Edinburgh 900
Disrupting the Narrative
Push the Boat Out is thrilled to be part of the celebrations for Edinburgh’s 900th anniversary. Our Edinburgh 900 programme focuses on our Disrupting the Narrative festival theme. This will offer celebration, discovery and fresh creative perspectives on Edinburgh’s heritage, inclusively telling and adding to its story through a multi-faceted event series. Inspired by a new poetry project created by Hannah Lavery as part of a Museums and Galleries Edinburgh project intended to decolonise Edinburgh’s collections and key heritage sites, Disrupting the Narrative examines how colonial history has shaped the city, its institutions and people.
With several events across the festival you can take part in many ways. Once the festival is finished we’ll also host a recording of our flagship Disrupting the Narrative performance (this will also be livestreamed), and a digital exhibition of the Blue and Salt of the Lies we Believe and associated poems on this dedicated website.
Festival Events
Disrupting the Narrative Performance
Our flagship event in the series is a theatrical performance from Hannah Lavery, Jeda Pearl, Shasta Ali, Niall Moorjani, and Alycia Pirmohamed. Freshly set to music by Niroshini Thambar, the poets’ work decolonises Edinburgh’s historic collections and key heritage sites. Together, they illuminate how colonial history has shaped the city, its institutions, and its people.
Watch the free live stream here during the festival.
The Blue and Salt of the Lies we Believe
22nd to 24th November and online until July 2025
Inspired and informed by the poets and their words, Kat Gollock has created this piece as a visual response to the poetry and themes explored through the Disrupting the Narrative project. At the core of this work are the many lives and stories that converse, interweave and overlap with each other, creating a more diverse history of this city than we are led to believe; a history that is far richer than static images on a wall, entries in an archive and objects behind glass in a museum.
Through conversations and time spent with the poets, Kat creatively documented parts of Edinburgh to gain a deeper understanding of the places that hold significance within the city and their contribution to the colonial foundations on which Edinburgh is built. My hope is that this work encourages people to move beyond the often myopic history we are told and taught, like it did for me.
Kat says: To Alycia, Jeda, Hannah, Niall and Shasta, I am so grateful for all your time and collaboration on this project. I might have made the photos, but they very much came from you all. Thank you for helping me better understand the city in which I’ve spent most of my life
Black Poetry and History Walks
Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th November, 1pm
Lisa Williams, poet, author, and founder of the Edinburgh Caribbean Association, will lead this Black History Walk and share some specially written poetry as we explore the histories of The Royal Mile and surrounding areas. These little-known stories of Edinburgh’s many visitors and residents of African, African American and Caribbean heritage may surprise some; what tales lie behind the cobblestones of The Royal Mile?
SCOREScotland Disrupts the Narrative
In partnership with the Tinderbox Collective and Bee Asha, SCOREScotland’s young people have created a vibrant spoken word and music performance that considers what it’s like to grow up as a young person of colour in Edinburgh today. Find out more about our work with SCOREScotland on our Engagement page.
behind disrupting the narrative
Join Curator of Discomfort at the Hunterian Museum Zandra Yeaman, founder of the Edinburgh Caribbean Association Lisa Williams, and poet and anti-racist campaigner Shasta Ali, join the former Edinburgh Makar Hannah Lavery to discuss Disrupting the Narrative and the decolonisation of Edinburgh’s past. Part of the Edinburgh 900 Anniversary programme
Hannah Lavery and Michael Pedersen - Makar-athon
Saturday 23rd November, 4:30pm
Join renowned poet and playwright, Hannah Lavery, as she hands over the baton of Edinburgh Makar to the ever-effervescent Michael Pedersen. Hannah and Michael will discuss their own work including Hannah’s recently published, Unwritten Woman, as well as what holding the position of Makar means to them and how the city influences their work.
