Join artist Kamal Malhotra to explore Edinburgh’s queer history through vintage maps, images, magazines, scissors, and glue! This informal collage workshop looks at the material Lavender Menace used for our Desire Paths exhibition and encourages participants to remix and redesign Edinburgh’s queer past. About the facilitator Kamal Malhotra is an Edinburgh-based illustrator who graduated from Edinburgh […]
Create found poetry and collage art in ‘Recover, recycle, reimagine: making art in dark times’ – a workshop led by poet Mae Diansangu. Participants will explore what it means to make art in times of multiple crises, using materials from mainstream media to critique, reclaim, and reimagine the dominant narratives that shape our society. This […]
Come along to the archive for a queer folklore-themed writing workshop with Scottish author Elisabeth Flett! Elisabeth’s 2025 novel No Such Thing As Kelpies is an LGBTQ+ modern re-imagining of Scottish fairy tales and folkloric creatures. Together we’ll be learning a few fun facts about Scottish folklore, hearing a couple of extracts from Flett’s book […]
Join Lavender Menace and the CILIP LGBTQ+ Network for an online evening discussion about protecting and sharing trans heritage. Curator E-J Scott will be in dialogue with Professor Richard Sandell in an event chaired by historian Elena Fritzsch. About the speakers E-J Scott is a curator, cultural producer and academic whose practice focuses on enabling […]
Join us for a pub quiz, raffle and social with Dyke Bar! Fundraising for non-profits and LGBTQ+ organisations is especially tough right now, and we’d love your support to help us keep the archive doors open. Lavender Menace volunteers will host a big gay pub quiz, with questions themed around LGBTQ+ books, Edinburgh’s queer scene, […]
Join Lavender Menace for an afternoon of stories of lesbian life and art. Kate Charlesworth is an illustrator and writer of renowned lesbian cult classics like Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide and The Life & Times of Auntie Studs. Kate will be in conversation with award-winning poet and writer Jay Whittaker. This event is part […]
“…ive us a visual record of our passages… a mosaic of lesbian strength, of our strivings to remake our outer and inner worlds.” – Joan Nestle In an era shaped by Section 28 and silence, many lesbian lives of the 1980s and 1990s were undocumented or deliberately hidden. Join the Lesbian Snapshot Collective to bring […]
This free event brings together the people behind Scotland’s first LGBT+ bookshops, Lavender Menace (1982-87) and West & Wilde (1987-97). Sigrid Nielsen, Bob Orr, and Raymond Rose were all involved in these first two bookshops in Edinburgh, where LGBT+ people could find books, space, and community. The event will be hosted by Anna Broomfield, the […]
What is solidarity? And how can solidarity effectively challenge the status quo? Join acclaimed writer, activist and historian Sarah Schulman to celebrate her latest book, The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity. Schulman looks to the past, present, and future to unpack the often misunderstood concept of solidarity. Reflecting on her own experiences as a queer […]
Step back in time with queer history researcher and writer Indigo for this walking tour of Edinburgh. Together, we will explore the infamous sapphic scandal that inspired The Children’s Hour, starring Audrey Hepburn, and Scotch Verdict by historian Lillian Faderman. As we weave our way from the New Town to the Old Town, we’ll explore […]
Join us at the Museum of Edinburgh for a fun and informal sketching workshop at the Past Shelves exhibition with queer artist, Annie Lord. No experience necessary! Annie will lead some guided drawing exercises to get you started then you are encouraged to spend time sketching anything in the exhibition or museum that catches your […]
“…ive us a visual record of our passages… a mosaic of lesbian strength, of our strivings to remake our outer and inner worlds.” – Joan Nestle In an era shaped by Section 28 and silence, many lesbian lives of the 1980s and 1990s were undocumented or deliberately hidden. Join the Lesbian Snapshot Collective to bring […]
