The city of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

has amenities that cover a wide range of cultural activities, including a selection of museums and galleries. There are festivals and theatrical events throughout the year.

Notable attractions

Aberdeen Art Gallery Aberdeen Art Gallery is the main visual arts exhibition space in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1884 in a building designed by Alexander Marshall Mackenzie, with a sculpture court added in 1905. In 1900, it received the art ...

Grampian Hospitals Arts Trust
* Aberdeen Central Library – containing more than 60,000 volumes. *

Aberdeen Maritime Museum Aberdeen Maritime Museum is a maritime museum in Aberdeen, Scotland. The museum is situated on the historic Shiprow in the heart of the city, near the harbour. It makes use of a range of buildings including the former Trinity Congregational C ...

* The Belmont Picturehouse Cinema * Cineworld Cinema (formerly a Virgin Cinema then a UGC Cinema) * Codonas Amusement Park, Sunset Boulevard & Miami Beach * Doonies Farm *The

Gordon Highlanders Museum The Gordon Highlanders Museum is based in Aberdeen, Scotland and celebrates the story of the Gordon Highlanders regiment, which originated as the 92nd (Gordon Highlanders) Regiment of Foot in 1794, merged with the 75th (Stirlingshire) Regiment o ...

* His Majesty's Theatre * James Dun's House * King's College * The Lemon Tree *

Marischal Museum Marischal Museum was a museum in Aberdeen, Scotland, specialising in anthropology and artifacts from cultures around the world. The museum was a part of the University of Aberdeen, situated at Marischal College, a grand neo-gothic building said ...

Marischal College Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has acted as the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. However, the building was constructed for and is on long- ...

*The Museum of Education Victorian Classroom *

Peacock visual arts Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are re ...

* Provost Ross's House (contains the

) *

Provost Skene Sir George Skene of Fintray (1619–1708) was a Scottish merchant in the Baltic trade who served as Provost of the city of Aberdeen from 1676 to 1685. He was knighted in 1681. He was a burgh commissioner for Aberdeen in the Parliament of S ...

's House * Satrosphere Science Museum * Storybook Glen * The Tolbooth Museum at the Town House * Transition Extreme a £3 million project which contains a

skate park A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, qua ...

and a

climbing wall A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with grips for hands and feet, usually used for indoor climbing, but sometimes located outdoors. Some are brick or wooden constructions, but on most modern walls, the material most often used i ...

. *

Vue Cinema Vue International (, like "view"), is a multinational cinema holding company based in London, England. It operates in the United Kingdom and Ireland as Vue, with international operations in Denmark and Germany (as CinemaxX); Italy (as The Space ...

(formerly The Lighthouse Cinema then an ABC Cinema)

Theatre

Aberdeen has a thriving theatre scene with the largest theatrical events being held in His Majesty's Theatre. The smaller

Aberdeen Arts Centre Aberdeen Arts Centre is a theatre and arts centre on King Street in Aberdeen, Scotland with a 350-seater auditorium. It is a Category A listed building. The building was originally the North Parish Church. The church was converted to an Arts ...

is a voluntary run theatre that normally caters for local events, often those held in the name of charity. The Lemon Tree is another small theatre that has small theatrical programmes such as pantomimes at Christmas and small charity events.

Art

Aberdeen gained prominence in the art world by introducing

Scottish art Scottish art is the body of visual art made in what is now Scotland, or about Scottish subjects, since prehistoric times. It forms a distinctive tradition within European art, but the political union with England has led its partial subsumation ...

to the rest of Britain and the world through the works of

George Jamesone George Jamesone (or Jameson) (c. 1587 – 1644) was a Scottish painter who is regarded as Scotland's first eminent portrait-painter. Early years He was born in Aberdeen, where his father, Andrew Jamesone, was a stonemason. Jamesone attended t ...

. Jamesone's achievements provided the opportunity for other Scottish artists to follow in his footsteps and make their art available throughout Scotland, and the rest of the world. In 1884 a neo-Classical building was built for the purpose of displaying the world's finest art; subsequently this was called the

. Within this Gallery the impressive permanent painting collection of

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...

Ian Hamilton Finlay Ian Hamilton Finlay, CBE (28 October 1925 – 27 March 2006) was a Scottish poet, writer, artist and gardener. Life Finlay was born in Nassau, Bahamas, to James Hamilton Finlay and his wife, Annie Pettigrew, both of Scots descent. He was e ...

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

and

Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Re ...

have been held for over 100 years, allowing the inhabitants of Aberdeen and visitors to the city alike to admire their collected works in one central hub. Grampian Hospitals Arts Trust (GHAT) arose from the simple idea that improving the hospital environment by displaying art made everyone who spent time in the buildings feel better. GHAT strives to highlight culture as a central component of wellbeing and is a sector leader in developing bespoke arts projects for people visiting, working or utilising the services within hospitals and healthcare. The city is regularly visited by

Scotland's National Arts Companies Scotland's national performing arts companies are directly funded by the Scottish Government. In the country's performing arts circles, they are often referred to as the Big Five.''Scottish arts face £2 million funding cut'', ''The Daily Telegr ...

