‘… it is to say, a constant, cursory hauling of visual (and verbal) images before the court of political judgment – with the politics deployed by the prosecution usually as undernourished and instrumentalized as the account given of what the image in question has to “say.”’
T. J. Clark, The Sight of Death (2006)
On February 27th, Gallery Bagging managed to bag a collaboration with Kelvingrove Writers. A team of one combined with the two of us, we set our sights on the Burrell Collection and the vast accumulation of “clever investments” it holds. Not having executed a [synonym] in a museum setting before we knew we were entering new waters. Understanding that we had picked a spot where controversial histories in how some of these artefacts were acquired (clever investments~) we wanted to be sure to curate prompts that enabled a conversation with the objects.
Inspired by T. J. Clark’s work documented in his The Sight of Death we wanted our writers to engage with works on display within the designated areas. Using the ‘North Gallery’ and ‘Burrell at Home’ areas, we asked our writers to traverse the spaces allowing them time to pass by the objects in hopes they would feel a draw. This is where the attendees would select their object(s) to focus their writing on. Clark had chosen two paintings for his book, applying his understanding and knowledge around the artist, Nicolas Poussin, but also entering the worlds within the paintings and at times combining the two as one space. We wanted the writers to use the works they chose and to apply histories (connected to or in relation with) in order to create a personality for the object. Using voice perspective we encouraged the imagining of a world through the means of characterising the object, whether it be projected, imagined using the context supplied, autotheory, or researched. Give voice to the object – what would it say?
The attendees chose a variety of objects, one in particular chose a stone with engravings of text – the literary imbued rock was an invoice. It was interesting hearing them combine the past with the present as many of us freelancers construct and handout invoices, and to think of someone from the past engraving a call for payment on stone was such a human way of connecting with the object. It also brought up the idea of the future of museums as everything becomes digitised, how will museums house objects that live in the files of the ‘cloud’.
Another writer focused on a body with no limbs or head, only the breasts, curves and posterior, as one of us described it as “saving the important bits” on display within the space. Applying the ever present problems of misogyny that was often underpinned by the male gaze especially within historical art. Art history shows us that art was used to objectify or romanticise the porcelaination of women. This creates the question of how objects are then preserved, this woman with only her torso left – no face and no name.
As mentioned at the beginning, this was a new opportunity to come face to face with the artefacts, and create a dialogue surrounding the issues of the ‘ambiguous’ and uncomfortable truth of how ownership of this collection (and others like it) came to be. With this highlighting ethical ramifications of this type of ‘collection’, which Glasgow Life, through the Kelvingrove Museum’s City of Empire exhibition looks to address in that collection1. The Kelvingrove Museum also became the first British Museum to have taken action by repatriating objects in 2022 by welcoming dignitaries from the High Commission of India for a ‘transfer of ownership ceremony’ to return seven Indian antiquities2.
Post-session, a writer mentioned the concern of class dynamics as well, as the Burrell Collection was a huge multi-pound investment, it made us wonder, with so much investment into this space, how come other key spaces that support emerging artists within the arts and culture of Glasgow such as the CCA (Centre for Contemporary Arts) have faced an ugly liquification and now Trongate 103 a cultural hub being targeted to either comply with impossible rent hikes or accept eviction. Shouldn’t they receive the same status and investment?
Thank you Jess (Kelvingrove Writers) for working with us to make this a great opener to the year for us! Thanks to the Burrell team for communicating with us to organise this event. And last but not least, thank you to those who joined us for this workshop, your words, thoughts, and ideas are so inspiring – we just can’t get enough of it!
Keep an eye out for our next workshop, it might include a bit of Walking and Writing and a wee bit of Blethering. 28.03.2026.
Featured photo credit to Jess, Kelvingrove Writers
Gal bag. 