Northlight Heritage :: Nothing About Us Without Us Is For Us

Home / What We Do / Nothing About Us Without Us Is For Us

Nothing About Us Without Us Is For Us

FUNDERS: Awards for All Scotland, Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Housing Association, Glasgow Life, Glasgow Museums, Clyde Waterfront, Central Govan Action Plan
PARTNERS: CGAP Clydeview Housing Partnership, Crann Tara, Fablevision, Fairground Community Group, Glasgow Housing Association, Govan and Craigton Integration Network, Govan and Linthouse Parish, Govan Youth Programme, Northlight Heritage, Pearce Institute, Plantation Productions, Platforum, Riverside Community Halls, Scotland in Europe, The GalGael Trust (GalGael on Facebook), The Riverside Museum, The Tall Ship, Why?sman Festival
PRODUCERS: Matt Baker, t s Beal
LOCATION: Govan, Glasgow

Northlight Heritage contributed to this public art event, which was led by artists Matt Baker and t s Beall, and held as part of the 2012 Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art. It culminated in a one-day collective celebration of the impossibility of communication, involving attempts to transmit messages across the River Clyde using obsolete technology. This was a major collaborative event featured 16 artists and makers, 24 project partners and funders and attracted over 800 participants and visitors on the day. The project was shortlisted for Creative Scotland's 'Best Community Arts Project' 2012.

Northlight’s contribution ‘River Patter: Lost and Hidden Languages of the Clyde’ brought together speakers and translators of different languages to shout messages across the river, creating a ‘Babel’ on The Clyde. We worked with the Govan and Craigton Integration Network, staff from the Celtic & Gaelic Dept at University of Glasgow and several individuals, translating a series of short phrases selected from sources relating to the history of the area, into the languages of past and present Govan. Phrases were shouted, scribed, and rocketed across the river betweentwo stations positioned on opposite sides of the Clyde. Messages sent and received were recorded on boards - commemorating the reality of failed communication as much as successful transmission. The event celebrated Govan’s past and present multi-culturalism and its origins as the creative, spiritual and political hub of the Kingdom of Strathclyde. It also encouraged participants to think about the role of art in the transformation of places, in Glasgow and beyond.