here’s what visitors are saying:
🌸 ‘Really beautiful and informative – I always get inspiration coming here but this exhibition especially!’
🌸 ‘Beautifully laid out and put together. The dried flower display at the entrance is lovely. Interesting to see the Botanics in a different light.’
🌸 ‘So lovely to see a display like this, keep spreading the joy and magic – always.’

See Herbology before it ends on 28 June!

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📍 John Hope Gateway
📅 13 February - 28 June
⏰ 10 am - 5 pm daily

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Image: Herbology, installation view in the John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2026. Photo: Lynsey Wilson.

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Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

EAF26: Hidden histories. Transformed venues. Radical artistic voices. The programme for the UK’s largest annual festival...
28/05/2026

EAF26: Hidden histories. Transformed venues. Radical artistic voices.

The programme for the UK’s largest annual festival of visual art is now live to explore! Returning to Edinburgh from 14—30 August, the festival is a dedicated platform for visual art during Edinburgh’s festival season. Spread across the entire city, EAF brings together 45 galleries, museums and community spaces with a programme of specially commissioned work and inspiring events.

We are delighted to partner with Edinburgh Art Festival again this year and share the news that the full festival programme is now live to book: see the whole programme, explore all of the Partner Galleries, and book tickets, now at edinburghartfestival.com.

Discover the Garden's art this summer! Explore our extensive outdoor artwork collection around the Botanics, guided by o...
26/05/2026

Discover the Garden's art this summer!

Explore our extensive outdoor artwork collection around the Botanics, guided by one of our Creative Programmes staff. You will learn all about works by the likes of Barbara Hepworth, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Andy Goldsworthy, and many more!

Book your ticket now for June, July and August: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/art-walks-4244933
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📅 Fridays 26 June, 27 July, 21 August
⏰ 2.30 – 3.30 pm
🎟️ £11.55
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Image: Más Arte Más Acción, Around a Tree, 2024. Photo: Ellen Watters.
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Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Want to delve deeper into the world of earth, soil and James Hutton? Join us for one of our June Spotlight talks. These ...
22/05/2026

Want to delve deeper into the world of earth, soil and James Hutton? Join us for one of our June Spotlight talks.

These are short talks where a Creative Programmes volunteer shines a light on their favourite aspect of the exhibition Earth Matters.

Book your FREE ticket via this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/spotlight-talks-4382793?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=creatorshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=odclsxcollection&utm-source=cp&aff=escb
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📅 Friday 12 June, 11 - 11.30 am
📅 Friday 26 June, 2 - 2.30 pm
📍 Inverleith House
🎟️ Free
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Image: Earth Matters, installation view in Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2026. Photo: Lynsey Wilson.
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Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

A creative partnership with Susanna Beaumont, Design Exhibition Exhibition Scotland, Earth Matters is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery and Edinburgh Geological Society, with special thanks to the James Hutton Institute. The exhibition is part of Edinburgh Science Festival, Edinburgh Art Festival, RSA200: Celebrating together, and James Hutton Tercentenary 2026.

Happy Birthday Joan Eardley! Born on this day in 1921. 🎂🎉 To celebrate, for our Earth Matters today we are highlightin...
18/05/2026

Happy Birthday Joan Eardley! Born on this day in 1921. 🎂🎉

To celebrate, for our Earth Matters today we are highlighting ‘July Fields’ – an oil painting by Joan Eardley RSA painted around 1959. It captures the corner of a coastal field in Catterline, buzzing with life. On loan from City Art Centre, this painting can be seen on display in the exhibition at Inverleith House until November 1st.

To see more of her work, visit the retrospective exhibition, Joan Eardley: The Nature of Painting, at Modern Two before it closes on June 28th.

Both exhibitions are part of RSA200: Celebrating Together – a partnership project bringing together hundreds of artists, partners, galleries and institutions to mark the bicentenary of the Royal Scottish Academy.

