Beyond the Forbidden Gate | Event Programme

Publication Launch | Ned Donaldson: The Spy Who Went Back to the Bricklaying

Saturday 15th June | 2 – 4pm | The Old Glasgow Room, The Mitchell Library

All welcome - book your free ticket here

Ned Donaldson (1927 – 1999) grew up in Possilpark in the 1930s and played a crucial role in the city’s labour movement as a militant trade union organiser, Communist Party activist, and working-class intellectual. Join Joey Simons, Dr. Anni Donaldson, and the Spirit of Revolt Archive for a discussion on North Glasgow’s radical history, and the launch of The Spy Who Went Back to the Bricklaying, a fascinating account of Ned Donaldson’s trip to Yugoslavia in 1948 and the possibilities (and intrigues) of international solidarity.

Zine Launch | Build it up, tear it down!

Monday 17th June | 3.30 - 4.30pm | Woodside Library

All welcome, free - no booking necessary

Join us for the launch of Build it up, tear it down!, a new zine and series of ceramics produced in collaboration with young people at the SiMY community development project in Townhead. Based on the sights, sounds and textures of their local community, and utopian visions for its future, the works celebrate Townhead as it is slowly hemmed in by ‘Glasgow’s Learning Quarter’. 

The work will be introduced by artists Joey Simons and Keira McLean of Radical Art School / Red Flag Arts, who have been working with the young people at SiMY for the past year.

Event | The Springburn railway murder of 1840: British Justice, Irish Labour and Scotland’s Railways

Tuesday 18th June | 6 – 7.30pm | The Old Glasgow Room, The Mitchell Library

All welcome - book your free ticket here

Join us for an evening of theatre, music and discussion about a dramatic event in Scottish history.

On 14 May 1841, a crowd of 50,000 gathered at Bishopbriggs Cross to witness the execution of two Irish navvies accused of the murder of an English ganger. Their case was marked by a catalogue of false arrests, forced confessions and prejudicial reporting, and showed that justice is always in the balance when Britannia tips the scales. The Glasgow Herald reported at the time that it wished “the names of Doolan and Redding may soon be forgotten.” This event will be an act of remembering, based on the research and writings of Professor Willy Maley.

Featuring live music and original songs from Lorna Morgan and a screening of GALLOWGLASS, a play by John Maley and Willy Maley, directed by Nick Beaton. A performance by Milton Arts and Parts (MAPS) at Gorbals Unemployed Workers’ Centre, 7 June 1991. We will also launch Willy Maley’s The Story of Possilpark.

Book Launch | Martin McCreadie: Dark Horses

Saturday 22nd June | 2 - 4 pm | Possilpark Library

All welcome, free - no booking necessary

Join artist, sculptor and writer Martin McCreadie for the launch of his new novel Dark Horses. As Martin writes: “This novel was a long time in the making, over thirty years from concept to publication. The story is in the fairy-tale genre but explores real issues of trauma and self-harm and is ultimately about the need to face the shadows of our past and confront ourselves as an act of liberation.”

Copies of Dark Horses will be available to purchase at the event.

In Residence Artist Joey Simons

Image Image curtesy of Collective Gallery and the artist

We are so excited to be working with artist Joey Simons as part of our In Residence Programme this year. Throughout 2023, we will work with Joey to take forward his action research project, Stalling for Time. The project aims to challenge state-led narratives of decline and regeneration by producing alternative resources that draw on the history of working-class resistance and community organising in Glasgow North.

Joey's practice uses archival research, site writing, documentary poetry, video, montage and community workshops to explore the politics of collective memory and loss in Glasgow, with a particular lens on struggles around housing and the built environment. Some previous work includes Mining Seams and Drawing Wells: a living archive for Easterhouse (2022), the publications Scheming (2021), Let Us Act For Ourselves: selected works of Freddy Anderson (2020) at Platform; The Fearful Part Ot It Was The Absence for Collective's Satellites programme (2022).

In Residence is GSS' action-research programme that prioritises underrepresented cultural heritage in Glasgow North. The programme commissions artists to engage with local community partners and members to address local issues and subjects of discussion using a 'live' heritage methodology to understand how the community shapes and produces culture and heritage.

