Mapping Projection: 80 Years Of The Institut français d'Écosse

Institut français d'Écosse is turning 80, and they're marking the milestone with a mapping projection on their façade in the Old Town. It runs from 2 to 7 November, with the images projected onto the building from 18:00 to 21:00 each evening, so you can catch it on your way home from work or during a wander through the Royal Mile. The projection was created in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University.

Eighty years is a fair stretch. The centre opened in 1946, and it's part of the wider Institut Français network that operates around the world. Since then, it's been about bringing France and Scotland closer together, and they describe themselves as a vibrant space for French language and culture in Scotland. That's a broad remit, and it shows in what they do throughout the year: French courses, film screenings, library collections, children's activities, festivals, talks and concerts. If you've spent any time in the Old Town, you've probably seen it as a hub for exactly that sort of thing.

The projection is just one part of a wider week of events marking the anniversary. There's a talk by Odile Hughson and Stéphane Pailler about the centre's history and its predecessors, and a theatrical journey through its past, so if you're interested in how the place came to be, there's more to it than just the light show on the wall. The mapping projection itself is free to watch, and it runs every night from 2 to 7 November, 18:00 to 21:00, at the Institut français d'Écosse, West Parliament Square, Edinburgh Old Town EH1 1RF.