LAST PERFORMANCE TODAY Sacred Earth

SACRED Earth explores the interconnectedness between human emotions and the environments that shape them.

Inspired by the philosophies behind the ephemeral arts of Kolam and Warli and the Tamil Sangam literature of India, the captivating performance is accompanied by evocative live music.

The Ragamala company's artistic directors Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy, who are mother and daughter, create visceral, universally recognisable experiences that use Indian art forms to express their contemporary point of view.

"We can't wait to have Ragamala Dance back at Just," says director Katherine Newbigging, who is enjoying another record-breaking year with Edinburgh's most innovative festival.

And indeed it is an image from this production which has been used for the front of the 2013 Just Festival programme catalogue.

Sacred Earth offers a singular vision of the beautiful, fragile relationship between nature and humanity - one that is under pressure or even threat in many parts of the globe at the moment.

The emphasis on relations rather than things or products is spiritual at its core, but appreciation of Sacred Earth does not depend upon any one religious or non-religious outlook.

The show has drawn deep appreciation from Christians, humanists and people from a variety of Western and Easter belief backgrounds.

The music, an important part of the performance, is provided by Alison Kirwin (nattuvangam), Resmi Kunjun Saraswathy (vocals), Rajna Swaminathan (mridangam, south Indian drum), and Anjna Swaminathan (violin).

Sacred earth runs from 19-24 August, and again on 26th, running from 18:00 – 19:15. On 25th August it is two hours earlier, 16:00 – 17:15. Prices are £12 (£10 concessions).

Full details and booking here.

TONIGHT: "More tea, imam?"

JUST Festival and its predecessor, the Festival of Spirituality and Peace, has been concerned over the years to strike up a genuine personal, artistic, spiritual and cultural conversation among the different religions and beliefs that make up our country.

Once mainly Christian, Scotland, like other parts of the British Isles, has greater diversity of outlook - religious and non-religious - than ever before. So what are the obstacles and challenges in interfaith work today? How does school and home education affect the dialogue between believers?

In the light of a greater secular feel to the state and society, to what extent do interfaith activities support religious life and spirituality? Can they build bridges between those for whom faith is central and vital to their lives, and those for whom it is peripheral and unimportant.

Is it a matter of 'the religious' versus the 'non-religious', or can we enjoy a richer exchange than one organised along battle lines favoured by zealots in various camps?

These and other issues will be considered at the Just conversation starting at 6pm in the hall at St John's (corner of Princes Street and Lothian Road, venue 127), Edinburgh, tonight. We will continue until 7.30pm, and the cost is £5.

The speakers will be Sister Isabel Smyth (Interfaith Scotland), Bashir Malik and Iain Stewart Edinburgh (Interfaith Assosication), and the chair will be the Rev Markus Dunzkofer (Church of St John the Evangelist).

More here.

LAST PERFORMANCE TODAY Tejas Verdes

ON 11th September 1973, General Pinochet seized power in a vicious coup that led to the death of democratically elected President Salvadore Allende and resulted in the death and torture of many thousands of people.

This is one of the 'other' 9/11s - a set of events with a great deal to teach us and remind us of, but one which is all-too-easily lost in the sands of history.

The scars of the US backed coup, sponsored by large corporations and shadowy right-wing networks inside and outside the country, have lasted well into the era of renewed democracy in the populous Latin American nation.

Tejas Verdes, once an idyllic seaside resort for the rich, beautiful and fortunate, became a torture and death camp under Pinochet's dictatorship. The torture was carried out in the old music room.

The critically acclaimed play Tejas Verdes remembers, with poetic beauty, overwhelming love and humanity, the story of a woman who was tortured and disappeared.

It is also the story of those who encountered her and were part of what happened to her.

Praised by Guardian critic Michael Billington ("Eloquently translated … impossible to forget"), Scottish broadcaster and journalist Jim Naughtie ("Warm, rich, even poetic") and actor Robbie Coltrane ("It really is the right time"), Tejas Verdes is showing throughout August as part of Just Festival. 

The final performances are Sunday 25th August and Monday 26th August (both 2pm), with tickets £14 and £11. 

Full details and booking here.

LAST CHANCE Come and be bewitched...

"COME and be bewitched by Martin AElred and Sandy Moffat in Canto del Paradiso at 2pm today," writes Yvonne Smith on the Just Festival Facebook page. We're happy to agree!

The Canto concerts, which continue today, are featuring “live art” created during the performance in “real time” by special guest artist, Alexander Moffat - who is former Head of Painting at Glasgow School of Art and co-author of Arts of Resistance: Poets, Portraits and Landscapes of Modern Scotland.​

​Martin Aelred is a renowned Scottish tenor and classical guitarist. Motivated by a desire to make our world a better place by uniting people through music, he compares himself to “a 17th Century monk in a 21st Century body”.

