Focus13 2026

A celebration of D&G creativity and talent

Issue 13

Features:

Mostly Ghostly Andre Anderson Leaders Unlimited Creative Compass Friday Portraits Alycia Pirmohamed Summer Solstice at Crawick Multiverse Absolute Classics Summer Festival Wigtown Book Festival Jupiter + Dumfries Creative North Star Majd Abdel Hamid

Welcome to the 13th edition of FOCUS. Summer is here and we find ourselves looking forward to so much in Dumfries and Galloway and beyond, for those of us venturing off on vacation! We have the excitement of Scotland playing in the World Cup (for those of you who are interested, is that nearly all of us?) and the various other sporting events across the UK that the summer months always brings, Wimbledon and the Tour de France are favourites in our house. Whatever your plans, take your digital FOCUS magazine along with you and enjoy some of the creativity that is on offer during the summer season.

In this issue we share our work over recent months, showcase new and wellkent faces, and set the scene for some of the best events coming in the next few months. We are delighted to feature members, Mostly Ghostly and Andre Anderson, and we have new columns from Alycia Pirmohamed, our Gavin Wallace Fellow, and Cerys Cooper, our Creative Communications Assistant.

We give you a glimpse into Leaders Unlimited and our flagship project Creative Compass.

Hot Tickets are for Absolute Classic Summer Festival, Dumfries and Galloway’s own Will Archibald is our fabulous cover star this issue! We are looking forward to hearing Will play again. Tickets are also available for the Summer Solstice Celebrations at Crawick Multiverse and tickets for this year’s Wigtown Book Festival will be going on sale in July. The new exhibition opens at CAMPLE LINE, and there are opportunities with Jupiter+ in Dumfries and with DG Unlimited.

Alongside these, we continue to share recommendations from the team, with our three regular columns Tabi’s Bookshelf, watch with Ellie, and Mr D’s Listen Inn. The team and I are already working on our autumn issue which will showcase the DG Arts Festival, CatStrand, Spring Fling, and more.

Thank you, as always, for being part of this creative community. Have a beautiful summer.

Tabi x x Tabi Mudaliar is the Editor of FOCUS Magazine and Creative Director of DG Unlimited.

FOCUS is Dumfries and Galloway’s quarterly creative digital magazine brought to you by DG Unlimited, Dumfries and Galloway Chamber of the Arts SCIO. FOCUS is free to access and download from dgunlimited.org. It is published to shine a light on the creative people and projects who live and work in Dumfries and Galloway or who have strong links with our region.

FOCUS magazine is brought to you thanks to the generous support of Dumfries and Galloway Council, Creative Scotland, and the continued support from our members, friends, and supporters.

Cover image: Will Archibald, Cellist Photo: Courtesy of Absolute Classics

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Contents FOCUS on Mostly Ghostly

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FOCUS on Andre Anderson

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SHOWCASE - Creative Compass

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SHOWCASE - Leaders Unlimited

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SHOWCASE - Creative Compass Development Day

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OUT AND ABOUT - Friday Portraits

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GAVIN WALLACE FELLOWSHIP - Words from Alycia

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Tabi’s Bookshelf

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Mr D’s Listen Inn

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Cerys’ Live Gems

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Watch with Ellie

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HOT TICKETS - Summer Solstice at Crawick Multiverse

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HOT TICKETS - Absolute Classics Summer Festival

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HOT TICKETS - Wigtown Book Festival

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GET INVOLVED - Jupiter Artland in Dumfries

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OPPORTUNITY - Creative North Star

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OPENING SOON - Majd Abdel Hamid at CAMPLE LINE

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Kathleen Cronie

Mostly Ghostly, photo by Allan Devlin

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For Kathleen Cronie, the seeds of Mostly Ghostly were sown long before the first tour began. A childhood fascination with ghost stories and unexplained mysteries grew into a lifelong love of folklore, and the curious threads that connect people to place.

One early experience proved especially significant: a primary school visit to Dumfries Museum, where Kathleen encountered the Burn Witch display. She was naturally drawn across to it, peering inquisitively into the case at the objects inside: manuscripts, playing cards, and a photograph of St Queran’s Well, where a local woman had once attempted to heal a child.

These intriguing glimpses left a deep impression, and she remembers wondering who these people were and what had happened to them. These first questions would stay with her, emerging later in the spirit and direction of Mostly Ghostly.

Founded in 2008 as Dumfries and Galloway’s first paranormal research team, Mostly Ghostly launched at the Theatre Royal in Dumfries, Scotland’s oldest working theatre, and a place very dear to their hearts.

Driven by a desire to explore and record weird, wonderful and often unsettling accounts from across the region, the project soon gathered depth and momentum, championing Dumfries and Galloway as a place of discovery.

Mostly Ghostly is a small team bound by friendship, loyalty and a genuine love for what they do. Kathleen works alongside her husband Kenny Murray and close friends John Hill and Mary Wood, whose warmth, humour and enthusiasm help create the welcoming atmosphere that people have come to value at each event. Guests are encouraged to ask questions, share memories, or simply lose themselves in the atmosphere.

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A story may begin in an archive, etched into a gravestone, or preserved in a scrap of local tradition, but it is through careful research, passionate storytelling and the response of each audience that these old tales find renewed life.

That same respect is central to Waking the Witch, which revisits the dark days of Dumfries’s past, exploring cases of alleged witchcraft and their farreaching human consequences. Among the events that helped inspire the project are those of 13 April 1659, when nine women were executed on charges of witchcraft. Through rich narrative, first-hand dramatisation and a special evening visit to Dumfries Museum, the experience reawakens thought-provoking accounts from one of the most harrowing periods in the town’s history. Working with the Museum brings Kathleen back to where that early interest was first aroused.

The heritage-led ghost hunts have also become a muchloved part of their work. A Good Old-Fashioned Ghost Hunt takes small groups into some truly remarkable buildings after hours, including Gilnockie Tower and Shambellie House. With the doors closed and the building all to themselves, guests use traditional ghost-hunting methods to engage more closely with the character of each place, often leading to lively discussion, intriguing observations and some fascinating results…

Alongside tours and investigations, Mostly Ghostly has also been exploring access, inclusion and ways for its experiences to reach more people. Community projects such as Oor Toon with A’ the Airts in Sanquhar, and partnerships with organisations including Visibility Scotland, are helping the team turn their passion for accessible, inclusive storytelling into meaningful practice, opening their events to a wider audience and reflecting the core belief that storytelling is for everyone.

Looking ahead, the award-winning team are joining forces with their friends at DG Unlimited on a brand new creative venture: their very first podcast. Thanks to this backing, Mostly Ghostly plan to delve into their archives, revealing strange and unnerving stories for a more intimate listening experience. Covering everything from poltergeists to UFOs, premonitions to big cat encounters, the podcast will also feature firsthand testimonies shared directly by people who have witnessed something they can’t quite explain.

As for Kathleen, she likes nothing more than the cosy thrill of a ghostly tale, the sort that evokes an inimitable chill, like an icy cold finger down the spine. The podcast offers a way to capture that shared feeling, bringing together a community of like-minded people and inviting listeners to come a little closer to the blurred edges of the unknown, where the possibilities are endless…

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Kathleen Cronie, photo by Allan Devlin

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Andre Anderson Ask Andre Anderson what he does, and the answer is unlikely to fit neatly into a single sentence. He is warm, has a smile that lights up the room, and he has a way of putting people at ease. It was a treat to spend time with Andre recently and hear about his creative work and life.

