He opened a door and showed us paradise

Inspired by the filmmaker Derek Jarman and his beloved garden at Dungeness, Modern Nature takes its name from Jarman’s autobiographical novel, published in 1991. Together, the group will read some writing on and by Jarman, watch extracts from his films, and delve into his queer gardening methodologies – cuttings, foraging, beachcombing.

Modern Nature will grow alongside the development by GAMIS of Batson Street Laboratory (Bat. Lab.): a temporary outdoor cinema and social space beside the historic site of Govanhill Picture House. In future months, the reading and growing group will have the opportunity to gather here, help develop the space and practice planning, building and tending the garden.

In our first gathering, ‘He opened a door and showed us paradise’, we will read Olivia Laing’s Sparks through Stubble, a short essay from her collection Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency. The meeting will take place online via Zoom, on Saturday 13th March 11 am -12.30 pm. There will be an automated speech-to-text transcript created during the event, and audio and text versions of the reading will be provided in advance.

About the organisers

Glasgow Artists’ Moving Image Studios (GAMIS) are a voluntary group working with artists, architects and historians towards bringing cinema and the arts back to the historic site of Govanhill Picture House.

Glasgow Seed Library is a living repository of organic, open-pollinated seeds, designed to be freely borrowed and deposited by growers across Glasgow. Initiated in 2019 and hosted by CCA, Glasgow Seed Library aims to cultivate climate, food and community resilience.