Robert Louis Stevenson and Oceania

To celebrate Robert Louis Stevenson Day (RLSDay) 2026, we invite you to a soirée at the Scott Lawrie Gallery in Edinburgh, for a celebration of contemporary creative responses to Stevenson’s Pacific writing and travels.

The event will include:

• A launch of:
  • Island Tales, a collection of graphic adaptations and poetry sequences (by Indigenous Pacific and British creative practitioners) inspired by Stevenson’s work;
  • Nā Hoʻonanea o nā Ailana, a Hawaiian translation of Island Nights' Entertainments, Stevenson's 1893 volume of stories set in the Pacific;
• A display of paintings, featuring locations and characters from Stevenson’s Pacific fiction, by Samoan artist Lalovai Pesetā;
• A display of contemporary textiles by Samoan-Scottish artist Linda Va’aelua, including a siapo uliuli (black tapa cloth) inspired by a unique siapo uliuli formerly owned by Robert Louis Stevenson, held in the National Museum of Scotland’s collections;
• A talk by visiting Hawaiian artist Solomon Enos, focused on his visual responses to Stevenson’s Pacific fiction, including his graphic adaptations of two short stories by Stevenson set in Hawai'i;
• An introduction to the visual works on display in the venue, with reference to recent collaborations between Pacific artists and Edinburgh museums and galleries, by Scott Lawrie (curator of multiple exhibitions of Oceanic art), and Alison Clark (Senior curator of the Oceania collections, National Museum of Scotland).

Drinks will be served at this event, co-organised by Scott Lawrie and the University of Edinburgh’s ‘Remediating Stevenson’ research project team.

Find out more about the Scott Lawrie Gallery

Visit the Remediating Stevenson project website

Cover image: panel from The Bottle Imp with graphic art by Solomon Enos

Photography

Please note that there may be a photographer present at the event. If you would prefer not to appear in any photographs taken on the night, which may be used on the Remediating Stevenson website or social channels afterwards, please don't hesitate to let us know at the event.

After the event

We may like to contact you in the future to hear what you thought of the showcase and invite you to other Remediating Stevenson events. Please tell us at the time of booking if you are happy for us to do that. We will also be handing out a questionnaire at the event itself - filling it in is entirely optional.