Based in Dumfries, Andre’s career spans acting, dance, musical theatre, directing, facilitation and producing.

Over the years he has performed on stage, on screen and in public spaces, creating work that ranges from commercial projects to performances designed to spark conversation and social change.

“I honestly feel at my best when I am facilitating or creating someone else’s new work,” he says.

That passion for collaboration runs throughout Andre’s career. Whether working with community groups, supporting emerging artists or helping bring new ideas to life, he is driven by the creative possibilities that come from working alongside others.

Originally training at Venue of Performing Arts in Lowestoft, Andre later studied Performing Arts at the University of Cumbria before completing a Master’s degree in International Events and Festival Management at Edinburgh Napier University.

Alongside his formal training, he has continued to develop an impressively varied skillset, from delivering academic talks on governance and participatory funding to qualifying as an international Level 3 nontumbling cheerleader and gaining certification in handto-hand stage combat through BASSC. His work has taken him across Scotland and the North of England, collaborating with organisations and brands including the Scottish Government, Aldi and Famous Grouse. He has performed in venues and locations including the CatStrand, Theatre Royal Dumfries, Glasgow Green, the National Museum of Scotland, the Women’s Library and Theatre by the Lake.

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Andre Anderson

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Andre Anderson

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As a director, Andre has developed work across Dumfries, Sanquhar, Carlisle, Glasgow and Manchester.

One of his career highlights was directing Baby Vs Boob, a collaboration with Sahar El-Hady that grew from a small idea into a fully realised scratch performance at Theatre by the Lake.

Although he jokes that writing does not come naturally to him, Andre has also written both a musical and a play.

His play Paisley, which explores women, culture and tea, received praise for its ambition and earned a four-star review from North West End. Looking ahead, Andre’s diary remains as busy as ever.

Recent projects include work with Dumfries Theatre Royal Guild of Youth Players, Licketyspit, Paragon Music and Performance Collective Scotland. He is also beginning research and development on a new smallscale touring pantomime.

When asked to summarise his career, Andre describes it as “all over the place.”

In reality, what connects the many strands of his work is a commitment to creativity, collaboration and helping others bring their ideas to life. Whether performing, directing, facilitating or producing, Andre continues to play an active role in the creative life of Dumfries and Galloway, and we look forward to seeing where his next adventure takes him.

Andre is a member of DG Unlimited, a member of our Talent Pool, and works with a number of arts organisations across the region. Contact us if you would like to link up with Andre.

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Creative Compass Ask any creative person what they need to thrive and you’ll rarely get a simple answer. For some, it’s training. For others, it’s confidence.

Sometimes it’s funding, a mentor, a new connection, or simply knowing that somebody understands the challenges of building a creative career in a rural area, wherever you hail from, or whatever your own circumstances.

Over the past few years, DG Unlimited has taken the time to meet and listen to our members and the people who make up Dumfries and Galloway’s creative sector.

Through conversations, consultations, events and oneto-one membership support, a picture has emerged. We are home to an extraordinary range of creative talent, but we are also a region where distance, isolation, socio-economic barriers, limited opportunities and a lack of visibility can make creative careers difficult to sustain.

The question is, what is needed to ensure the conditions that allow creativity to continue to flourish, to prevail? This is the question sitting at the heart of Creative Compass, our flagship creative development programme for 2025-2027. We have shared news of our Creative Compass programme previously and our members and sector colleagues are well aware of the project, but we believe it is always worth sharing news and information about your work and to share our work with you.

At the same time, there is enormous ambition.

Creative Compass was developed directly from member and Scotland wide sector consultation, from learning over 14 years of Creative Scotland supported DG Unlimited projects and shaped by DG Unlimited’s strategic vision. Creative Compass launched in November 2025 bringing together three connected strands of work designed to support creative practitioners, strengthen creative careers and invest in the future of the region’s creative sector.

Across Dumfries and Galloway, artists, makers, performers, writers, musicians, photographers, designers, filmmakers and creative organisations are producing exciting work, building businesses, leading projects and making a significant contribution to the cultural life of our communities.

The question is not whether talent exists.

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Update Members Unlimited provides creative professional development and training, workshops, networking opportunities, creative commissions, funding awards and practical support designed by and for our members and often delivered by our members too.

Leaders Unlimited: The Third Wave built upon the success of our previous leadership programmes and brought together a new cohort of creative leaders from across the South of Scotland for an immersive residential. Leaders Unlimited is a unique creative professional development programme for creative and cultural leaders.

Creative North Star will be exploring what meaningful creative mentoring could look like across Dumfries and Galloway, helping to shape future support for creatives of all disciplines and career stages.

Throughout this issue of FOCUS, you’ll find articles exploring each strand of Creative Compass in more detail. You’ll read about the return of Leaders Unlimited, discover the ambitions behind Creative North Star, and read about our recent Development Day. All conversations which support our membership and shape our future activities. Creative Compass is about creating opportunities, opening doors, building connections and helping creative people take their next step.

This issue offers a snapshot of that work in action. We hope it gives you a sense of opportunities, ideas and ambitions at the heart of Creative Compass, and inspires you to get involved. We warmly invite you to join DG Unlimited. Visit our website to register.

Together, these projects represent an investment not just in individual creatives, but in the wider creative ecology for Dumfries and Galloway. Strong creative sectors are built on people. They are built on relationships, collaboration, shared learning and opportunities to grow. When creative people are supported, communities benefit. New projects emerge, creative careers become more sustainable, and the cultural life of our region becomes richer and more resilient.

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LEADERS UNL This April, in the first of the Spring sunshine, 9 creative women gathered to take part in Leaders Unlimited, DG Unlimited’s unique creative professional development course, delivered by Tabi Mudaliar and a host of inspirational leaders.

The cohort were taken on a thought provoking and engaging course to help support them into becoming more confident and resilient leaders. Most courses designed to support leadership skills are typically business orientated, but this course is designed specifically to support and develop leadership skills for creatives. It covers all aspects of how to balance their art and leadership side by side. Encouraging artists to take ownership and have confidence in delegating, organising teams and keeping focused on the outcomes.

The course covered a range of topics and skills. From learning to be a confident, clear and concise public speaker to learning how to adapt communication skills to each task at hand.

As creatives we don’t typically work by a rule book or in conventional management roles. A lot of management roles creatives find themselves in can be harder to identify as a leadership role. This course took the leaders in and highlighted exactly how each of the cohort were leaders in their own way offering support for their individual paths. From groundbreaking leaders in their fields, to leaders of themselves and their own art forms.

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IMITED 2026 There was a range of inspirational guests throughout the week, from videographers at the top of their game to key industry figures in media.

