Edinburgh’s acclaimed arts centre Summerhall Arts has launched its 2025 summer visual arts programme, comprising an eclectic variety of uncompromising work by hand-picked artists working in a broad sweep of media, from photography and paint to metal sculpture. The visual arts programme accompanies the centre’s summer programme of music, theatre, comedy and dance.
8th – 12th July (Tues – Sun, 10:00 – 17:00): Broken Silence: Women’s Voices, Autonomy, and Well-being, curated by Jiyuan Song, is a multidisciplinary exhibition bringing together art, activism, and academic reflection to explore women’s bodies, voices, and choices, themes of autonomy, safety, and freedom of expression through a diverse array of creative contributions. Funded by a Student Experience Grant at the University of Edinburgh, where Jiyuan studies for her PhD, the exhibition features a collection of visual artworks, multimedia installations, community workshops, and academic discussions centring on the lived experiences and creative expressions of women, particularly from East and Southeast Asian backgrounds.
26th July – 25th August: as part of Summerhall Arts’ Fringe offer, antipodean comedian-turned-artist Sam Kissajukian exhibited last year at the venue: he creates bold, emotionally-charged works that explore the intersections of mental health, creativity, and self-perception, and for his new exhibition Paintings to sleep on he experimented making paintings while in specific emotional states, to see how they translate visually. The exhibition acts as a companion piece to his acclaimed live show 300 Paintings. Sam held solo exhibitions in New York, Edinburgh, and across Australia, and won Best Solo Exhibition at the Adelaide Fringe.
26th July – Sep 21st September (Tues – Sun, 11:00 – 18:00): part of its Fringe programme Summerhall Arts’ own inaugural Annual Group Exhibition celebrates professional visual artists working across all media, with a vibrant exhibition showcasing the breadth of contemporary artistic practice, in bold, thought-provoking and diverse work from some of today’s most exciting creative voices. The show has been made possible through support from Creative Scotland multi-year funding.
Admission is free to all exhibitions.
