Still feeling a bit sluggish after the festive break? Feel free to ease yourself into the week slowly – there are a number of long-running exhibitions that are just crying out for your low-energy attention – before finally heading back onto the dancefloor for a couple of excellent club nights on Friday.
RSA Open, Royal Scottish Academy, until Sun Jan 25
The annual open exhibition showcasing the work of rising contemporary Scottish artists is only on until Jan 25 – catch the future of art in Scotland while you can.
Game Masters, National Museum of Scotland, until Mon Apr 20
An incredible exhibition celebrating the (relatively short) history of video games, with roughly 120 arcade machines, handhelds, consoles, PCs and apps available to play (accompanied by equally cool stuff like game concept art and original scripting notes).
BP Portrait Award, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, until Sun Apr 12
Check out Thomas Ganter’s prize-winning ‘Man with a Plaid Blanket’ by all means, but remember that there are also dozens of other startlingly good examples of modern portraiture at this prestigious exhibition.
Richard Melvin Presents: More Radio Recordings, The Stand, Tue Jan 6
Join Phill Jupitus, John Moloney and Julia Sutherland – together with producer Melvin – as they record material for future broadcast in front of a live audience (that’s you).
Chloe Dewe Mathews: Shot at Dawn, Stills Gallery, until Sun Jan 25
Mathews’ stirring photography exhibition – which revisits sites where WWI soldiers were executed for cowardice or desertion – is only in Scotland for a few weeks longer before it moves down to the Tate Modern in London.
Mikhael Subotzky and Patrick Waterhouse: Ponte City, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, until Sun Apr 26
Pnte City is a 54-storey residential block in Johannesburg, South Africa that was originally built as an upmarket living space for white residents in the 1970s. Post-apartheid, and following a failed renovation, the crumbling monolith is now home to a large number of immigrants from neighbouring African nations. Subotzky and Waterhouse's photography (including the example above) documents the recent history of these immigrants and the building itself.
Unity: Music for Good, The Mash House, Fri Jan 9
Some of Scotland’s finest residents gather together for a post-Hogmanay blow-out in aid of volunteering charity Lattitude, among them Brad Charters and Vinnie Stirrat (both Karnival), Monty, Cam Wil and Grum (Deep) and Kaiser (Confusion is Sex), plus Euan Strachan and Ben Sloan.
In Deep: Medlar and Friends, Sneaky Pete's, Fri Jan 9
The London house and disco producer (and sometime DJ partner with Leon Vynehall) visits Sneaky’s resident high-class guest night with a few friends.
Great Winter Run, Holyrood Park, Sat Jan 10
Start 2015 as you mean to go on, or simply offer your encouragement to those more (fool)hardy than yourself at this 5k jaunt round Arthur Seat. If you do wanna take part, you'll need to register.
Dylan Moran at GB Studio Saturdays, Sat Jan 10
The morose Irish comic is squeezing in a final few ‘work in progress’ shows before his epic ‘Off the Hook’ tour later this year. Which translates as: 'the new material is pretty much finished, so come enjoy it in an intimate setting months before anyone else'.