Collective Gala
Our third Gala was filled with tours, local makers, performance and play
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Inspired by traditional Scottish Gala day celebrations, Collective Gala invites audiences of all ages to experience our unique site on Calton Hill and engage with our wide-ranging programmes.
This year, we will be joined by Edinburgh-based artist Debjani Banerjee, whose new commission and performance will be centred on storytelling and Tarot. Play sessions will be facilitated by our Lead Play Artist, Kat Stanley. You can also join behind-the-scenes tours of our heritage observatory, shop with local makers, and explore exhibitions by Katie Paterson and Richard Maguire.
Access information
Find out more about accessing our site at Collective Gallery here
Gala schedule
View the full Gala schedule
Introducing our Gala Artist:
Debjani Banerjee
Debjani Banerjee is an artist based in Edinburgh. Her practice spans sculpture, textile, moving image, performance, dance and sound to create playful, humorous, and nuanced representations of cultural plurality, the mystic, the feminine and of broader human experience.
Banerjee’s practice is rooted in collaboration, learning, and exchange. She has a strong interest in workshops, participatory methods, and archival research, using these approaches to create spaces for shared knowledge and collective engagement.
For Gala, Debjani will be working with artists Marta Aspe, Alexa Hare and Megan Rudden on The Host – an interactive performance in our library and a roaming musical accompanyment around our site.
Moon Plates, 2026 Glazed stoneware ceramics. Photo: Laura Cullen
দেবী (Devi ), screenprint (2019), reproduced in 2026. After the poster for Devi (1960) by Satyajit Ray. Installation view, Jalsaghar, Bluecoat, Liverpool, 2026. Photo: Rob...
Shiva Fountain (detail), 2026 Ceramic, enamel paint, water pump; wood, spray paint. Installation view, Jalsaghar, Bluecoat, Liverpool, 2026. Photo: Rob Battersby
Artist-run Play sessions
For this year’s Gala, we’ll be joined by our Lead Play Artist Kat Stanley for drop-in Play Sessions inspired by Debjani Banerjee’s commission and performance.
The Play sessions will reimagine familiar Scottish Gala Day traditions through the visual language of tarot. Drawing on recognisable motifs such as the Gala Queen, banners and processions, we will create a playful celebration that honours Gala Day as a rite of passage for children transitioning into a new year, or leaving primary school.
About Kat Stanley
Belfast-born artist, performer and early-years play worker Kat Stanley specialises in the careful curation of spaces that nurture and encourage innate creativity. After completing a masters in contemporary art practice at the University of Edinburgh, Kat co-produced grassroots queer performance collective ‘Fruit Salad’ as well as developing an exciting arts and engagement practice.
Interested in performance, costume, painting and film, and entranced by the intricate beauty of folklore and ritual practices, Kat immerses themselves and others in the otherworld through acts of creativity and worldbuilding.
Crafters and Stallholders
We're excited to welcome a number of local crafters, artists and makers to this years' Gala, including...
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