Twilight Talks About Design
Our Twilight Talks bring together contemporary makers, designers, curators and researchers
to explore the role of design in our contemporary cultural landscape.
Our Twilight Talks about Design were inaugurated in 2014 and new talks emerge from our rolling series of programmes. These design discussions consider material and place and move to ask more searching questions about our individual, community and planetary well-being and future.
Book for our latest events via our dedicated Eventbrite pages.

Photo by Maxime Ragni
Sharing Culture by Design
16 January 2020
Journeys in Design brought together an expert panel to discuss the power of nurturing cultural links between Scotland and Europe. We welcomed Ben Macpherson, then Minister for Europe, Migration and International Development in the Scottish Government to formally open our Twilight Talk.
Mary V. Mullin has a distinguished career in design promotion and management
Dr Stacey Hunter Design Curator, Founders of local Heroes
Mark Watson Historic Environment Scotland

Photo by Maxime Ragni
Design in a Sustainable Scotland
14 November 2019
Design in a sustainable Scotland: how do we walk more lightly on the earth by design and use of materials? With an Expert Panel bringing international perspective to the debate in Scotland, join us to discuss the potential of material, community and the circular economy in designing a sustainable Scotland. Robin Harper, first Member of the Scottish Parliament to represent the Green Party, opens our Talk.
Lynn Wilson, Circular Economy Consultant
Trish Belford, Senior Research Fellow, Art and Design Institute, University of Ulster in Belfast
Marnie Collins, Assistant Professor, Textile Design, Heriot-Watt University
John Ferguson, Social Entrepreneur

African Routes
14 January 2016
Accra, the capital of Ghana is a city transformed by outside investment but one only need scratch the surface to find an ecosystem in crisis.
Renee Neblett, Director of the Kokrobitey Institute in Ghana explores the role of art and design in this context and how local communities understand their environment in relation to the broader world, providing examples from the pioneering work of the Kokrobitey Institute and Design Centre.
This Talk honours the memory of architect and designer Alero Olympio.
Renee Neblett Director of the Kokrobitey Institute in Ghana

The Art and Design of Collaboration
27 August 2015
Edinburgh Festival luminaries Richard Demarco and Jim Haynes are joined by emerging talents Marion Preez, Katrina Corbett, Alan Brown, Pauline Sandberg, David Seel and Oana Stanchi, gathering to recollect and plan art and design collaborations. This Gayfield Twilight Talk is presented by Pecha Kucha Edinburgh: curated by Gordon Duffy, sponsored by Studio DuB, supported by New Media Scotland and Gayfield.
Gordon Duffy Principal of Studio DuB
Richard Demarco Artist and Curator
Jim Haynes Collaborative Impresario

Hubbing for Creatives
20 August 2015
When creatives combine into hubs, their localities can celebrate their emergence and local economies can develop. We can map these collaborative facilities across Scotland and when we ‘join up the dots’ the term ‘creative economy’ starts to make sense as a national resource.
Chaired by Caroline Parkinson, independent Creative Project manager, we hear from Creative Edinburgh’s Janine Matheson and British Council’s Lynsey Smith.
Caroline Parkinson CP Creative Project Management
Janine Matheson Creative Edinburgh
Lynsey Smith Former Director of Creative Edinburgh

Maker Journeys
13 August 2015
Architect Gunnar Groves-Raines of GRAS presents a series of completed architectural projects as well as more experimental collaborations borne out of the British Council Maker Library Network. University of Strathclyde graduates Gunnar Groves-Raines and Stuart Falconer co-founded GRAS in 2006, an architecture and design studio exploring ideas, materials, techniques and technologies all with making at its heart.
Gunnar Groves-Raines Co-founder of GRAS

Marking and Mapping
6 August 2015
Chris Fleet and Anna Feintuck discuss Edinburgh’s cartographic industry, home to world-renowned mapmakers such as John Bartholomew & Son. Old maps of Gayfield itself suggest a bustling hub of light industry and creative manufacture. Learn more about maps of Edinburgh and the tales they tell, as well as those they choose to hide. Chris Fleet is Senior Maps Curator at the National Library of Scotland and Anna Feintuck is PhD researcher for the Mapping Edinburgh’s Social History initiative at University of Edinburgh.
Chris Fleet Senior Maps Curator at the National Library of Scotland
Anna Feintuck Co-curator on PACE: Walking by Design

Shot by Edinburgh Film Company
The Power of Place
11 September 2014
Glasgow-based curator Katy West (India Street, Gayfield Summer 2014) and Edinburgh-based Architect Stuart Falconer (GRAS: architects for Gayfield Creative Spaces 2014) explore their experience of working with designers and makers from different cultures and the ways in which design can both create international links and highlight local concerns. The conversation is chaired by Dr John Ennis, Founder, Gayfield Creative Spaces.
Katy West Curator of India Street Gayfield Summer 2014
Stuart Falconer GRAS: architects

Shot by Edinburgh Film Company
Cloth and Memory
4 September 2014
Leading textile curator Lesley Millar inspires on the subject of textile design in different cultures connecting us to both place and memory and Sarah Saunders, Head of Learning and Programmes at V&A Dundee, updates on this exciting new development in the Scottish Design landscape.
The conversation is accompanied by a special display of printed textiles by Professor Norma Starszakowna, innovator and educator in the field of printed textiles, based in Dundee.
Lesley Millar Professor of Textile Culture, UCA Farnham
Sarah Saunders Head of Learning and Programmes at V&A Dundee
Amanda Game Independent curator

Shot by Edinburgh Film Company
Digital Counts
28 August 2014
Alan Shaw of the Centre for Advanced Textiles Glasgow School of Art, and Geoffrey Mann Head of Glass at Edinburgh College of Art, discuss the role of digital tools in the development of their design process. Introduced by Josie Steed, Course Leader of Fashion & Textile Design, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.
Josie Steed Design Lecturer and Researcher for Sustainability and Knowledge Exchange, RGU
Alan Shaw The Centre for Advanced Textiles Glasgow
Geoffrey Mann Designer and Head of Glass at Edinburgh College of Art

Shot by Edinburgh Film Company
Gardens in Mind
21 August 2014
Leading UK architect Richard Murphy OBE and Professor Annie Pollock, Director of Landscape Design and Architecture at the University of Stirling’s Dementia Services Development Centre discuss the role of landscape design in creating healthy environments. Introduced by Celine Sinclair, Chief Executive of The Yard.
Richard Murphy OBE UK architect
Annie Pollock Director of Landscape Design and Architecture at the University of Stirling’s Dementia Services Development Centre

Shot by Edinburgh Film Company
Too Much Stuff
14 August 2014
Leading Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek, from Eindhoven, talks about the way design thinking can create a more sustainable model of living. Introduced by Amanda Game, independent curator and Creative Adviser, Gayfield. Key works by Piet Hein Eek appear for the first time in Scotland in Garden Party exhibition by Gayfield.
Piet Hein Eek Dutch Designer
Amanda Game Independent curator

Shot by Edinburgh Film Company
Material Goods
7 August 2014
Paul Simmons of pioneering Glasgow firm Timorous Beasties and emerging independent textile designer Laura Spring discuss their experience of creating thriving studios through design innovation and quality production. Timorous Beasties (deck chair panels) and Laura Spring (picnic hampers) feature in Garden Party exhibition by Gayfield.
Paul Simmons Timorous Beasties
Laura Spring Textile Designer