The Poetry Club is now a decade old. In those 10 years they’ve hosted music-legends and Glaswegians memories of I-was-there moments. In celebration of that, SWG3 have launched an exhibition celebrating those 10 years.
The Poetry Club at SWG3 styles itself as a haven for alternative and underground culture - their tiny stage hosted many a night that has went down in Glasgow’s cultural history. Featuring but not limited to Patti Smith, Richard Hell, John Giorno, and Primal Scream - just to mention a few,
The new exhibition exuberates the counter-culture movement the Poetry Club fosters through a range of curated photography capturing moments from the major to the minor, the significant to the fleeting.
The Poetry Club founder and one of Scotland’s leading contemporary artists Jim Lambie alongside Andrew Fleming-Brown, Director and Founder of SWG3, bring together a decade of art, expression and counterculture featuring pictures from a host of people including Mark Dickie, Jason McPhail and others.
Just like the SWG3 creative hub that it calls home, in its last life, The Poetry Club had no lights, no stage, no bar and no artists. Instead it was a disused railway arch, lying vacant – and waiting for someone to see its potential.
Initially looking for a space to hold a reading, Jim approached Andrew, and the pair quickly realised the unloved space could become something special for the city of Glasgow and beyond. Describing the archway as “a piece of social sculpture”, it was re-imagined and emerged as an integral part of the multi-medium arts offering and the wider creative programme.
The exhibition The Poetry Club: est. 2012 opened Friday October 27 at SWG3’s Acid bar, running until Friday November 17. Opening hours are Monday - Friday, 10am - 6pm.
Take a look inside the exhibition below.
1. 10 years @ The Poetry Club
2. 10 years @ The Poetry Club
3. 10 years @ The Poetry Club
4. 10 years @ The Poetry Club