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THE BEST EVENTS, TALKS AND SPORT
* Edinburgh 'I'reefest and Woodmarket Without them our air would be a whole lot dirtier and our parks duller, so here's your chance to celebrate the contribution of our leafy green friends with two days of crafts. activities, games & refreshments. Inverleith Park, Arboretum Place, Sat 10 8 Sun 1 7 Jun.
* Glasgow’s Mardl Gras & Mela The West End Festival's opening party is always an outlandish affair. Starting off at the Botanic Gardens at 3pm, the carnival ends up at Kelvingrove Park, where the gathering takes on a distinctly southeast Asian flavour for the Mela. Byres Road & Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow, Sun 11 Jun.
* An Evening of Knitting and Jazz Get your knitting rhythm going to the sound of jazz band Candiru. You'll even get in free if you bring along your needles and wool. Tchai Ovna, 42 Otago Lane, Glasgow, Wed 14 Jun.
it- From Life In the Freezer to Planet Earth If you didn't watch any of the amazing Planet Earth series, here's your chance to find what it's really like filming wildlife programmes in Antarctica, straight from the mouths of the BBC’s Alastair Fothergill and Vanessa Berlowitz. 5/00, 150 Morrison Street, Edinburgh, Thu 22 Jun.
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The scientist: Dr Keith Reid
I think having the A’l'(‘.\1 in lidinburgh reaffirms Britain's commitment to the protection of the Antarctic. The melting of the ice shelyes makes it a Very timely eyent it giyes us the opportunity to raise the profile of the Antarctic and how we set about looking alter it. One of the things that inspired me most in my science career was seeing things go wrong in Antarctica. l‘sually' you see a profusion of seal pups and penguin chicks. but one year there were hardly any young. the shoreline was just strewn with dead pups. Yet seeing the deyastation and trying to work out why it happened was probably one of the things that motiy'ated me most. l'ltimately' I wanted to understand the system from a conseryation perspectiye and identify the potential threats to it. My interest is in discoyering how we can actually Use the information from penguins and seals so that we can do things in a more sustainable way. such as fishing in the Antarctic. It allows its to operate as part of the eco system. or at least helps fisheries management take other eco- systems into account. I think that we have the potential to learn lessons in the Antarctic which can be used in other oceans around the world.
I think the fact that penguins stand upright like us makes them attractive but they are actually pretty feisty and fairly smelly. They also symbolise the Antarctic as a remote place that only explorers go. We are neyer likely to see them in the wild. so that just adds to the mystique. But I can categorically state that they don’t fall oyer when an aircraft flies past?
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As the Antarctic treaty rolls into Edinburgh with plenty of events in tow, Rachael Street talks to two people involved about why it is such a fascinating continent.
The artist: Simon Faithfull
l was chosen by the Arts ('ouncil and the British Antarctic Suryey (HAS) for an international fellowship and spent two months working on a HAS boat. I had been intrigued by the place for a while but I couldn‘t imagine that I would actually get there. It‘s the continent furthest removed from habitation or possible habitation. It is almost another planet and the blankness of it intrigued me. It was beautiful in bits icebergs are absolutely stunning things but ultimately it wasn't a picturesque beautiful romantic landscape. it was just this absolute nothingness. I think not having a reference point was the really fascinating thing about it and made it an ama/ing playground to make work in. ()ften photographers create infinity backgrounds. where the wall slowly cury'es into the wall and our ultimate destination was exactly this
just absolutely flat and white. and Virtually no hori/on
line. It really made hi-tech buildings look yery fragile and temporary. We are completely Used to being in a world that has been constructed by tls. so to be ill a landscape that hasn‘t been created by man is an interesting place to make an.
I ended tip getting to know the scientists on the expedition yery well. and they helped me a great deal with my project but I also learned lots of scary stuff on the climate change model.
Dr Keith Reid will be talking at Edinburgh Zoo on Mon 19 Jun, while Simon Faithfull’s work will be on display at EICC. See atcm2006.gov.uk
8—22 Jun 200‘; THE LIST 27