BUCHANAN, Cochrane, Dennistoun, Dunlop, Glassford, Ingram, Oswald, Speirs. The list of Glasgow slavers, revered as “Tobacco Lords”, who are celebrated in the naming of the streets and districts of the city is as long as it is shameful. Even in recent decades Glasgow City Council has thought it proper to renovate and promote “The Merchant City” without facing up to the central role of African slavery in its creation. Was a second thought given when this hub of music venues, theatres, clubs, bars and restaurants was relaunched under its existing name? The Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow’s Royal Exchange Square stands, we are often told, in premises formerly inhabited by the Royal Bank of Scotland. Less often are we reminded that, prior to its purchase by the bank, the grand building was the ostentatious mansion of the tobacco tycoon William Cunninghame, who reputedly owned more than 300 enslaved human beings on his plantations in Jamaica.
What s On Scotland 23 Apr-7 May: Night Fever & more
The next two weeks sees museums and galleries reopen, with a flagship exhibition at the V&A Dundee exploring the historic design of club culture. Meanwhile, Manipulate bring live outdoor theatre to Edinburgh and Femspectives kicks off another programme. Feature by Anahit Behrooz | 23 Apr 2021
Exhibitions are back baby! And we don t just mean online! From 1 May, the V&A Dundee is reopening its doors to visitors, with new exhibition
Night Fever: Designing Club Culture taking centre stage. The first major global exhibition to explore the relationship between club culture and design,
Night Fever spans the 1960s through to the present day, spotlighting iconic clubs from New York to Berlin and everywhere in between to discover the subversive history of nightclub design.
Last modified on Fri 23 Apr 2021 15.02 EDT
Glasgowâs Merchant City is a construct. Before the wave of post-1980s regeneration, nobody knew the city centre district by that name. With its new identity, it was branded as a destination for a fashionable crowd in search of boutiques, restaurants and wine bars.
The merchants themselves were already commemorated in the road signs: Ingram Street after tobacco lord Archibald Ingram; Buchanan Street after plantation owner Andrew Buchanan; Glassford Street after John Glassford, the most successful of the tobacco traders.
Merchant City advertising campaigns did not dwell on how these men built their wealth. That job has been taken on by writer and director Adura Onashile who, working with the National Theatre of Scotland, has built an app-based walking tour that compels us to remember.
On Demand - Stowaway (Netflix, from Thu) If the cast is anything to go by, this sci-fi movie should be a real winner - Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, Toni Collette and Shamier Anderson all feature. Directed by Brazilian film-maker Joe Penna, who also co-wrote the script with Ryan Morrison, it focuses on the crew of a spaceship en route to Mars. However, someone has accidentally stowed away, causing severe damage to the craft s life support systems. As their resources begin to dwindle, those on board must find a way to deal with their new circumstances or face certain death. While the ship s commander and biologist favour a solution based on clinical logic, a medical researcher with a very different idea tries to stand up for what she believes in.
On Demand - Stowaway (Netflix, from Thu) If the cast is anything to go by, this sci-fi movie should be a real winner - Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, Toni Collette and Shamier Anderson all feature. Directed by Brazilian film-maker Joe Penna, who also co-wrote the script with Ryan Morrison, it focuses on the crew of a spaceship en route to Mars. However, someone has accidentally stowed away, causing severe damage to the craft s life support systems. As their resources begin to dwindle, those on board must find a way to deal with their new circumstances or face certain death. While the ship s commander and biologist favour a solution based on clinical logic, a medical researcher with a very different idea tries to stand up for what she believes in.