Becca Carson, one of this years Leaders, said the experience was “An inspiring week surrounded by like minded creative people. Brilliant insightful guidance from all the coaches and a beautiful week of positive leadership all round ” After 3 days of creativity, accountability and communication, the cohort rallied up and headed on a creative and cultural away day in Glasgow. We were fortunate enough to have a tour of the Glasgow Women’s Library and also some time to wander round the Gallery of Modern Art. Overall, the 2026 edition of Leaders Unlimited was an inspiring and empowering week which created lasting networks built upon real connection among a team of powerful women.

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Ellies Reflection on Lead One of the things I found most rewarding about this year’s Leaders Unlimited programme was watching participants grow in confidence over the course of the week.

Leadership is often associated with big ideas, strategy and decision-making. While those things are important, leadership also relies on something much simpler: the ability to communicate clearly, connect with others and understand your own strengths.

Each morning, I led an exercise called Campfire Stories.

Participants were invited to respond to a prompt, with the length of their contribution gradually increasing from one minute to three. The prompts themselves were simple. Share something that made you smile.

Tell us a reflection or epiphany you’ve had on the Leaders course. Tell us about yourself and your creative practice.

The focus wasn’t on telling the most impressive story.

Instead, we explored eye contact, presence, clarity and confidence. It was incredible to watch participants develop over just a few days. Those who began the week feeling nervous soon became more assured, more expressive and more comfortable speaking in front of the group. By the end of the programme, every participant had grown.

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ders: Finding your voice

Later in the week, we visited Glasgow Women’s Library, where participants were invited to explore the archive and connect with the story of a woman whose experiences resonated with them. They reflected on the challenges she faced, the leadership qualities she demonstrated, and how her story might inform their own leadership journey.

For me, the exercise was a reminder that leadership does not emerge in isolation. We are all influenced by the people who came before us, and there is something powerful about recognising ourselves within those stories.

One of the simplest activities of the week also proved to be one of the most joyful. During our time in Glasgow, each participant was assigned a colour and challenged to photograph examples of it throughout the day. Suddenly everyone was looking more closely, noticing details they might otherwise have missed and helping one another discover unexpected moments of colour.

Looking back, all three activities shared a common thread. They encouraged participants to pay attention: to their own voices, to the stories that shaped them and to the world around them.

Those qualities may not always appear on a leadership framework, but they are often where leadership begins.

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A Day of Inspiration, Conversation and Connection Words by Ellie Stevens | Images by Cerys Cooper and Tabi Mudaliar On 14th May, a group of DG Unlimited members and partners, all wellkent faces and folks we are proud to have been working with over the last year gathered for a day together. They came from right across Dumfries and Galloway and beyond to spend a day with us at the Cairndale Hotel for our Development Day.

Normally known as our annual Conference, the event is our annual members event and continues to provide something that can often be difficult to find in a large rural region: the chance to get together in person, share ideas, strengthen connections and spend time thinking about creativity.

This year, as we do every year, we decided on a different approach. Rather than focusing on formal presentations, we invited our members from across the creative sector and asked a simple question: what could we all be doing differently? The Development Day was designed as a workshop providing the opportunity to

listen to each other, reflect and create space for honest conversation in a friendly informal setting. This was not a day for talking about funding or structures; it was not a day for politics or politicking, and there was no hierarchy or competitiveness.

The day began with a simple question: what has inspired you creatively this month?

As inspirational anecdotes were shared and the introductions made their way around the room, the answers painted a wonderfully varied picture of creative life amongst the members. Inspiration came in many forms, from spring flowers and favourite books to David Bowie glitter purses. Some spoke about exhibitions they had visited, others about conversations, performances or moments of unexpected beauty in everyday life and the natural world around us.

It was a reminder that creativity rarely exists in isolation. We are all shaped and influenced by the people, environments and experiences around us, and inspiration can often be found where we least expect it.

The day brought together a diverse mix of members, including artists, writers, musicians, theatre-makers, photographers, creative freelancers, community

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organisations, and we were delighted to welcome our funders and sector partners, some members of our cohort of Leaders Unlimited, and our Gavin Wallace Fellow who has joined our team for a year.

While the conversations during the workshop, led by Tabi Mudaliar our Creative Director, were enlightening and valuable, some of the most important moments happened in between.

Over coffee, lunch and throughout the day, new connections were made, old friendships were renewed and conversations began that will hopefully continue long after the event itself. For many of us, our Trustees especially, the opportunity to spend time with people from different artforms, organisations and communities and to meet more members was just as important as the workshop. Throughout the day, we shared ideas and built connections as new friendships and ideas formed.

It was good to spend time amongst our members, some of whom had never met before.

for connection sits at the heart of DG Unlimited’s work.

The day provided us with the opportunity to pause, celebrate the creativity that already exists across the region and think together about where we might go next, together.

Most of all, it was a reminder that while creative practice can often feel solitary, none of us create alone.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make the day such a welcoming, thoughtful and inspiring occasion. We look forward to continuing the conversations in the months and years ahead.

Of course, no gathering is complete without good food, and the Cairndale provided a delicious lunch that gave everyone a welcome opportunity to relax, chat and continue conversations in a more informal setting.

As a membership organisation, creating opportunities

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FRIDAY PORTRAITS 18th April - 16th May, Gracefield Arts Centre Images and words by Cerys Cooper The Friday Portraits was an exhibition shown recently at Gracefield Arts Centre during April and May. It exhibited a collection of works by a group of artists and friends who have been working together for many years, meeting regularly in their shared studio. Over the years the artists have built up a notable and impressive body of work.

By rotating the artistic medium used, and painting each other in the same pose, the pieces bring together contributions from the whole group and form a wonderful collection of paintings of these friends, all viewed in a slightly different way. Each person is easily recognisable, but they all vary in artistic interpretation.

The group includes Hugh Bryden, Sandy Robb, Tom Lindsay, Freda Blackwood and Jo Meola, with Blossom McCuaig also joining them on occasions too!

It is inspiring to see the way in which the same person can be viewed and interpreted through different mediums, art forms and styles. From oils and acrylics to lino prints, each of the artists capture each of the artists. What a brilliant idea.

The exhibition had a wide range of incredible artworks varying in size and design. The art truly gave an insightful look into the way we as humans perceive each other through our own individual lens.

Painting by Tom Lindsay

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Above: paintings by Hugh Bryden

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Words by Alycia Pirmohamed – The Dr Gavin Wallace Fellowship DG Unlimited is delighted to welcome Alycia Pirmohamed to the wider team for a year as she takes up her role as the Dr Gavin Wallace Fellow.

Regular readers of FOCUS will recall we introduced you to Alycia in the last issue. By way of a wee reminder however, the Fellowship is an annual residency formed and supported by Creative Scotland, to honour the late Dr Gavin Wallace. We are delighted to have Alycia spend a year focussing on Dumfries and Galloway and spending time with us in the region as she explores the themes of UNFOLDING Scotland during her year as fellow.

Alycia Pirmohamed shared recently, “It’s an absolute honour to have been selected as The Dr Gavin Wallace fellow and I very much look forward to exploring the theme, UNFOLDING Scotland. My proposed project, tentatively titled Even Now the Waterline Wavers, is a cross-genre collection that explores hybridity both as a subject and in form. It considers the connections between homeland – with all of its slippery definitions – ecology, and the Anthropocene, and is guided by questions of how embodiment and the legacies of colonialism and capitalism affect how we interact with the natural world.”

