UP NEXT
Sat 17 May
Drawing Workshop | Studios
11:00 - 13:00
Doors Open 11:00
What's on by date
What's on by genre
⨯
Sat 17 May
Drawing Workshop | Studios
11:00 - 13:00
Doors Open 11:00
This event is presented by Birnam Book Festival as part of Scottish Book Week, and is sponsored by the Scottish Book Trust.
Birnam resident and writer Jamie Jauncey has recently completed a biography of his extraordinary great-great-uncle, Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham (1852-1936), also known as Don Roberto.
Best known as co-founder with Keir Hardie, of the Scottish Labour Party, and later as the founding president of the Scottish National Party, Don Roberto was many other things besides.
As a young man in Argentina he became an expert horseman and rode with gauchos. The instinct for travel and adventure never left him—in middle age he was held to ransom in the Atlas Mountains by a local sheikh. At Westminster he declared himself the first ever Socialist Member of Parliament and was convicted of rioting. A radical laird, he advocated land reform and abolition of the House of Lords. He was a champion of underdogs, a crusader for social justice and freedom of speech. Fêted by his literary peers as the ‘Scottish Maupassant ’he was friends with Conrad, Wells, Wilde, Shaw and Chesterton. Painted by Lavery and sculpted by Epstein he was directly descended from King Robert II of Scotland. He was above all a great humanitarian. Almost everything he stood for has a burning relevance to our lives today.
Jamie’s book - and the illustrated talk proposed here - not only tells Don Roberto’s remarkable life story, but also explores what it has meant to grow up with such an iconic figure in the family background, and how he has shaped Jamie’s understanding of what it means to be a Scot in the 21st century.
Box Office
Open periodically throughout the week | Book online 24/7
Cafe
Daily | 10 - 4
Welcome to Birnam Arts, a boutique multi-purpose arts, conferencing and entertainment venue.
Pop in to the Foyer Cafe for breakfast, grab a delicious coffee with a selection of our homemade baking or enjoy a light lunch whilst browsing on the free WiFi. Wander upstairs to view the latest of our monthly art exhibitions before visiting the world of Beatrix Potter, or the Gift Shop to purchase a special gift for your loved ones or yourself!
I have played at Birnam Arts as part of Blow and Blast for a number of years and never cease to be amazed by how many activities take place there - too valuable to lose!
Kenneth MacKenzie | Crowdfunder #savebirnamarts 2020
Entrance
Kinnaird
Cafe
Beatrix Potter
Shop
Gallery
Studio
