Introduction

Glasgow International is a world-renowned festival of contemporary visual art that takes place across the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Established in 2005, the festival presents a vibrant program of exhibitions, events, talks, performances, and projects by local and international artists.

Distinctive for its emphasis on both the local and the international, Glasgow International celebrates the city's rich artistic heritage while bringing in global perspectives. The festival's format combines a curated Director's Programme with an open-submission Across the City programme, creating a diverse, dynamic experience that reflects Glasgow's status as one of the UK's most important centers for contemporary art production.

Narrative & Themes

Glasgow International consistently engages with contemporary social, political, and cultural issues while maintaining a strong connection to Glasgow's unique context. Each edition explores different thematic territories under the vision of that year's director, ranging from globalization and digital culture to community, identity, and the environment.

The 2024 edition, titled "Full of Fire," reflects on resilience, resistance, and solidarity in turbulent times. Through a diverse range of artistic practices, the festival examines how art can respond to urgent global challenges while offering spaces for imagination, connection, and collective action. The programme emphasizes collaboration and community engagement, with projects that activate various sites across the city.

Over its history, Glasgow International has maintained a distinctive approach that balances curatorial coherence with the organic energy of Glasgow's grassroots art scene. This dual focus creates a rich, multi-layered experience that distinguishes the festival from other international art events and reflects Glasgow's reputation for artistic experimentation and community-driven cultural production.

History & Context

Glasgow International was founded in 2005 to showcase the city's thriving contemporary art scene on an international platform. The festival emerged during a period of significant cultural transformation in Glasgow, building on the city's legacy of artistic innovation that dates back to the "Glasgow Miracle" of the 1980s and 1990s, when the city experienced an extraordinary flourishing of visual arts.

From modest beginnings, the festival has grown to become a significant event in the global art calendar, attracting visitors from around the world while maintaining deep connections to local communities and art spaces. Throughout its development, Glasgow International has played a crucial role in the city's cultural renaissance and has contributed to Glasgow's reputation as a creative powerhouse.

Exhibition Venues

A defining characteristic of Glasgow International is its use of diverse venues across the city, from established institutions to artist-run spaces, historic buildings, and unexpected locations. This distributed model transforms Glasgow itself into a comprehensive exhibition space and encourages exploration of different neighborhoods and cultural contexts.

Key venues include the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), Tramway, The Common Guild, and the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA), alongside dozens of independent galleries, project spaces, and artist studios. Many exhibitions also extend into non-traditional art spaces such as former industrial buildings, vacant retail units, public parks, and community centers.

This multi-venue approach reflects Glasgow International's commitment to accessibility and community engagement, creating opportunities for diverse audiences to encounter contemporary art in familiar and unfamiliar contexts. The festival provides comprehensive maps and guides to help visitors navigate between venues, often highlighting unexpected connections between different parts of the programme.

Featured Artists

Glasgow International showcases a diverse range of artists, from internationally recognized figures to emerging talents, with a particular emphasis on artists based in or connected to Glasgow. The festival has become known for presenting ambitious new commissions alongside thoughtfully contextualized existing works.

Alberta Whittle

Multi-disciplinary artist exploring issues of race, colonialism, and climate crisis through film, sculpture, and performance.

Martine Syms

Artist and filmmaker examining representations of blackness and digital culture through video installations and conceptual works.

Zahrah Alghamdi

Saudi Arabian artist creating monumental architectural installations that explore cultural memory and environmental transformation.