A little about Alycia…

Alycia is a Canadian-born poet based in Scotland. She won the Nan Shepherd Prize for her nonfiction debut Shorelines, forthcoming with Canongate in 2026. She is the author of the poetry collection Another Way to Split

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Water. In 2026, Alycia received the Dr Gavin Wallace Fellowship with Creative Scotland and DG Unlimited.

She is part of ‘field notes collective’, a nature writing project alongside Jessica J. Lee, Nina Mingya Powles and Pratyusha. This too is a glistening, their collaborative pamphlet, was published by Bitter Melon 苦瓜 in 2024.

Her other works include the pamphlets Hinge and Faces that Fled the Wind, and Second Memory, which was coauthored with Pratyusha. Alycia is the co-founder of the Scottish BPOC Writers Network, a co-organiser of the Ledbury Poetry Critics Program, and she currently teaches on the Creative Writing master’s programme at the University of Cambridge.

We asked Alycia to share something for the each issue of FOCUS over the next year while she is with us. Here is her first piece.

51.05°N, 114.06°W I’m at the edge of the Bow River, the side furthest from the road. T is beside me. We’re standing next to the trees. We face the water. A beaver tosses his head side to side before disappearing under. The river always moves faster than I expect it to. I stare at its churning murky depths and time begins to move differently. I see my mercurial childhood. A struggling blue. An access point to the past I have tried to erase. Once as a young woman, I sat on rocks right here at the river’s edge and laughed with strangers. In that moment I thought perhaps this place could become my true home. This city with its strong river. This river that not too long ago flooded the city. Now the grooves of my life are too deep.

Fine lines across my face. Fragments of Calgary gathering into an unreasonable sadness. I fell in love here, where love felt a little less irresponsible.

Back when I thought grief could not touch me.

The river signified the potential of my life. Now I’m a visitor, a stranger, a tourist. A woman who stares into the Bow River with archival longing.

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tabi’s Bookshelf Do you have a ‘to read pile’? Mine is groaning under the weight of tales undiscovered and the anticipation of what their covers will reveal… that is to say… in all honesty, there are only so many hours in the day! I am a daily reader and read whenever I can but there is one book that has been in a state of waiting for years and it is the first book on my shelf.

The Secret History Donna Tartt Penguin Books, 27 May 1993 I have no idea why it has taken me so long to start this book, but I am in! I could talk about it all day, how well it is written, and how it has already become a firm favourite. Just read it, if you have not already. And if you have, get in touch, so I can talk to you about it – I need people to chat enthusiastically with, about this book, and Ms Tartt’s talent as a writer, and whether we think there is another long-awaited book on the horizon, and whether, given everything that is happening, there will ever be another ‘great American novel’? Oh! Donna Tartt pop-up book club in-coming!

“Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries.

But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality they slip gradually from obsession to corruption and betrayal, and at last—inexorably— into evil.”

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Why I Write, George Orwell Penguin Books, 1946 “From a very early age, perhaps the age of five or six, I knew that when I grew up, I should be a writer” Orwell writes in his opening. It is a sentiment true for so many, including me. This book is for anyone who writes, or wants to, or thinks they might, or wonders if they should, and wonders why they do: every writer I know including me! The line which resonates with me, I’m thinking I need it on a t-shirt; “I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing. But I could not do the work of writing a book, or even a long magazine article, if it were not also an aesthetic experience.” And that is the root of the root of writing for me. My writing, and my reading, unearths a truth, exposes a lie, rights a wrong, highlights a beauty. And I love it all. If you have not read this, do. Get yourself a copy and keep it always.

Herding Tigers, Tod Henry Portfolio/Penguin 2018 I have developed and lead our Creative Leadership course, and this is one of the books I recommend. It’s a timely antidote to all the dry business advice about Leadership, which is no use to creatives at all. This is all about caring, feeding and nurturing the creatives to grow and flourish as leaders.

The first chapter: How to draw Darth Vader.

If you are a creative and leading creatives, rather like an exercise in herding kittens I have found, you need this book.

VERY Honourable mentions

A Plate is a Homeland, Luna Issa Alchemy Film & Arts, 2026

Curios Histories and Questionable Tales, Hugh McMillan Tippermuir Books Ltd, 2026

This is a beautifully written Iraqi-Scottish cookbook, written by my friend Luna Issa and published by Alchemy Film & Arts. It is a charming collection of anecdotes and delicious recipes, and a timely reminder that eating with friends and family is the life blood of who we all are. Far away from the images of division and hatred we are being bombarded with. Open this book and see love on every page.

If you have not read this, get yourself a copy without delay! From our own Hugh McMillan, this is one of the funniest, most engaging wee books I have read in a long while. And knowing Hugh and working with him, made it all the more enjoyable. Give yourself a treat and support one of our local writers while you are at it.

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Mr d’s Listen INN Hello and welcome to your latest Listen Inn. Don Cabellero’s American Don (Touch and Go records) First up, Don Cabellero’s American Don from 2000, recently re-issued on Touch and Go records, whom we all know and love as purveyors of great music on a 3-record set.

American Don (I always liked the name; points to American Exceptionalism or more likely the total fiction of it.) Layers of guitar resulting in a head banging display of rhythms and prog like musoship. The word is, Don Cab were demonstrably hating each other by the end of recording American Don, they split and a couple of ex Don Cab members ended up in Battles, the band whom I’m guessing some of you will know. ‘Hard recommend’ as the kidz would say.

Sunn O

(Sub Pop Records) Next up, Sunn O’s new album: Please note the Mark Rothko sleeve art, it gets better on the gatefold sleeve notes, by Robert MacFarlane and best of all, a cheeky if not sincere shout out to Black Sabbath. As for the record to quote Melanie Farrow who some of you may know as our fab Arts and Museums Officer for DG Council, ‘…they (Sunn O) were even louder than Mogwai’, so there you go. It’s a challenging single-minded record and there’s nothing casual about it, and it is a great accompaniment to my Crawick Multiverse walks. I thoroughly recommend both: the record and the Multiverse walks.

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Sonic Youth, Diamond Seas (Geffen Records) First off apologies for the Record Store hype sticker, I know the Discogs front operation a.k.a Record Store Day a.k.a Flippers Delight does attract rancour, but dear readers, I did not queue at ridiculous o’clock and I did not also leave the shop with a ‘splatter vinyl’ copy of Rumours as well as the above, which is one of my favourite Sonic Youth songs from the Washing Machine album.

Diamond Seas is 30 live versions edited and spliced by John Oswald who turned Grateful Dead’s Dark Star track into a triple album. Pitchfork described Diamond Sea as a deep cut and if so, this version is the Marianas Trench. Discogs stans have canned the lo-fi sound quality. I say, ‘so what’. Very obviously, Diamond Seas is one for the completists.

You know the drill: support your local record stores, buy from Bandcamp, stream from tidal / qubuz if must have the digital version. Let me know what you think…

Editor’s Note: These albums do look brand new and unused, we acknowledge, but he is a pedant and keeps them all in their original state. All facts.

