While COP26 will be taking place at the Scottish Event Campus on the banks of the Clyde, a host of other off-site events will on across the city. These range from art installations to audio tours to choir performances – all with a climate focus. So, if you want to take a climate-themed tour of Glasgow, here’s where to start.
Soundwalk Self-Led Audio Tour of Glasgow
When: Thursday August 12th – Wednesday December 1st
Where: West End of Glasgow
In collaboration with Glasgow-based postgraduate students, Sound Thought presents a curated soundwalk of locations across the city, exploring notions of acoustic ecology and the impact of humans and noise pollution on our local environment. To take part, you just need to download the free audio files onto your mobile device or stream from the website. Once downloaded, you can set off on your own acoustic walking adventure.
RCC At the COP
When: Monday 1st – Friday 12th November
Where: The New Glasgow Society, 1307 Argyle Street, G3 8TL
This exhibition – in partnership with the renowned Rachel Carson Centre for Environment and Society – showcases a host of seminal work from the world of social science and humanities, all focused on climate change. With contributors from India, Nigeria, Canada, Australia, the UK, South-East Asia and South America, the gallery space is designed to work as an environmental humanities hub for the duration of the COP.
Sustainable Solutions Showcase
When: Tuesday, 9th November
Where: Hunter Halls, University of Glasgow
This fascinating exhibition is filled with thought-provoking and immersive exhibits for all ages. From a collaborative video game where you use your smartphone to manage a carbon budget, to games exploring carbon capture technology and a CO2 measuring chamber to demonstrate research with coastal wetlands, to interactive exhibitions on sensors, 5G and quantum technologies and how they can help the fight against climate change, there’s something here for everyone. Admission is free, but you need to book your tickets here.
Choral Contemplations III: Singing for the Environment
When: Tuesday, 9th November; 6-7pm
Where: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
The University of Glasgow Chapel Choir will perform music inspired by COP26 and the environment. The concert will feature a new commission by recent graduate, Harold Thalange. There’s only room for fifty people in the Memorial Chapel during the concert, but there will also be a livestream of the event. Click the link above to get access.
Feel Field
When: Thursday, 11th November – Saturday 20th November
Where: Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 100 Renfrew Street
Step into the Climate Portal and become part of an immersive art experience exploring the connection between movement, migration and climate justice. For the duration of the festival this intriguing venue – a converted shipping container equipped with AV technology – will be transformed by artists Paria Moazemi Goodarzi and Francisco Llinas-Casas into a space of reflection with nature, juxtaposed with the idea of the shipping container as a unit of industry. Through a programme of interactive activities, this is a place to explore our city’s natural and social environments.
For Freedom Space With Rivers
When: Friday, 12th November; 2pm-5pm
Where: James Arnott Theatre, Gilmorehill Halls, 9 University Avenue
Artists Rachel Clive and Kirsty Stansfield host this interactive workshop, which explores how we can connect creatively with rivers – and with each other – when we are confined and separated, due to COVID-19 or for any other reason. The workshop forms a central part of a six-month arts project, working across two residential institutions and the University of Glasgow. The project will generate a collaboratively created artwork, whose form and content will depend on the interests of the participants. The artwork will travel between people and institutions, all based around a shared connection with the River Clyde.
Routed//In Green Channels
When: Thursday 18th November – Sunday 21st November
Where: Main Building, University of Glasgow
Sound Thought presents ‘Routed//In Green Channels’, an audiovisual installation from sound artist Beth Horseman. The installation sees data traveling from plant to machine, creating an ambient soundscape which surrounds the listener, and vibrates through the plants. This thought-provoking installation asks us to consider what effect our actions have on the world around us, and particularly how the everyday technology we use effects the natural world.
Collective Care: Renewing Perspectives on Museum Collections
When: Thursday 18th November; 6pm-8pm
Where: The Hunterian Museum
Inspired by the ongoing research of the Hunterian Associates, and the cultural legacy of COP26, this event will explore what it takes to care about collections and through them, our shared cultures, communities, and the planet. Art installations, family trails, craft activities, and a COP26-themed tour of the museum displays will reveal how the work of museums and galleries can feed into a wider culture of care beyond their walls. The evening will also feature music performances from composition students at the University of Glasgow and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, inspired by environmental themes.