Over the course of the festival’s 18-day run, Glasgow International will amplify and celebrate the city’s identity as a vibrant and distinctive centre for artistic production and cultural organising, and for experiencing contemporary art.

Remaining free, accessible and open to all, Glasgow International 2024 – supported by Glasgow Life – embodies a collaborative, polyvocal and transitional vision for the festival’s future.

The festival has been reshaped to support a diverse and responsive programme of exhibitions and projects that centres the ongoing dynamism of independent artistic and organisational practices in Glasgow, the transnationalism of artist communities in Scotland, and the sharing of concerns and practices with artists working in other global regions.

Presented at locations across the city, including the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) and Tramway, Glasgow International is a collective endeavour rooted in Glasgow’s year-round visual arts ecology, bringing together newly commissioned projects from established arts organisations and museums, artist-run spaces and initiatives, and individual artists.

The festival interweaves the characteristics of a visual arts biennial, including newly commissioned projects and exhibitions from artists based around the world, with an open submission model for artists, collectives and curators based in the city.

Comprising over 45 exhibitions and projects, performances and discursive events at over 30 spaces across the city and online, and including work by over 70 artists, the 2024 festival is a celebration of the depth of Glasgow’s contemporary art scene and its resonances with practices elsewhere.

Glasgow International 2024 participants include Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Delaine Le Bas (artwork pictured), Clay AD, Martin Beck, Rabindranath X Bhose, Kim Bohie, Sarah Booker, and Enzo Camacho and Ami Lien.

Among the organisations and groups organising festival projects are Glasgow Life Museums, Glasgow Print Studio, Street Level Photoworks, SWG3 and the University of Glasgow.

For the full programme of participating artists and organisations, visit the Glasgow International website.

Glasgow International has always been rooted in the production of exhibitions, projects and programmes by Glasgow-based artists, organisations, independent curators and organisers.

Developed in partnership with the local, national and international arts community, the 10th edition responds to the changing conditions for artists, arts organisations and independent cultural workers in Glasgow, and brings an increased emphasis on how the festival emerges from this ecology. It looks to the forms of support, and the distribution of resources and opportunity, that are key to the festival model
as a manifestation of community.

The remodelled festival format presents a collaborative and collective vision that equally platforms projects initiated by the Glasgow International curatorial team and those which are conceived, developed and delivered by individuals and organisations across the city. This new approach prioritises structural and artistic equity, with an overall reduction in the number of festival projects allowing more careful consideration and support for how each is realised and experienced.

New Festival Director Richard Birkett said:

“Glasgow International is Scotland’s biennial festival of contemporary art. It is a thoroughly collective endeavour, involving many arts organisations, artist-run spaces, artists, curators and arts organisers based in Glasgow. The projects commissioned for the 2024 festival have been conceived and developed through different forms of collaboration, some initiated by the Glasgow International curatorial team and others led by groups of artists or cultural institutions in the city. The 2024 programme is presented holistically, emphasising a depth and diversity of intersecting concerns and practices over any singular curatorial position.”

At a moment of extreme social, cultural, economic and environmental difficulty for individuals and communities globally, the festival projects touch on the possibilities within art to offer new perspectives and forms of understanding, listening, or imagining.

The Glasgow International 2024 programme includes intimate considerations of the relations within and between individual lives and collective presences, while also reflecting the broader scale of Glasgow’s historical and contemporary entanglements with global conditions. A number of festival projects engage with our relationships to land, both its materiality and terms of use, ownership and value; and consider cultural traditions and legacies across communities today, and the transformative power of minoritised narratives, forms of knowledge and histories.

The first announcement of participating artists, organisations and organisers in Glasgow International 2024 coincides with the launch of a new festival website and visual identity. A collaboration between artist Matthew Arthur Williams and designer Maeve Redmond, the visual identity is developed from their research into social and material histories of Glasgow’s environment and architecture. Through Williams’s practice as a photographer, they have produced layered images of the city, which reflect the works in progress currently being created for the festival itself.

Bailie Annette Christie, Chair of Glasgow Life and Glasgow City Council Convenor for Culture, Sport and International Relations, said:

“Glasgow International is a prime example of Glasgow’s diverse, year-round cultural offer, and the 10th edition of the festival will be an essential date in the global art calendar. Contemporary art fans can look forward to experiencing work by more than 70 artists and arts organisers across more than 45 free exhibitions and projects in over 30 captivating spaces throughout the city and online. The organisers and artists have lined up a fantastic programme which again shows why Glasgow International has become a globally renowned celebration of contemporary art.”

Christina McKelvie, Minister for Culture, said:

“The Scottish Government is proud of our Glasgow festivals and is delighted to continue our support of Glasgow International through our EXPO fund. The festival is an excellent platform for Scottish artists, and represents our belief that culture is for all, remaining free and accessible to attendees. We look forward to enjoying the broad range of vibrant exhibitions and projects set to take place in Glasgow. Next year promises to be another memorable summer of culture across the country which reaffirms Scotland as the perfect stage.”

Sarah MacIntyre, Visual Arts Officer at Creative Scotland, said:

“Now in its 10th edition, Glasgow International continues to reflect the rich and diverse practices and collaborative spirit that makes Glasgow’s visual art scene so distinctive. Bringing together some of the best art being made by Scottish-based and international artists today, the festival creates vital space for reflection and discussion.”

Norah Campbell, Head of Arts, British Council Scotland, said:

“Fostering international connections is at the heart of British Council’s work, and we’re delighted to support Glasgow International Festival to put a spotlight on Scottish and global visual arts talent and to help Scottish-based creatives to reach new international audiences. I’ve no doubt this fantastic festival will spark new ideas for artists and curators, allowing them to create new networks, build strong connections and mutual understanding to develop future collaborations.”