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Cerys’ Live Gems The High Priestess Glasgow Date & New Music Local band The High Priestess are gaining momentum, after playing a headline show at The Venue at the end of May, they are preparing to head back up to Glasgow for their next show of the year. The band are preparing to release their debut single, which fans can experience a first listen to the track, in-person at The Stove until the 20th June.

Fans can head upstairs to hear the track exclusively on mp3 players in the cafe.

The band will be at Rocco’s Music Lounge on 11th July and tickets are on sale now.

Photo: The High Priestess live at The Venue by Marco Cornelli

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An Dannsa Dub - Tour Announcement Formed in 2020, An Dannsa Dub—led by local musician Tom Spirals and Euan McLaughlin—have been making waves in the UK and beyond. Twice nominated for Live Act of the Year at the MG Na Trad Awards (23/24) as well as The 2023 Scottish Alternative Music Awards, the band has garnered critical acclaim for their ability to seamlessly blend the mystical sounds of Gaelic song and traditional Scottish instruments with the pulsating rhythms and deep basslines of digital dub.

Last year saw the release of their album “Through The Storm”. This album marked a major evolution for An Dannsa Dub, boasting stellar production from the legendary GAUDI and mixed by dubmaster Paolo Baldini DubFiles, along with an array of exciting guest features, including Junior Dread, Lewis McLaughlin, Josie Duncan, Horseman, Corto Alto, and Rachel Newton.

They have recently released “Through The Storm The Remixes”, featuring 9 reimagined versions from 9 incredible artists.

The band are heading on a massive tour playing in Austria, Italy, Spain and the one and only Kirkpatrick Durham Village Hall on Saturday 31st October 2026.

Tickets on sale now https://www.andannsadub.com/

Dumfries Drum Day 2026 Dumfries Drum Day is Scotland’s only dedicated drumming festival. A day packed with live performances, educational workshops, hands-on activities, and inspiration for all ages. Whether you’re a seasoned percussionist, a total beginner, or just love a good groove, this event brings the local and national drumming scene together in one unforgettable celebration. The event includes a range of activities including workshop sessions running throughout the day with different educators for all ages and abilities.

There is also the Fastest Drummer Competition, there are three separate age categories for both hands and feet and only one rule - single strokes only. Anyone can compete for bragging rights and some awesome prizes donated by Glasgow drum shop Drummers Only.

Set in the heart of Dumfries, the festival blends big stage energy with grassroots creativity and champions young talent, local artists, and the power of rhythm to bring people together.

Dumfries Drum Day will be on the 19th September 2026 and all information can be found at - https://dumfriesdrum.day Photo: Dumfries Drum Day 2026 by Paul Wilson

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Watch with ELLIE 100 Films from the 90s For Christmas, I was given one of those scratch-off posters featuring 100 iconic films from the 1990s. Since January, I’ve been slowly working my way through the list, rating each one as I go. Some have been first-time watches, while others have been films I’ve revisited years after first seeing them. So far, I’m 40 films in and thoroughly enjoying the journey.

What has struck me most is how many of these films

have stood the test of time. The fashions, technology and hairstyles may have changed, but the stories themselves still feel remarkably relevant. Whether it’s the hope and resilience of The Shawshank Redemption, the search for identity in Good Will Hunting, the questions about reality and authenticity raised by The Truman Show, or the friendships at the heart of Trainspotting, these films continue to speak to audiences decades later.

Some of my favourites so far have included The Shawshank Redemption, Saving Private Ryan, Se7en, Fight Club, Good Will Hunting, The Truman Show, The Green Mile, Heat, Reservoir Dogs, The Silence of the Lambs, Edward Scissorhands and Trainspotting.

While they each have very different stories, each one has reminded me why the 1990s produced so many films that are now considered classics.

Rewatching some of these films has also been a reminder that great stories change as we do. Characters, themes and moments that barely registered when I first saw them now feel completely different. The best films seem to grow alongside us, offering something new each time we return.

So rather than recommending one particular film this month, I’d recommend revisiting a favourite from the 1990s, or finally watching one that’s been sitting on your list for years. You might be surprised by just how much these stories still have to say.

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Team Viking One of the highlights of this year’s Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival for me was Team Viking by James Rowland, which I saw at the Mill on the Fleet.

The show tells the true story of Rowland’s best friend Tom, whose final wish was to be given a Viking burial. What follows is a remarkable story about friendship, grief, loyalty and the lengths we go to for the people we love. It sounds like it should be impossibly sad, yet it is also one of the funniest and most life-affirming pieces of theatre I have seen in a long time.

What makes it so special is Rowland himself. He is an extraordinary storyteller, effortlessly moving between comedy and heartbreak whilst making the audience feel as though they are sharing a conversation with an old friend. The show is beautifully crafted, but never feels showy. Instead, it feels warm, generous and deeply human.

If you’ve spent any time around the Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival over the past few years, there’s a good chance you’ve come across James’s work before. He has become something of a festival favourite, returning year after year with different shows and consistently delivering some of the most memorable performances in the programme.

Team Viking first premiered in 2016 and has since toured extensively, earning critical acclaim for its blend of storytelling, music and humour. Ten years on, it remains as moving and relevant as ever.

If you ever see James Rowland’s name in a festival brochure, my advice is simple: book a ticket. You may not know exactly what you’re walking into, but you’re almost guaranteed to leave having laughed, cried and been reminded of the importance of kindness, friendship and making the most of the time we have.

Towa Mura One of the most exciting pieces of theatre arriving in Dumfries and Galloway this summer is Towa Mura, an ambitious international collaboration between writer Tom Pow, musicians The Galloway Agreement, and the acclaimed Bird Theatre from Tottori, Japan.

The project explores themes that will feel deeply familiar to many people across our region. Drawing on shared experiences of rural life, ageing populations and depopulation, it asks what happens when communities face uncertain futures and difficult choices about survival, change and identity.

Inspired by a real news story about a Japanese village debating its future, the play combines poetry, theatre and live music to create something that feels both local and global. While the setting may be an imagined village, the questions at its heart are very real. What do we owe the places we come from? What is lost when communities disappear? And how do we balance preserving the past with embracing the future?

What makes the project particularly special is the partnership itself. Bird Theatre works in one of Japan’s most rural regions, facing many of the same opportunities and challenges that exist in Dumfries and Galloway. This collaboration creates a fascinating cultural conversation between two places that, despite being on opposite sides of the world, have much in common.

Developed in Dumfries and Galloway before travelling to Japan later this year, Towa Mura is exactly the kind of bold, internationally significant work that reminds us that world-class theatre can emerge from rural communities. I hope you are one of the lucky people who have the chance to see the sold out performances this month at Catstrand.

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Summer Solstice Celebrations at Crawick Multiverse Midsummer Celebrations on 20th and 21st June 2026

Sunset at Crawick Multiverse: Colin James and Wendy Stewart, Zoe Bestel, Solstice. Photo by Mike Bolam

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On 21st June 2015, Crawick Multiverse, a former open cast coal mine near Sanquhar, opened to the public for the first time. Members of the local community, guests and visitors gathered for a midsummer celebration to mark the opening and to celebrate the birthday of Charles Jencks (1939-2019), who had just transformed the site into a new and exciting outdoor artland in Upper Nithsdale. Eleven years on Crawick Multiverse is preparing to host another busy weekend of midsummer celebrations on the 20th and 21st June 2026.