For more information or learn how to get involved in Joey’s project, please email our Learning & Engagement team

Image courtesy of Collective Gallery and the artist

Wednesday Wanders at The Whisky Bond

Join us at The Whisky Bond for an afternoon of free tours around The Glasgow School of Art Archives and Collections, The Alasdair Gray Archive, Glasgow Sculpture Studios and The Distillery co-working space to explore each organisations’ unique spaces and collections. Each tour will last for approx. 40 minutes, visitors will be welcome to attend all tours or can choose to join a specific tour or tours on the day. Either way, we look forward to welcoming you!

Glasgow Sculpture Studios

Glasgow Sculpture Studios is home to a vibrant community of artists working in contemporary sculptural practice. Come along for a tour of the largest art production facility in Scotland, with specialist workshops in metalwork, woodwork, plaster, resin, ceramics and digital fabrication! We support one of the largest communities of artists in Scotland with over 120 artist-members, 55 of whom are studio holders based at GSS. Through our subsidised studios, affordable workshops, and access to expertise, we support artists from all backgrounds, and at all stages of their career, to develop their practice through exploration of sculpture in its broadest sense.

The Glasgow School of Art Archives & Collections

The Glasgow School of Art’s Archives and Collections are a rich resource for the study of art, design, architecture and art education. Our holdings illustrate the history of the institution and the development of its teaching practices since it was established in 1845. For this tour we will focus on our Charles Rennie Mackintosh Collection, which is one of 50 Recognised Collections of National Significance in Scotland. Join us to see Mackintosh’s work from both his student days and from across his career, including watercolours, architectural drawings, furniture, fixtures and fittings.

The Alasdair Gray Archive

The Alasdair Gray Archive was established in March 2020 after Alasdair Gray’s death in late December 2019. The Archive exists to enhance the reputation and understanding of one of Scotland’s most significant cultural polymaths of the 20th century, and through his legacy support others. When you visit the Archive it is like walking into Alasdair’s front room with all the objects & items that surrounded him, many of which feature in his work. All this material is held here for research & learning purposes. When you visit you will be able to handle original artworks, prints, publications, transcripts and ephemera.

The Distillery

The Distillery on the 3rd floor is a dedicated coworking space for freelancers, start-ups and creatives who require flexible, professional workspace. It will be open from 4:45pm for tea, coffee and biscuits, with an optional brief tour of its facilities.

Book your free tickets for our December tour below.

Screening of Alberta Whittle's Lagareh| 20th Sept

We are excited about the UK premiere of this year’s @scotlandvenice artist and GSS member Alberta Whittle's film Lagareh at @glasgowfilmtheatre on the 20th of September. The film invites audiences to pause and reflect on the damage caused by the legacies of colonialism, present-day policing and inadequate incarceration systems. Lagareh creates a space for conversation, for collective hope, healing, and reconciliation.

The film was commissioned by @scotlandvenice and @formaartsmedia for this year's Venice Art Biennale and will be screened at venues across Scotland between September 2022 and March 2023, including @edencourttheatrecinema, Mareel @shetland_arts, @belmontfh, Broadford Town Hall @atlasarts and Ayr Town Hall @southayrshirecouncil.

To find out more, head to the Scotland + Venice website.

Image: Alberta Whittle, Lagareh – The Last Born, (film still – single channel video), 2022, Photographer Matthew Arthur Williams, © Alberta Whittle. Courtesy the artist, Scotland+Venice and Forma

Image caption: Two people sitting comfortably on a couch holding pinkies

Unveiling of 'Cowp to Nature Reserve’ | 4th June

Saturday 4th June

Ellesmere Street Entrance to Hamiltonhill Claypits

1pm - 3pm | Free - all welcome!

Hamiltonhill Claypits Local Nature Reserve Management Group and Glasgow Sculpture Studios are delighted to invite you to the unveiling of From Cowp to Nature Reserve — a new public artwork made by our local communities in collaboration with artist Mitch Miller that tells the social and oral histories of the Claypits and surrounding area.

Join us for an afternoon of family friendly fun and an opportunity to come together, celebrate and thank everyone who made this project possible.

There will be refreshments provided by The Courtyard Pantry as well as face-painting and arts & nature activities, and lots of opportunities to chat with local groups and organisations doing great work in this part of the city

This event is part of the ‘Five Points’ Programme — led by HCLNR Management Group and supported by Queen’s Cross Housing Association and Glasgow City Health & Social Care Partnership

From Cowp to Nature Reserve was commissioned by HCLNR & GSS with the support of Glasgow City Council, Heritage Lottery Fund, and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation