Book launch - GoMA at a glance: a collection in focus

Join us for a special event marking the 30th anniversary of GoMA, with the launch of the publication GoMA at a glance: a collection in focus. This free event will feature author Louise Welsh in conversation with curators Katie Bruce and Martin McShaffrey-Craig. After the talk, the book will be available for purchase.

About the book

This book explores 50 of the key artworks acquired by the curators of Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art for city’s collection over the past 30 years. Written in an informal style, it discusses the ethos behind the museum’s early acquisitions and the subsequent shift in collecting strategy to better reflect the unique cultural and artistic place that Glasgow is, thanks to the world-renowned Glasgow School of Art and the opportunities to see visual art that the city provides to its citizens, students and visitors alike.

The impact of the gallery’s social justice programmes and its focus on learning and engagement is unpacked, as is the dark history behind the original building, constructed as a home for one of Glasgow’s tobacco lords. As the curators reflected on the gallery’s first 30 years of existence, they looked back across the more than 200 exhibitions held to date and have picked some of the most seminal shows, acknowledging GoMA’s importance in the cultural landscape of Scotland.

With a foreword by the Glaswegian author Louise Welsh, looking at what the gallery has meant to her as a visitor, the book offers readers a contemporary take on Glasgow’s own fabulous art collection.

About the speakers

Katie Bruce has worked with GoMA since 2002 and has an expanded curatorial practice working primarily with socially engaged artists.

Martin McSheaffrey-Craig has joined GoMA in 2021. He has a broad practice with a particular interest in Sculpture and Installation.

Louise Welsh is an award-winning author of novels. She is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow. In 2022 she published The Second Cut, which was shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Prize for Crime Book of the Year and named by The Times as their Crime Book of the Year.

Image credit: Ocky Murray.