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Ordinarily the 55-acre visitor attraction is open 7 days a week for day visitors, but with midsummer just around the corner, the annual Solstice celebrations will take place on the 20th and 21st June 2026, offering visitors the opportunity to enjoy evening Sunset Sessions and early morning Sunrise celebrations.

While many will opt to join the new Saturday evening sessions and/or return at 4am to experience the Solstice sunrise and participate in wellbeing sessions, those with a motorhome or campervan can also stay the night and make the most of the weekend.

There are various ticket options available, and the vent is increasingly popular, attracting visitors from all over the UK and around Dumfries and Galloway. They will all be traveling to the South of Scotland to be part of this unique and special experience.

Brian Johnson, Operations Manager at Crawick Multiverse said: “In June 2025, we celebrated our 10th anniversary and were treated to a spectacular Solstice sunrise. It was quite a surreal experience for everyone who made it along last year and we hope that 2026 will be just as special. With Solstice falling on a Sunday, we are offering day, evening and weekend options this year. We are looking forward to welcoming Zoe Bestel, Wendy Stewart and Colin James back to perform over the weekend, and thanks to an ongoing partnership with Up Yer Airts, we are pleased to have new artists joining our Solstice programme including; Sunshine and The Silver Seams, The Bookshop Band and Mikey Kenney. Early morning yoga and Tai Chi is back on the schedule too and will be delivered by Kerry Riddell and Josephine Smith. There will be plenty of time to explore the Multiverse and enjoy a picnic, the views and the birdsong.”

Zoe Bestel, photo by Mike Bolam

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Colin James and Wendy Stewart, photo by Mike Bolam

Top above: Mikey Kenney, photo by Andrea Terzuoli Above: Sunshine and The Silver Seams

Top above: The Bookshop Band Above: Early morning Yoga and Tai Chi, photo by Mike Bolam

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Our friends at the Multiverse also shared details of the types of tickets available to visitors.

A SOLSTICE STOPOVER PACKAGE:

SUNSET SESSION:

Stay the night in a motorhome on Saturday 20th June and enjoy the Summer Solstice at Crawick Multiverse.

With an overnight motorhome pass per van, and a Solstice Day Pass per person, guests will have access to the site from 4pm on Saturday to 4pm on Sunday and a rare opportunity to park up on site next to Andromeda and The Milky Way! This package includes access to the Sunset Session and the opportunity to wake up to experience the Solstice Sunrise and Sunrise Celebrations including musical performances, wellbeing sessions and time to tour the site.

Guests with a Sunset Session ticket will enjoy an evening of relaxing campfire music, programmed by Up Yer Airts, in the Sun Amphitheatre at Crawick Multiverse from 6pm until sunset on Saturday 20th June 2026. For those who sing or play an instrument there will be an opportunity to join in. The Sunset Session is open to the public and to those staying over in a motorhome.

Sunset at Crawick Multiverse, photo by Mike Bolam

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SOLSTICE DAY PASS: A Solstice Day Pass will provide all-day access from 4am to 6pm on Sunday 21st June 2026 and the option to drop in and out throughout the day. Guests can explore the site at their leisure or take part in any of the scheduled activities. The highlight will be the opportunity to gather and watch the sunrise on Andromeda. Enjoy the moment with early morning performances from Wendy Stewart, Colin James, Zoe Bestel and Sunshine and The Silver Seams, before taking an early morning stroll of Crawick Multiverse, with pop-up performances taking place on landforms

across the site before breakfast. Yoga and Tai Chi Sessions will take place on the lawn from 8.30am to 10.30am. The site will remain open until 6pm for anyone who wants to explore the site or relax with a book and a picnic.

Find out more and book online to secure your ticket: https://www.crawickmultiverse.co.uk/events/ Some of the DG Unlimited team will be there to see the sunrise and we hope to see you there too!

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A Dumfries Summer, in Music Absolute Classics Summer Festival 2026 Absolute Classics has made a habit of bringing serious music to a part of Scotland that is too often overlooked. The Summer Festival returns to Easterbrook Hall, Dumfries, from 9 to 12 July, with four days that begin with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and end, in celebratory style, with a swing-night salute to the 1930s and ’40s.

From 9 to 12 July, the Summer Festival returns to Easterbrook Hall in Dumfries for four days of live music that brings artists of genuine international calibre into the heart of Dumfries and Galloway, while keeping the organisation’s signature sense of welcome and occasion. This is not culture airlifted in for a weekend and then whisked away again. It is a festival that understands its place, and the people who live there.

In a largely rural region, live performance can be more than entertainment. It is a reason to gather. It is a shared experience, and a social space as much as an artistic one. Absolute Classics has built its reputation on that simple truth: that high-quality classical music belongs in communities like this, not only in the obvious cities. There is also a second strand running through the festival’s programming, and it is quietly radical. Alongside established names, the festival makes room for young local performers, placing emerging musicians on the same stage as those they might otherwise only encounter online or at a distance. It is a statement of confidence in local talent, and in the idea that Dumfries and Galloway can be a place where ambition is not apologised for.

The programme itself has breadth and character, moving from the bright, immediate energy of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons to intimate chamber music, a major closing piano recital, and a final-night swing set that salutes the golden age of jazz. The arc is deliberate: a festival that begins in sunlight and ends in celebration.

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Will Archibald, Cellist, photo: Courtesy of Absolute Classics

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On Thursday 9 July, the opening night offers music that feels like summer from the first bar. Elgar’s Serenade for Strings sets the tone, before Mozart and Schubert lead into Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Violinist Victoria Lyon, known to many from Escala and Britain’s Got Talent, leads Ensemble Lyon. It is a vivid curtain-raiser, and a chance to hear one of classical music’s most recognisable works fully alive in the concert hall, rather than reduced to a familiar snippet.

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Victoria Lyon, photo: Courtesy of Absolute Classics

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Friday 10 July turns inward, into a more intimate, emotionally wide-ranging programme for cello and piano. Cellist Ivan Skanavi joins pianist Mana Oguchi for an evening of contrasts, including Brahms songs reimagined for cello and piano, alongside music by Kodály, Bloch, Schubert and Schnittke. It is the sort of programme that trusts its audience: not a greatest-hits parade, but a carefully chosen sequence of voices and colours.

Saturday 11 July begins with a morning concert that places the festival’s values in plain view. Young singers Catriona Arthur and Lewis Menzies are joined by cellist Will Archibald, a musician with the kind of focus and momentum that suggests he is going all the way.

They perform with pianist Simon Callaghan, one of the UK’s most admired collaborative pianists. It is not framed as a worthy add-on, but as a proper festival platform for the next generation.

That evening, the festival leans into the richness of chamber music at its most expansive. The Sacconi

Sacconi Quartet, photo: Courtesy of Absolute Classics

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Quartet joins Callaghan for a programme of lyricism and sweep: Rachmaninov’s Romance, Schumann’s Piano Quintet, and, after the interval, Dvorák’s Piano Quintet, one of the best-loved works in the repertoire.

