What We Have Done, What We Are About to Do

This exhibition reveals over 70 films documenting the activity of the Third Eye Centre in the 1970s. The footage covers the early existence of the organisation in Blythswood Square, the construction of a gallery space and café in 350 Sauchiehall St and the appearance of many famous artists, bands and performers. In the spirit of the age, the films also chart Glasgow itself, audiences and activities in the art centre, and key figures such as Jimmy Boyle, John Byrne, Michael Craig-Martin, Madelaine Taylor, Keith Tippett and Tom McGrath.

These films have been in the care of Street Level Photoworks for many years and it has only recently become possible to digitise and view them due to an AHRC funded research project undertaken by CCA and Glasgow School of Art. All of the digitised film is still in a raw state, unedited and, in many cases, unidentified. The aim of this exhibition is to present a progress report on the archival process rather than a completed project. We invite you to help us to identify some of the material or to share your memories of the events that you may have attended.

There will also be samples of the documents and images we are indexing in the Third Eye/CCA archive and a small exhibition of photographs by the Glasgow photographer George Oliver who documented the early days of the Third Eye Centre.

Another gallery will be devoted to contemporary Glasgow-based artists creating new work in response to the idea of archives and the process of archiving.

In the week following the exhibition there will be a series of workshop days in the galleries. Curators of other specialist archives will present talks on their collections and lead discussions on various aspects of the archive as it relates to contemporary art.

A number of screening and panel events will then roll out across 2012/13 which will focus in on some of the edited subject matter. This will initially take place between Street Level Photoworks and CCA.

For more information or to follow the progress of the project, visit glasgowmiracle.blogspot.com