91 #SCOTLITFEST
DIGITALISING LITERATURE This online literary festival was held in June as part of the Saltire Society’s 80th anniversary celebrations, and featured digital chats with the likes of Michel Faber, Diana Gabaldon, AL Kennedy and more. It was accessible, modern, and, frankly, #genius. (RM)
90 NEIL SLORANCE GETTING STRIPPED
Illustrator and comic artist Neil Slorance has spent the year doing what he does best: gracing the country’s comic cons and live drawing along to TV shows, while in August he released Modern Slorance, an autobiographical collection of short comic strips. (KS)
89 RACHEL MACLEAN VIDEO STAR
The Edinburgh- educated, Glasgow- based creator of immersive, digitalised characters and landscapes exhibited at British Art Show 8 in Edinburgh, but the big news was her announcement as Scotland’s representative at the 2017 Venice Biennale, with a new video work co-commissioned by Talbot Rice Gallery. (DP)
87 YOUNG FATHERS
DAD’S THE WORD The genre- smashing Edinburgh trio didn’t keep up
their annual formula of releasing albums and winning awards, but playing tour support for Massive Attack (including at Hyde Park’s British Summer Time festival) placed them alongside their perfect mentors. The Edinburgh International Festival also booked them. (DP)
86 BARROWLAND BALLET DIVERSE ATTRACTIONS
Choreographer Natasha Gilmore excelled herself this year with three diverse shows touring both at home and abroad to great acclaim. She proved equally popular with children (Poggle and the 5-star Little Red) and adults (the thought-provoking yet joyful Whiteout). (KA)
85 OOR WULLIE BUCKET TRAIL
BIN BOY Scotland’s favourite son re-cemented his place in our hearts after the Oor Wullie Bucket Trail, a series of 55 sculptures (at 5ft each) designed by local artists, was scattered throughout Dundee. They were subsequently auctioned off, raising almost £900,000 for local charities. (KS)
88 EDINBURGH BEER FACTORY 84 YORKSTON THORNE KHAN
ALE ORDER SACRED APPLAUSE
This family-owned craft brewery opened to the public just last year, giving Edinburgh a totally fresh brewing concept. Their Paolozzi beer won Silver for Best Lager at the Scottish Beer Awards 2016 and for every bottle sold they pay a charitable donation to the Paolozzi Foundation. (LS) The new project from revered Fife indie-folk singer and Fence stalwart James Yorkston was a unique one, an equal marriage of styles with Indian sarangi player Suhail Yusuf Khan and jazz double-bassist Jon Thorne on the Domino-released album Everything Sacred. (DP)
83 FREAK CIRCUS VISCERAL VOICES
A magazine packed with brilliant writing and eye-catching illustrations, FREAK Circus features stories with a twist, having focused on themes like ‘Broken Hearts’ and ‘Shame’ in previous issues. They also put on cracking spoken-word events with emerging poets and musicians regularly on the bill. (AQ)
82 KIERAN HURLEY HEAD BOY
Kieran Hurley’s Fringe First-winning Heads Up revived the DIY energy of his earlier work, reafi rming his status as a passionate, politically engaged monologuist who weaves social commentary into a direct counterblast to disempowered despair. (GKV)
81 ADURA ONASHILE
RENNAISANCE WOMAN
Playwright, actor and dancer Adura Onashile has triumphed with her debut play HeLa, which she wrote and starred in, while more recently, a directorial debut with Expensive Shit earned her a Fringe First Award this August. Creating politically charged and provocative work, Onashile is proving that she simply cannot be ignored. (LI)
80 DONALD RUNNICLES CONDUCTOR IN CHIEF
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra chief conductor’s seven glorious years ended with a truly blistering EIF performance of Schoenberg’s suitably end-of-an-era Gurrelieder. He’s now conductor emeritus, so we can expect him to be called out like a veteran gunslinger whenever a big Mahler comes to town. (AJ)
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O T O H P 3 Nov 2016–31 Jan 2017 THE LIST 23