For more than two decades, the Sacconi Quartet has been celebrated for the unanimity of its ensemble and its fresh, imaginative approach. Formed in 2001 and unchanged since its inception, the Quartet is in Association at the Royal College of Music. In Dumfries, the scale is different, the atmosphere closer, and the experience has a particular intensity.

Ivan Skanavi, photo: Courtesy of Absolute Classics

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On Sunday 12 July, the classical programme closes with a major solo recital from pianist Giordano Buondonno.

The programme brings together Rachmaninov and Scriabin, Debussy’s colour and atmosphere, and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. It is a finale with real sense of occasion, elegant and fiery in equal measure.

Then the festival does something that feels both unexpected and entirely right. On Sunday evening, trumpeter Colin Steele, named Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year 2025, brings together a stellar line-up of swing players for Kings of Swing, a finalnight salute to the 1930s and ’40s. Expect classic hits made famous by Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington, delivered with style and decades of combined experience. The band’s repertoire is huge, and for the second set they will happily take requests. It is a closing night designed to send people out into the Dumfries evening with a lift in their step.

There is also a modern strand to the festival’s life beyond the hall. Through its ongoing work filming performances, Absolute Classics extends the reach of what happens on stage, creating material that can be shared, revisited, and used to build visibility for both the artists and the region. In a place where travel can be a barrier and audiences are dispersed, that matters. It is not a replacement for the live experience, but a way of letting the festival’s impact travel further.

At its best, a summer festival does not simply fill a calendar. It changes the feel of a place for a few days. It gives people something to look forward to, something to talk about, and something to remember. Absolute Classics has become adept at creating that atmosphere: the sense of occasion without the fuss, the quality without the coldness.

Tickets are available at www.absoluteclassics.co.uk.

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Giordano Buondonno, photo: Courtesy of Absolute Classics

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HOT TICKETS Wigtown Book Festival This year’s Wigtown Book Festival is looking great! Our friends at the festival recently offered followers the chance to purchase Early Bird tickets and it also gave us an exciting preview of what is coming up in this year’s programme. Of course, we had to share this sneak preview with you too!

Catherine Heymans, photo by Colin Hattersley

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A selection of the authors this year…

Sally Magnusson: The novelist and broadcaster

Taylor Dyson: Scrieving in Scots - a lyrical masterclass

talks about The Shapeshifter’s Daughter her electrifying Orkney-based reimagining of the Norse tale of Hel, queen of the underworld.

from performance poet and National Library of Scotland’s Scots Scriever.

Neil Forsyth: From Bob Servant to BAFTA. The creator

Carnegie Medal for writing is an LGBT+ love story born amidst the horror of World War I.

of dramas Legends, Guilt and The Gold, and the man behind Brian Cox’s greatest comedy role (and Dundee’s most famous comic creation since Dennis the Menace), Bob Servant, discusses his life, career, writing for the screen and the comedy of being human.

Gerda Stevenson: Cat Wumman: Tales O Nine Lives.

The celebrated actor (Braveheart and Shetland), singer and writer discusses her new book of Scots language short stories. A chance to see one of the country’s great story tellers.

Dougie Payne: After more than 30 years with one of Scotland’s best bands the Travis bass player is now also a children’s author. In an event for youngsters aged 3-6 he will be reading from Poochie Pete and his Very BigFeet.

Watch out for the full programme launch for details of his other event, Dougie Payne: My Life in Culture.

Larry Lamb: An Audience with Larry Lamb. A personal poetic journey through Lamb’s colourful life and career. Best known as the ever-patient Mick Shipman from Gavin & Stacey, Lamb is an acclaimed actor, presenter and storyteller, who’s recently embarked on a new project as a poet! He hopes to publish his first collection, entitled From Womb to Tomb, in 2027.

Harriet Tyce: The Scottish crime writer, and Traitors star discusses her new legal thriller Witch Trial, set in Edinburgh’s High Court, with echoes of Scotland’s historical persecution of women accused of witchcraft.

Vince Cable: The former Lib Dem leader’s new work, Eclipsing the West: China, India and the forging of a new world, explores the rise of two vast new powers and what it means for a vulnerable Britain.

Cal Flyn: The Savage Landscape. What does “wilderness” mean in the 21st century? The Sunday Times bestselling author takes us to the world’s darkest forests, the tops of mountains, and the heart of the desert.

William Hussey: The Boy I Love, shortlisted for The

Ceitidh Campbell: Gaelic for Munro Baggers.

Ever wondered about the meaning of the name of the mountain you are climbing? Join Gaelic and English poet Ceitidh to unlock the secrets of our tallest mountains.

John Kampfner: Braver New World: The Countries Daring to Do Things Others Won’t. When it comes to the biggest social challenges, we seem to be failing. But one of Britain’s most respected journalists has travelled the globe to find inspiring ideas.

Joseph Coelho: Rapunzel is a Lettuce - the former Waterstone’s Children’s Laureate (and writer of the popular Poems Aloud) shares his soon-to-be-published new collection of poems designed for explorers of all ages.

Logan Parker: Salma: Songs of Strength and Survival.

An intimate solo performance from the BritishPortuguese singer-songwriter whose music blends soulful songwriting with reflection and storytelling.

The full programme will be unveiled in Wigtown on 24th July when all the tickets will go on sale. This includes special guest, Scotland’s Astronomer Royal, and astrophysicist, Professor Catherine Heymans, who will discuss her new book How to Design a Universe: The Science of Real and Virtual Worlds, which looks at whether we are living in the Matrix by asking whether humanity could ever create an artificial universe as rich and diverse as our own.

For more details, tickets and more information go to www.wigtownbookfestival.com And if you are going to the book festival this year, let us know! Members of Team DG Unlimited will be there and we would love to see you.

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Jupiter + Growing Pains Jupiter +, the off-site programme from Jupiter Artland coming to Dumfries for 2026.

July 27th until December 6th, Loreburn Centre, Dumfries.

Jupiter+ is an ambitious off-site programme which is bringing world-class art to high streets across Scotland.

In 2026, now in its fifth iteration, we are excited to welcome the project to Dumfries! Previous editions took place in Perth, Ayr, Paisley and Dundee.

This year, artist Lindsey Mendick presents Growing Pains, an installation of ceramic sculptures, stained glass, office furniture and a film. Referencing her teenage years, Mendick will transform the space into an immersive experience exploring the uncertainties and awkwardness, and the societal expectations that can be acutely felt during adolescence.

The work will be on show at the Loreburn Centre, Dumfries from the 27th July until 6th December 2026.

Using the analogy of an estate agency, the artist reflects on how these businesses relentlessly tout aspirational lifestyles and the insidious feeling that the grass is always greener.

Her work probes our tendency, as adults, to attribute the strains we experience to our parents, anxious about meeting their expectations. Yet, we seldom consider how we demanded so much from them as children. We yearned for the right trainers, the latest smartphones, and had an insatiable appetite for the newest technologies, trends, and designer labels.’

Growing Pains features 8 Alice-in-Wonderland-style ceramic dolls’ houses that burst open with teenage figures erupting from within. Each house represents a different milestone of growing up in the 00s, before the influence of social media and the internet. The work seeks to capture the surreal pressures emerging at the threshold of adulthood.

‘Mendick, who grew up in north London, recalls the unspoken social hierarchies that shaped her upbringing.