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🌱 Earth Matters
📅 20 Mar – 1 Nov 2026
⏰ Open daily 10:30 – 16:30
📍 Inverleith House
🎟️ Free Exhibition

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Image: Joan Eardley, July Fields, c.1959. Photo: Museums & Galleries Edinburgh – City Art Centre.

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Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

A creative partnership with Susanna Beaumont, Design Exhibition Scotland, Earth Matters is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery and Edinburgh Geological Society, with special thanks to the James Hutton Institute. The exhibition is part of Edinburgh Science Festival, Edinburgh Art Festival, RSA200: Celebrating Together and James Hutton Tercentenary 2026.

This is by Maria McStay. Titled ‘Collective Futures’, these are hand-built vessels made with crank clay and embedded w...
15/05/2026

This is by Maria McStay. Titled ‘Collective Futures’, these are hand-built vessels made with crank clay and embedded with various rocks and minerals.

The artist has embedded the geology of Gullane Bay, East Lothian, within each vessel’s surface, having gathered coastal rocks and crushed them into pigments to colour the clay. The multiple handles on the vessels suggest a shared responsibility for the land, but their unconventional shapes and fragile nature raise the question, how do we act collectively?

Echoing ancient amphorae used to transport goods across cultures and centuries, the vessels invite reflection on care, connection and continuity. ❤️
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🌱 Earth Matters
📅 20 Mar – 1 Nov 2026
⏰ Open daily 10:30 – 16:30
📍 Inverleith House
🎟️ Free Exhibition
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Image: Maria McStay, Collective Futures, 2025. Photo: Lynsey Williams and Charlotte Büchner.
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Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

A creative partnership with Susanna Beaumont, Design Exhibition Scotland, Earth Matters is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery and Edinburgh Geological Society, with special thanks to the James Hutton Institute. The exhibition is part of Edinburgh Science Festival, Edinburgh Art Festival, RSA200: Celebrating Together and James Hutton Tercentenary 2026.

'Callum Innes’ was originally published to coincide with the exhibition Callum Innes (1990-1996) held at Inverleith Hous...
12/05/2026

'Callum Innes’ was originally published to coincide with the exhibition Callum Innes (1990-1996) held at Inverleith House 10 August - 6 October 1996 as part of the 50th Edinburgh International Festival. It includes a documented dialogue between the artist Calum Innes and Mel Gooding together with 15 pages of coloured exhibition and artwork photos.

Callum Innes' solo installation 'FOUR' is currently on display at Ingleby Gallery in Edinburgh.

🕰️1996
💷£20.00

👉 To purchase this publication, follow the link here: https://rbgeshop.org/products/calum-innes
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Image: Callum Innes, 1996.
Photo: Charlotte Büchner
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Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh



For our Earth Matters today we’re highlighting ‘Field Work’ by Aberdeen-based artist and ceramicist Kevin Andrew Morri...
08/05/2026

For our Earth Matters today we’re highlighting ‘Field Work’ by Aberdeen-based artist and ceramicist Kevin Andrew Morris.

This work consists of a series of spades made from wild clay dug at the site of a former brickworks near Aberdeen. It is a reflection on the landscape as physical, social and cultural – transforming traces of local industry into sculpture.

Dig it? See the piece in person in the exhibition Earth Matters at Inverleith House showcasing work by over 30 artists exploring the ground beneath us.

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🌱 Earth Matters
📅 20 Mar – 1 Nov 2026
⏰ Open daily 10:30 – 16:30
📍 Inverleith House
🎟️ Free Exhibition

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Image: Kevin Andrew Morris, Field Work, 2026.
Photos: Ruth Clark and Ellen Watters.

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Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

A creative partnership with Susanna Beaumont, Design Exhibition Scotland, Earth Matters is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery and Edinburgh Geological Society, with special thanks to the James Hutton Institute. The exhibition is part of Edinburgh Science Festival, Edinburgh Art Festival, RSA200: Celebrating Together and James Hutton Tercentenary 2026.

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Arboretum Place/Inverleith Row Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Edinburgh
EH35LR

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