Panorama: New Views of a City

Collective Edinburgh's Panorama programme takes inspiration from the origins of the panorama to explore how we see, move through and understand the city today.

About Panorama: New Views of a City

	9th Jul 2025 to 21st Dec 2025
	Wed - Sun, 10am - 5pm
	Collective Edinburgh City Observatory 38 Calton Hill, Edinburgh New Town EH7 5AA
	Free - drop in
	Visit the event website here
	Follow collective_edin on Instagram

Listed Under Exhibitions Events / Arts and Crafts Events

A programme inspired by the original panorama invented on Calton Hill.

Our site on Calton Hill is long associated with science, astronomy and timekeeping, as well as a place for art and close observation. Our Panorama programme takes inspiration from the origins of the panorama to explore how we see, move through and understand the city today.

In 1788, Irish artist Robert Barker created the first panorama – a 360-degree image capturing a continuous view of Edinburgh from Calton Hill. The original drawings were made by his son, Henry Aston Barker, from Observatory House – the oldest building on our site. Their work marks Calton Hill’s early connection to both scientific study and artistic innovation.

At the centre of our Hillside Gallery is a large-scale reproduction of the 1792 aquatint of Barker’s Panorama of Edinburgh, offering a rare and detailed view of the late 18th-century cityscape.

Continuing this legacy, we are inviting contemporary artists and audiences to respond to our site's histories and contexts. The gallery serves as a hub for reading, research, public events and activities.

We will be welcoming artists to undertake short residencies over late summer and autumn responding to the themes of the Panorama and resulting in public events.

Where possible we will update our listings to notify of cancelled, postponed and rescheduled events, however we STRONGLY ADVISE that you check with the venue/organiser in the first instance for updates.

All information (whether in text or photographs) is supplied in good faith but should not be relied upon as being a statement of representation or fact.

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