'Nothing about us...' Booklet now online!

Our beautiful wee booklet is now available to view online and to download.  So no need to fret if you didn't manage to get one on the day! With thanks to Bakkal for the design...

Reconvening the Govan Parliament

On Saturday 31st March about 100 folk gathered on a mound by the Clyde at Govan to honour this  ancient place of assembly. More than 2000 years ago people built a giant earthwork (known as Doomster Hill) by the river - a hill that was to become the parliament hill of the kingdom of Strathclyde for 200 years around the year 1000AD.

The ceremony was part of the Govan Together event 'Seeds for the Future', which celebrated one year of Govan Together activities, and also a wee celebration of GalGael's 15th anniversary. It was conceived and led by Matt Baker and Tam McGarvey, and the 2000 year timeline read on the mound was written by Tim Clarkson and Matt Baker.  (Although the 'Reconvening of the Parliment' wasn't formally part of 'Nothing about us...,' the timeline that was read out is also featured on our blog as series of posts on Govan's History.) Event management was by Fablevision Studios on behalf of Govan Together.

Processing from the Pearce Institute to the mound in the Riverside Housing Scheme (far right is John 'Jack' Sweeney - former Trades Union activist and carrier of the Govan stone for the Scottish Democracy Cairn )

Marchers arrive at the mound and the firebasket lit by the GalGael - Riverside Museum and Tallship in the background

Assembled around the fire

The public gallery - Riverside housing

Reading the timeline - centre (holding paper) Tam McGarvey and Brian McQuade (eminent Govan historian and 2012 Olympic torch bearer), also holding paper = Gehan MacLeod and on her left Allan and Ricco of the GalGael

Enjoying the fire

photos by Ben Rush

Matt Baker

Matt Baker makes artworks in the public domain, developing participatory and collaborative techniques through projects ranging from temporary events/installations to large-scale permanent artworks and cultural strategies for programmes of urban change.

In 2011, Baker was awarded the Saltire Society Award for Art in Architecture in Scotland between 2009-11. 
Since March 2011 he has been resident artist within the Riverside community in Govan - see here
From 2006-2010 Matt was the City Artist for Inverness – his work there placed the creative community at the centre of a dialogue about the contemporary identity of the Highland capital. Temporary artwork interventions, public debates and unlikely partnerships were the hallmark of the residency, which ultimately evolved into acclaimed public art organisation IOTA (now core funded by Highland Council). 

Baker was also Lead Artist from 2000-2005 for the award-winning regeneration of the iconic Gorbals neighbourhood in Glasgow. The project is widely recognised for its pioneering work in applying a socially-engaged art methodology to a large scale public art programme. More than 30 local, national and international artists were commissioned to work within the context of a place undergoing wholescale re-construction. 

The project 'Nothing about us without us is for us,' is led by Matt Baker in collaboration with t s Beall.

Artist website
Artist Blog

Twitter: _mattbaker

Glorious Govan, as part of the GI Festival

Saturday 28 April, 2012
A public art event lead by  artists Matt Baker and t s Beall,  using obsolete technology to hurl language across the River Clyde. A month of activity in the studios and workshops of Govan will culminate in a one-day celebration of the impossibility of communication. Transmissions will be attempted from both sides of the River using smoke signals, string-and-cup telephones, messages-in-bottles, choral serenades, and more…

‘Nothing about us without us is for us’ is a day where the reality of failed communication will be both celebrated and critiqued. It is a project grounded in locally rooted collective action, which acknowledges from the outset the potential futility of our desire for consensus. Envisioned as both action and mini-festival, it employs GI as a lens to critically examine the role of art in the transformation of places, in Glasgow and beyond.

Methods of communication may include:
Semaphore flags
Smoke signals
String-and-cup telephones
Homing pigeons
Messages-in-bottles (2nd Launch of The Govan Armada)
A trebuchet
A choral serenade (groups singing simultaneously, unsynchronised)

Visitors to Glasgow International Festival are invited to the Govan waterfront between 20–27 April to participate in a variety of events and workshops to construct communication methods and machines (listed here). Visitors are also invited to participate in the public enactment of ‘Nothing about us without us is for us’ on Saturday 28 April.

Artists
Matt Baker
t s Beall
Alexandra Bowie
Colin Thomas Begg
Fiona Fleming
Geraldine Greene
Grant Leckie
Ingrid Shearer
Jim Ferguson
Kate V Robertson
Martin Campbell
Now Now Girls
Belinda Gilbert-Scott
Sophie Manhire
Steven Anderson
Tam McGarvey