. The

houses a collection of Impressionist, Victorian, Scottish and 20th Century British paintings as well as collections of silver and glass. It also includes The Alexander Macdonald Bequest, a collection of late 19th century works donated by the museum's first benefactor and a constantly changing collection of contemporary work and regular visiting exhibitions. In 2017, the

NuArt Festival The NuArt Festival is an annual Street Art festival traditionally held in September, in Stavanger (Norway), since 2001. Many associated artworks can be found in Stavanger, at Utsira and in Oslo. Since 2017, there is also a NuArt Festival in A ...

came to Aberdeen and saw the installation of street art in many places around the city, including a large mural on the side of the

Aberdeen Market Aberdeen Market was a shopping centre which faced on to Market Street in Aberdeen, Scotland. History The first indoor market on this spot was opened on 29 April 1842, but was destroyed by fire exactly 40 years later. It was rebuilt, and demoli ...

Places of artistic interest in Aberdeen

* Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum *

Gray's School of Art Gray's School of Art is the Robert Gordon University's art school, located in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of the oldest established fine art institutions in Scotland and one of Scotland's five art schools today, and ranked among the Top 20 ...

Grampian Hospitals Art Trust
*

Peacock Visual Arts Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are re ...

Famous Aberdeen artists

* James Cromar Watt *

John Phillip John Phillip (19 April 1817–1867) was a Victorian era Scottish painter best known for his portrayals of Spanish life. He started painting these studies after a trip to Spain in 1851. He was nicknamed John 'Spanish' Phillip. Life Born ...

Museums

The

, located in

Shiprow Shiprow is a historic street in the heart of Aberdeen, Scotland, near the Aberdeen Harbour, harbour. Formerly the Shiprow sloped upward more gradually than it does now, and it crossed Union Street, Aberdeen, Union Street in a depression between ...

, tells the story of Aberdeen's links with the sea from the days of sail and

clipper ships A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "Cl ...

to the latest oil and gas exploration technology. The museum includes a range of interactive exhibits and models, including an 8.5 m (28 ft) high model of the Murchison oil production platform and a 19th-century assembly taken from

Rattray Head Rattray Head (), historically Rattray Point, is a headland in Buchan, Aberdeenshire, on the north-east coast Scotland. To north lies Strathbeg Bay and Rattray Bay is to its south. The dunes at Rattray Head beach can be up to high and stretch ...

lighthouse. Provost Ross' House is the second oldest dwelling house in the city. It was built in 1593 and became the residence of

Provost John Ross Provost John Ross was Lord Provost in Aberdeen, Scotland from 1710 to 1712. Today he is most famous for the house he occupied in the 18th century from 1702. Provost Ross's House Built in 1593, this house is the second oldest house in the city ...

of Arnage in 1702. The house retains some original

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

features, including a kitchen, fireplaces and beam-and-board ceilings. The

tells the story of one of Scotland's best known regiments. The

holds the principal collections of the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

, comprising some 80,000 items in the areas of fine art, Scottish history and archaeology, and European, Mediterranean and Near Eastern archaeology. The museum is open to the public, but also provides an important resource for the University's students and researchers. The permanent displays and reference collections are augmented by regular temporary exhibitions.

Festivals

* Aberdeen International Football Festival (discontinued) *

Aberdeen International Youth Festival Aberdeen International Youth Festival was a festival of performing arts and one of Scotland's major international cultural events, which ran from 1981 to 2017. Each year the festival brought over 1000 young people in performing arts companies ...

— The World Festival of Youth Arts * DanceLive — Contemporary Dance Festival * Rootin' Aboot (discontinued) *

Sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' b ...

— North-East Scotland's festival of New Music * Triptych — popular music and spoken word (discontinued) *

Word A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no conse ...

— the

Writers Festival (discontinued) * New Words — Festival of New Writing in Aberdeen City and Shire * Spectra Festival of Light - Scotland's Festival of Light

Music

Aberdeen's music scene includes a variety of live music venues including pubs, clubs, and a number of churches with thriving choirs. The music scene is particularly prevalent in the bars of Belmont Street.

Cèilidh A cèilidh ( , ) or céilí () is a traditional Scottish or Irish social gathering. In its most basic form, it simply means a social visit. In contemporary usage, it usually involves dancing and playing Gaelic folk music, either at a house p ...

s are also common in some of the city's halls. Popular venues include The Lemon Tree, The Tunnels, the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre, and Aberdeen Music Hall. Aberdonian musicians include

Evelyn Glennie Dame Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie, (born 19 July 1965) is a Scottish percussionist. She was selected as one of the two laureates for the Polar Music Prize of 2015. Early life Glennie was born in Methlick, Aberdeenshire in Scotland. The in ...

Seb Rochford Sebastian Rochford is a British drummer and composer. He has recorded and released music as leader of the British band Polar Bear, as Kutcha Butcha and as part of numerous collaborations. Early life Rochford was born in Aberdeen and has a large ...

and Annie Lennox.

References

External links

The World Festival of Youth Arts - based in AberdeenAberdeen Music - Aberdeen's answer to CBBC, but with more tantrums and hissy-fitsDanceLive - festival of contemporary danceWhat's On in Aberdeen - Events guide: music, theatre, restaurants, exhibitions, children's events
{{DEFAULTSORT:Culture In Aberdeen Tourist attractions in Aberdeen