Winning the Turner Prize is a big deal. Sometimes its judges’ decisions are controversial but the prize going to Jasleen Kaur has been widely applauded.
The exhibition, which premiered at Tramway last year, is a celebration of Kaur’s Scottish Sikh upbringing and as judges said it brings together the personal, religious and political.
It features her Father’s red Ford Escort draped in a crocheted doily with tunes coming from the cassette player, Irn Bru bottles presented alongside devotional items and workers union cards, family photos overlaid with bits of chapati, images of the Kenmure Street protest juxtaposed with Sikh and Muslim men kneeling in shared devotion.
The success is also a credit to Tramway, which is another asset to the city and the Pollokshields ward.
Tramway continues to be a vital space for contemporary art and performance. It is central to Glasgow International, Sonica, Dance International Glasgow, Celtic Connections and many more.
One of the other Turner nominees – Delaine La Bas – also exhibited at Tramway this year.
If you were to come along this weekend (you should!) you’d see multimedia works from Maud Sulter, a Scots Ghanaian from the Gorbals, you could do karaoke as part of Leanne Ross’ Dirty Dancing Flowers, and you could learn from Tape Letters Scotland, a social history project with the south Asian community in Glasgow.
With all the financial challenges Glasgow faces, to deliver such a high calibre cultural programme, consistently, on what is a shoestring, especially compared to London galleries, is a huge feat. We are incredibly fortunate to have this in the heart of the Southside.
The other motion Green councillors passed this week was to back calls for a new levy on the biggest stadium and arena gig tickets, to help raise money for grassroots music venues.
This is an idea from the campaign charity, the Music Venues Trust, which says a £1 per ticket levy could raise millions and keep alive the smaller venues, without which there would be nowhere those who go on to be megastars could ‘cut their teeth’.
Greens want this to be supported and legislated for nationally in Scotland and across the UK, but we also have an opportunity to trial it here in Glasgow, given that the Council is the biggest shareholder in the SEC complex, which is home to the Armadillo and Hydro. This would be a positive and practical step the Council could do to help grassroots clubs and venues in the city.
Jasleen Kaur’s success should be an inspiration to all those creating cultural works in Glasgow. We have so much to be proud of, in art, music, dance, theatre and more. But we need to invest in it over the long term. As we head into Glasgow’s 850th birthday year this must be an increasing priority.
