Govanhill Culture Collective

Govanhill Culture Collective presents a vibrant showcase featuring photography and video that brings together some of the results from a year-long collaborative, community-based artist residency programme developed by Street Level Photoworks as part of the National Culture Collective Project.

Lead artist Morwenna Kearsley and support artist Alex Popa have been engaging people across Govanhill in creative projects that range from street photography, experimental filmmaking & cycling in the project CYCLOPS, exploratory self-portraiture in a new women’s photography group My Mother, My Country, still life’s of people’s precious objects with stories around them in FONDS and staged photographic portraiture celebrating inspirational Roma people from history.

The exhibition is a celebration of the collaborative creativity explored through the residencies and a testimony to people’s resilience and determination in post-pandemic times, alongside exploring the role that artists can have in communities in times of recovery and uncertainty. The exhibition also coincides with a photography trail around Govanhill of FONDS, organised by Greater Govanhill and a limited edition set of postcards will be available. Copies of REFLECTOR, a limited edition zine profiling the various projects mentioned above will be available during the exhibition - get along early to secure your copy!

Thanks to everyone that has engaged with the residencies through the course of the last year, individuals and local community groups: Unity Sisters, Romano Lav, Bike For Good, Milk Café, Greater Govanhill magazine, Govanhill Housing Association and Community Connector Marzanna Antoniak, and Thriving Places Govanhill. Thanks also to the Wee Plate & Bees Knees Cafe for hosting workshop sessions, when access to spaces to meet was still very limited by COVID restrictions.

Creative Scotland with Scottish Government emergency COVID-19 funds launched the Culture Collective pilot programme in 2020 to support creative practitioners, organisations and communities to work together.  The programme focus is on community engaged creative activity, supporting 26 lead organisations in Scotland to develop ways of responding to the impacts of the ongoing pandemic and establish a network of creative practitioners, organisations and communities, working together to create a positive difference locally and nationally in response to COVID-19. More information on the network can be found here.