A multiplicity of voices, slavery and Glasgow - with Katie Bruce, curator at Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), Glasgow Life
A fascinating episode about the interpretation and representation of slavery in Glasgow, with a focus on the GoMa building, built by tobacco Lord William Cunninghame of Lainshaw.
From the 1700s until the UK abolished slavery in 1833, many Glasgow merchants made their fortune from trading tobacco, sugar, rum and cotton produced by enslaved people on plantations or in factories.
Historians have recorded 19 slave voyages leaving Greenock and Port Glasgow in the six decades between 1706 and 1766, carrying roughly 3000 people into slavery. Many historic buildings and areas in Glasgow are linked with these trades.
In this episode we talk to Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) Curator Katie Bruce about the different ways in which this aspect of Glasgow’s history can be researched, interpreted and highlighted, with a special focus on the GoMA building and its convoluted history.
Keep an eye on our website glasgowheritage.org.uk, join us on social media @GlasgowHeritage and follow #IfGlasgowsWallsCouldTalk
This podcast was produced by Inner Ear for Glasgow City Heritage Trust.
Creators and Guests
Host
Niall Murphy
Niall Murphy, who is the Director of Glasgow City Heritage Trust, is a conservation architect and is heavily involved in heritage, conservation and community issues in Glasgow. Niall is also Chair of Govanhill Baths Building Preservation Trust and was previously chair of Pollokshields Heritage, Planning Convener for Pollokshields Community Council and a member of the Glasgow Urban Design Panel. Between 2016 – 2018 he was a member of the Development Management Working Group for the Scottish Government’s Planning Review. Niall regularly lectures or does walking tours on architecture, heritage and urban design issues. Niall has won the Glasgow Doors Open Day Excellence Award for Outstanding Talk (2023) and for Inspiring City Tour (2017), the Glasgow Doors Open Day Above and Beyond Award (2014), the Sir Robert Lorimer Award for Sketching (1996) and, in addition to nominations for Saltire Awards and GIA Awards was nominated for the Scottish Civic Trust’s My Place Award for Civic Champion in 2015.
Producer
Anny Deery
TV Producer. Retrained Massage Therapist @glasgowholistic. Live in Glasgow. Mother of a 8 yo + three year old.