Martin’s recent audiences have included the Dalai Lama, where he sang at The Usher and Caird Halls on the Scottish portion of the tour by Prince Charles, accompanied by a choir of Alzheimer sufferers.​

Canto del Paradiso has made a great impression at the opening event for Just, at St John's Church on 4th August. Come and see the last performance today, Monday 26th August, 4pm in the church. 

Full details and booking. 

LAST DAY Peacing it all together

HOPEFULLY you've had a chance to see the In Sight of Peace exhibition on South Africa at St John's, Edinburgh (the hall, free).

If not, so try to take a look before the Just Festival ends today (Monday 26th August).

You can pop along today, or between 10am and 2pm Monday.

Meanwhile, here are a few inspirational quotes which set the context for Ian Berry's remarkable and moving images from the apartheid era and beyond...
More about the exhibition here.

THIS AFTERNOON Living Our Values

AT 2pm in St John's Church there will be a presentation and workshop based on the newly launched, empowering and inspiring book Living Our Values. 

The book, by Brahma Kumaris, presents what the author calls "an inside-out approach to changing your world for the better."

It is is based on the wisdom of some of those considered to be among the world’s leading spiritual coaches and provides a comprehensive range of activities and possibilities.

Entry is by donation.

Time to celebrate!

SO the Just Festival closing celebration has ended here at St John's... but the work is still far from over. There's a full day's festivaling tomorrow, for a start.

Then there's equipment to be packed away, accounts to be done, reports to be written, stats to be processed, farewells to be made... and ideas and lessons stored and digested for 2014. The logistics are considerable.

But right now, people are gathering in the Church hall to relax, chat and celebrate. Everyone deserves a little time out!

"An amazing three weeks..."

"AN amazing three weeks" - that is how chair of the Just Festival board chair Raymond Baudon summed up his experience of 2013. 

He gave a brief outline of the extraordinary range of events - art, drama, music, conversation, photography, talks and performances - which have gone to make up Just this year.

"It all began with a flamenco flashmob in front of hundreds of people... and since then around 10,000 people have passed through St John's for various events," he noted.

Just has also utilised a range of further venues and cooperated with the Quakers and other civic organisations in putting on the festival.

Raymond extended a particular thanks to all the sponsors, to director Katherine Newbigging, to Beata, Annika and the whole staff team, to the board, and to the team of volunteers.

Before the singing of Auld Lang Syne, led by Scotpipe, Tom Lea (Alwaleed Cantre, University of Edinburgh) from the board made a small presentation to Raymond Baudon, who has handled the kind of challenging issues that accompany any such event with professionalism and good humour.

Katherine ended by inviting people into the hall for refreshments - and reminding us that there is still one full day's worth of Just events on Monday 26th August!

A poem from the volunteers

THE message to and from Just Festival 2013 on behalf of the volunteers was a prose-poem summing up their experience over three extraordinary weeks.

Here's a snippet. We will try to upload the whole presentation shortly...

Hands of friendship from Poland

POLISH communities make up a rich and important part of the life of Edinburgh, as well as other places in Scotland and across these islands.

Kapela Dudziarska from Poznan, Poland and BARKA presented and played some evocative and emotionally charged music from their homeland, to rapturous applause at the closing event and celebration for Just Festival 2013.

"The common resonance of the string sound and a distinctive Polish bagpipes with the pipes known and loved in Scotland was very noticeable," one audience member noted.

The band played five different short tunes and have been collaborating with Scotpipe on a charity concert.

BARKA is a Polish homeless group, and has been raising money across Edinburgh in festival season, collecting £310 so far.

The aim is help to rehabilitate people of who have become homeless while in the UK, and it has been going for some 20 years now. "Thank you for supporting us," was the message to Just.  The Polish Centre for Culture and Education also brought a message of greeting this evening.

Beata Skobodzinska, the coordinator of Just Festival, who has done another remarkable job this year, hails from Poland herself.

"Since she joined the festival in 2012 as the Festival Administrator, the office has been a very happy place full of laughter and an occassional Polish song," commented colleague Annika Wolf.

The Polish community has been established in Scotland for many years, since at the end of the Second World War many veterans settled after being posted here. When Poland joined the EU in 2001, an opportunity arrived for a new generation of Polish immigrants to work and study in the UK.

Polish immigrants are currently the largest group of immigrant workers in the city, with the health, further education and tourism sectors accounting for the majority of employers. The City of Edinburgh Council estimates that Edinburgh’s Polish community consists of 8,000 residents.

Many have formed their own community networks and have settled in areas such as Leith, London Road and Marchmont. A variety of Polish shops, services and cafes are available throughout the city region, especially in Edinburgh.