Read more about Growing Pains here.

Would you like to get involved? Bookings are open to all group types (schools, colleges, universities, community and social groups. Age 15+) Art, a practice of healing and reflection, underpins the theme of Jupiter + Dumfries’ dynamic new program.

If you are interested and would like to get involved or know more, complete their booking form.

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Creative N Developing Creative Tale Freelance Commi DG Unlimited is seeking to commission an early to mid-career creative or cultural researcher to work alongside the Creative Director and the DG Unlimited team on their research project, Creative North Star: Developing Creative Talent Through Mentorship.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone interested in building their experience as a cultural researcher and their skills as a consultant while contributing to a significant piece of research and development work. The commissioned researcher will report to the DG Unlimited Creative Director who will oversee the project and provide mentorship and support throughout the commission.

The commission will require 7 days of work at a rate of £250 per day, plus travel costs for meetings in Dumfries and Galloway and with key partners across Scotland. The researcher will support the gathering of evidence, mapping of current activity, and support engagement with stakeholders, helping to shape a clearer picture of existing mentoring provision and future opportunities across the region.

This commission is particularly suitable for someone who wants to develop their skills in cultural research, consultation, and strategic thinking within the creative sector. It offers the chance to contribute

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to the creation of a framework of recommendations for creative mentoring in Dumfries and Galloway, with potential relevance for other rural and regional contexts beyond this region.

As part of the work, we will also consult with colleagues across Scotland who are already delivering creative mentoring, learning from their experience to gather examples of best practice and advice from across the sector. We are interested in hearing from individuals who are passionate about mentoring and making it as inclusive as possible. If you have knowledge or experience working with individuals with complex needs, physical disabilities, diverse identities and socioeconomic backgrounds, or with those who identify as being part of the Black and Global Majority in Scotland, let us know. Tell us why you are interested in helping us to build a plan for mentoring.

The results of this research project will inform DG Unlimited’s plans as it develops its own mentoring

North Star: ent Through Mentorship ssion, Researcher services for members and help ensure that future provision is ambitious, practical, and grounded in sector knowledge.

Creative North Star is a timely and focused piece of work, funded by Creative Scotland and Dumfries and Galloway Council and responds directly to DG Unlimited members’ feedback. The project is designed to identify what matters most to creative practitioners in Dumfries and Galloway when it comes to mentorship, its provision and quality; who needs mentorship; what form it could take; and who could be a mentor? These are questions the team aims to answer. By listening to our members, consulting the sector across Scotland, identifying what works, and exploring the art of the possible, this research study will provide a clear and confident direction for the future mentoring opportunities DG Unlimited plans to offer to its members in Dumfries and Galloway.

For millennia, the North Star has been regarded as a guiding light and a source of clarity and direction midst confusion, lack of direction and uncertainty.

DG Unlimited intends this project to be a guiding light for us and for the creative sector we serve by publishing important findings on creative mentoring in our region, how it could be done and who needs it.

This commission is open to any creative individual aged over the age of 18 years. You do not need to be based in Dumfries and Galloway or the South of Scotland, but you must be able to easily travel to the region and have a demonstrable knowledge of Dumfries and Galloway and its creative sector.

This is not a remote commission and will involve travelling in Dumfries and Galloway and in Scotland.

This is a freelance commission and not an employed role.

Commission Fees: 7 days at a rate of £250 per day, plus travel expenses for meetings in Dumfries and Galloway and with key partners across Scotland.

Additional days may be required and will be agreed in advance with the Creative Director.

To apply, please send your CV indicating any previous experience relevant to this commission, and a cover letter explaining why you are interested in the commission and in working with us. Please also add a short creative bio about yourself.

DG Unlimited commissions align with Creative Scotland’s Fair Work Fair Pay Policy and we are an equal opportunities commissioner. If you have access needs or require further information about this freelance commission, please contact Tabi Mudaliar, Creative Director, at comms.dgu@gmail.com

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CAMPLE LINE Majd Abdel Hamid Murmuration 27 June – 6 September 2026 Open Thurs-Sun, 11am-4pm, or by appointment outside of those times Entry is free. The exhibition is wheelchair accessible

Exhibition preview: Sat 27 June, 1.30-4.30pm On the day, we will provide free transport between Dumfries Train Station and Cample. If you would like more details and to reserve a seat, please be in touch by Thurs 25 June.

Email: info@campleline.org.uk | Phone: 01848 331 000

An introduction to the Artist from CAMPLE LINE This summer, CAMPLE LINE is delighted to present Murmuration, an exhibition of new and recent works in embroidery and textile by Palestinian artist Majd Abdel Hamid which explores recurring concerns in his practice: memory, trauma, time and repair.

Whilst borrowing from Palestinian embroidery traditions, Abdel Hamid’s needlework is self-taught.

His work is invariably handmade, small in scale, intended to be easily portable, and he typically works in series, some of which extend over a number of years. His projects arise in response to memories or aspects of his own lived experience as well as the experiences and testimonies of others, often as a means to record or resist the impacts of traumatic contexts or events. Recently he has made a series of abstract embroideries that track the slow growth of a succulent plant over several months, drawing subtle parallels between natural survival strategies or patterns of movement and the emotional and political landscapes of human life.

The exhibition’s title – Murmuration – invokes the extraordinary phenomenon of collective bird behaviour that is defensive, protective and adaptive, extending these parallels further. The exhibition itself builds upon a sense of departure in Abdel Hamid’s practice recently described by curator Adomas Narkevicˇius: ‘not an erasure or a resolution but an opening towards what remains possible. It is a meditation on how everyday acts of making may partake in the understated project of continuity, possibility, quiet joy, and life.’

A newly commissioned essay by Francis McKee accompanies the exhibition.

Opposite page: Majd Abdel Hamid, daydreamers (fortune tellers), 2025, GAK Bremen, Germany.

Photo: Franziska von den Driesch. Image courtesy of the artist and gb agency, Paris.

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Photo: Sunset at Crawick Multiverse, photo by Mike Bolam DG Unlimited’s FOCUS magazine shines a light on the excellence continually demonstrated within the creative and cultural sector within and from Dumfries and Galloway. Our readership goes far beyond this region, we’re proud to have readers all around the UK and beyond. DG Unlimited is the operational arm of the Dumfries and Galloway Chamber of the Arts and we are a registered Scottish charity and a membership organisation. We are proud to be one of the four founding members of the Dumfries and Galloway Cultural Partnership and to strategically represent the creative sector of Dumfries and Galloway as we work with our friends and partners in the region, in Scotland and the UK for the benefit of our members who contribute to the wealth of creativity and culture around us.

DG Unlimited – We’re all about the people.

To contribute to FOCUS magazine, please email our FOCUS editor, Creative Director, Tabi Mudaliar, comms.dgu@gmail.com

Acknowledgements: DG Unlimited would like to thank all the contributors and everyone who has contributed to the making of this magazine. And, to extend our gratitude to Dumfries and Galloway’s creative community for helping to make our region such a vibrant, culturally active, and creative force in Scotland.

Design: artibrand.co.uk

Visit dgunlimited.org to find out about how to become a member, to join our Talent Pool, and to see all the latest news and opportunities.