Subsequent exhibitions will focus on the 1960s-70s, the 80s and the 90s, each one charting the changes and influences in the Scottish art scene. The show, a collaboration with Dundee Contemporary Arts, moves to the McManus Galleries in Dundee from October 31 to January 10.

Aberdeen Art Gallery, tel: 01224 646333 McManus Galleries, tel: 01382 432020

* Elspeth King, director of the Smith Art Gallery and Museum in Stirling, makes no apologies for some of the gruesome items on display in “Victorian Stirling”, a major exhibition aimed at children, which is running at the Smith into next year. These include a tiny pair of cockfighting spurs and a preserved piece of skin from infamous “body snatcher” William Burke.

This colourful and exciting show deals with themes such as crime, housework and death in Victorian times. Despite the enormous number of items on display, space has been set aside for a children’s activity corner, and groups who book can use the education room.

Smith Art Gallery and Museum, tel: 01786 471917

* Museum officials decided “The Reformation in Europe” exhibition at the Burrell Collection in Glasgow was too contentious to organise specific school activities, dealing, as it does, with the spread of the Protestant religion - and the fight against it - in countries like Scotland.

Curator Pat Collins has brought together many rare pieces from the city’s collections for this informative, thought-provoking show which ends on October 18, including Bonnie Prince Charlie’s christening apron, an engraved glass celebrating the Battle of the Boyne and the bedhead carved for Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne of Cleves.

Burrell Collection, Glasgow, tel: 0141 649 7151