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Collective Gallery - City Observatory

26 September 2026 (10:00 - 17:00)

Edinburgh

In Person

Collective is a contemporary art gallery in a heritage observatory, on Calton Hill. Collective develops and presents world-class exhibitions, events, workshops and discussions from ground-breaking local and international artists. We run artist-led activities for young people, as well as the sector-leading development programme for emerging creative practitioners, Satellites.Founded in 1984 as an artist-run initiative, Collective now runs from our home on Edinburgh’s iconic Calton Hill.

There will be tours of the Cooke telescope, which is housed in the City Observatory building. These will be operated by the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh. Telescope Tours should be booked in advance. These are very popular, so please cancel your ticket if you can no longer make it, and make every effort to be on time for your booking. 

The 20 minute tours will run from 11am-1pm and 2pm-4pm.

Photo credit: Anna Henly - Tom Nolan.  

Digital Resources

Collective Observations

Sugar, ships and science: The City Observatory and Caribbean commerce.
Lisa Williams, author, poet, and founder of the Edinburgh Caribbean Association, explores the role that the City Observatory played in shipping to and from Leith. Now home to Collective, the City Observatory site has a long history as a crucial provider of accurate time to the city of Edinburgh and the Port of Leith. Time was kept by tracking celestial objects passing over the transit telescope which still sits in the Observatory today.
In her presentation, Lisa discusses the lives of the founding members of the Observatory and the development of mathematics and science, both of which were intertwined with the Transatlantic slave trade and buoyed up by colonial commerce.
Listen to Lisa's presentation!
Facilities
Additional Access Information

The Cooke Telescope is up a steep set of stairs. 

Detailed access information is available on our website: https://www.collective-edinburgh.art/visit/access/  

 

Key Information

Telescope Tours should be booked in advance. There will be a limited number of tour slots available on the day, but please do book to avoid disappointment! 

Where to find us

Address
  • 38 Calton Hill
  • Edinburgh
  • EH7 5AA
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Programmes this building took part in:

2022

2023

2024

2025

2026