9 November 2026
Five shows open in November. Roman Scotland at the National Museum shows two altars from the world's most northerly Mithraeum for the first time: a sun god's outpost, where sunset comes around four. Dovecot unrolls a full-size Bayeux Tapestry print, City Art Centre opens Ade Adesina then Kenneth Dingwall, and the Scottish Portrait Awards reach the Portrait on the 28th.
National Museum of ScotlandOpens 14 November
Rome's most northerly frontier, told through finds from the fort at Inveresk. Two altars from the world's most northerly Mithraeum go on display for the first time: Scotland was a brave posting for a sun god.
Dovecot StudiosOpens 21 November
A full-size print of the Bayeux Tapestry unrolled along Dovecot's Balcony Gallery, its full scale shown in Scotland for the first time, with input from the British Museum. Free, and four and a half hours closer than the original.
City Art CentreOpens 7 November
Monumental woodcuts, etchings and linocuts by the Aberdeen-based printmaker Ade Adesina on climate change and colonial histories, plus a new commission made for Edinburgh.
National Galleries Scotland: PortraitOpens 28 November
The Scottish Portrait Awards at the Portrait for the first time: fine art, photography and Scotland Now! phone portraits by artists born, living or studying in Scotland. Yes, the camera in your pocket counts.
Surgeons' Hall MuseumsUntil Easter 2027
Made with the University's Anatomical Museum for the medical school's 300th year: a Shetland blood horn, Charles Darwin's class card and the cranial cast of William Burke.
National Galleries Scotland: Modern (Modern One & Modern Two)Free
Twenty-eight etchings Peter Doig made in response to Derek Walcott's poems, a memorial to the friendship between painter and poet. A free display at Modern One.
Talbot Rice GalleryFree
Kiri Dalena reprints press photos of 1970s Manila protests with every slogan wiped, so the marchers hold blank boards. Sixteen artists on censorship, migrant labour, war and exile, plus Taysir Batniji's soap sculpture, made to vanish with time.
National Museum of Scotland
Rome's most northerly frontier brought to life, centred on finds from the Inveresk fort, including two altars from the world's most northerly Mithraeum shown for the first time.
Dovecot StudiosFree
A full-size print of the Bayeux Tapestry unrolled across Dovecot's Balcony Gallery, the first time its full scale is shown in Scotland, with insight from the British Museum.
City Art Centre
Retrospective of Edinburgh abstract artist Kenneth Dingwall's 60-year career: around 70 drawings, paintings, prints and constructions, some never shown before.
Surgeons' Hall Museums
A 70-minute guided walk through the Old Town (chloroform tea parties, pioneering women, grave robbing and Burke and Hare) with museum entry included. Weekends at 14:00 to 29 November 2026; age 10+.
The Writers' MuseumFree
Writing produced in creative workshops responding to objects from the city's collections, shown alongside the museum's literary displays.
CollectiveFree
New film, sculpture and site-specific printmaking by early-career Scotland-based artists Huss Al-Chokhdar, Hetal Chudasama, Gianni Esporas and Abi Lewis.
Dynamic Earth
A year of activities marking 300 years since the birth of James Hutton, father of modern geology and of "Deep Time", including the Scotland's Time Lords gallery.
Museum of EdinburghFree
Marking 30 years since UNESCO listed Edinburgh's Old and New Towns, with artworks by a Primary 4 class from Granton Primary School made with artist Stephanie Walker after visiting the museum and the Old Town.
Dovecot Studios
Costumes, accessories and sketches from London costume house Cosprop, founded by John Bright in 1965, from Pride and Prejudice, Downton Abbey and A Room with a View.
Talbot Rice GalleryFree
International group show on living through the breakdown of systems, as artists confront generative AI, neo-colonialism, war and climate change, insisting no condition is permanent.
City Art Centre
Major solo show of Aberdeen-based printmaker Ade Adesina: monumental woodcuts, etchings and linocuts on climate change and colonial histories, plus a new Edinburgh commission.
National Museum of ScotlandFree
Over 200 objects trace conflict in prehistoric Scotland from the Neolithic to Rome, including six Bronze Age shields and the richest Iron Age warrior burial yet found.
City Art CentreFree
Recent gifts and bequests to the city's Scottish art collection: paintings, prints, sculpture and photographs by Barns-Graham, Bellany, Crowe, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Jessie M. King and more.
A short note now and then when something new opens worth your time.
