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Public Engagement

Twinned Drinks at Milk Cafe

In 2015, CCA began a new public engagement programme. The generous support of the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation enabled us to develop a programme that had – at its heart – the prospect of social and cultural change explored through art. Major public engagement projects developed since 2015 were:

Cooking Pot

Cooking Pot launched in September 2015. It explored how food brings people together and allows us to express different aspects of our culture. Cooking Pot drew upon the culinary knowledge of local communities to reveal more about the cultures present here in Scotland. It also aimed to increase general awareness of food and food production. CCA worked with a huge range of social enterprises, collectives, cafes and individuals from across Glasgow. There were cooking classes, workshops, talks and film screenings across a five-year period.

Twelve people stand round a kitchen worktop making bread dough.

Glasgow Loaf at Bakery47

Invisible Knowledge

In 2016, Invisible Knowledge was a group for independent researchers in the arts. Based at CCA, the group was primarily aimed at PhD students, independent and early career researchers. Participants came through an open call for members. Co-convened with Emma Balkind and Tiffany Boyle, Invisible Knowledge addressed knowledge production within Glasgow. The group’s purpose was to use their collective and individual research to inform a public programme of events. Supported by Research at The Glasgow School of Art, University of Glasgow and SCAN.

Botanic Concrete

In 2016, Botanic Concrete engaged participants to join with us in a research group reimagining the Garnethill area. The group included artists, teachers, gardeners, social workers, students, residents and members of the public who interact with Garnethill.

A group of fifty people watch the launch event of Botanic Concrete in an indoor cafe space.

Botanic Concrete launch at The Project Cafe

Intentions in Action / Forms of Action

Intentions in Actions was a series of talks, workshops and presentations about the use of art and its participation in society. It was devised as an introduction leading up to the Forms of Action exhibition in 2017. Forms of Action explored current international developments in socially-engaged art practices. Participating artists addressed a range of issues, including the socio-cultural implications of food and agriculture; second wave feminism; material studies; written language and radical gardening.

A large group of people gather in the ground floor of CCA, strings of fairy lights in different colours are overhead

Forms of Action - exhibition opening. Photography by Alan Dimmick

The School for Civic Imagination

Running from 2017 to 2019, The School for Civic Imagination was an informal learning programme which discussed the meeting point of art and society. The School offered a support structure to create deeper connections between socially-engaged art practice and civic life. It aimed to build local, national and international connections through talks, film screenings, tours, experiments, walks and visits.

Political Animal

In June 2019, Political Animal explored how the contemporary city can be written, curated, performed and (re)built. Talks, exhibitions and presentations raised questions on the role of the collective and the individual in the operations of the city.

A group of people sit in a circle of chairs listening to a woman speak. There is a blue podium with a large star.

Political Animal

Human Relay

Human Relay, in partnership with Govan Community Project, was intended to be a new two-year project. Human Relay was led by asylum claimants and refugees and explored the themes of herbs, healing and plants. It ended in March 2020 with the beginning of lockdown.