AGENDA
Jagger camps by the Clyde
Rock superstar Mick Jagger has been filming in Glasgow in a cameo role as transvestite cabaret performer Greta in the movie version of Martin Sherman's play Bent.
The film tells the story of three gay men struggling against oppression during the rise of Nazism.
Jagger‘s scenes. which involved him singing a 30s Berlin cabaret number. were shot in Glasgow city centre and the disused Braehead Power Station on the banks of the Clyde. The imposing building doubled as a cabaret bar during recent night shoots. with director Sean Mathias aiming for a ‘highly stylised.visual interpretation' rather than a detailed period reconstruction of pre-war Germany.
Jagger's screen career peaked in I970 with leading roles in Nic Roeg and Donald Cammell's Per/imitative and Tony Richardson's Ned Kelly.
Producer Michael Solinger said Jagger's latest screen role is ideal: ‘The character of Greta/George was perfect for Mick — it was Mick. He had to act. but opening up with the song as cabaret MC. progressing through to his transition away from Berlin as George. was a natural thing that just fitted perfectly.‘ (Alan Morrison)
I Alan Morrison‘s location report on Bent is on page 24.
Faslane van is heading for museum
Memorabilia irom Faslane Peace Camp, including a painted caravan, is to be displayed at two Glasgow mrrseums.
Peace protesters irom the canrp, who recently announced they were leaving the site alongside the Clyde Submarine Base at Gareloch, greeted the move. ‘Knowing the story oi the camp will live on is a boost to morale,’ said a spokeswoman. ‘lt will remind visitors that Trident and the entire might at Britain’s nuclear deience programme is still based at Faslane.’
The peace camp, with its quixotic huddle oi painted caravans ranged in deiiance against the massed nuclear weaponry, had become a iamiliar part oi the Faslane scenery. Susan Jeiiery, curator oi history ior Glasgow Museums and Art Galleries, said: ‘We are interested in displaying examples oi modern grass-root activity. Faslane Peace Carry is an important record oi ordinary people struggling in the taco oi enormous odds.’
0ne caravan, satirically named lie. 10 (Downing Street), is bound ior the Transport Museum. Other assorted articles will go on display at the People’s Palace.
A nine-day iarewell celebration at the camp starts on 1 August aiter which It will be transiorrnd Into a garden oi peace commuting victims oi lllro'shlma and llagasakl. (Conchita Pinto)
Glasgow designer shopping hit by closures
Glasgow traders have denied there is a crisis in the city centre. as another company adds its name to a recent spate of closures.
Muji. the Japanese clothing and household goods chain. is to close its Glasgow store next month after five years of trading in the city. The shutters on the Queen Street branch will corrre down for the final time on 3 August. although the company claims it plans to return to Glasgow in the future.
Despite making profits and garnering awards for the design and outfitting of its stylish Glasgow premises. the shop — twice the size of Muji's largest London store — has been burdened with high rent and rates. and a low profile that outrnatched its no-label concept in merchandising.
‘People are still walking in the door and saying “oh. when did you open up?" when we're closing down.‘ said Caius Ffernandez. manager of the Glasgow store. But Carol Bolton. Muji‘s new director of operations. believes the city has not been neglected. ‘The only additional support the London branches have had is promotions in the Evening .S‘mmlunl.‘ she said.
An appeal lodged by the company against the rating valuation of the premises at £84500 by Strathclyde Regional Council in I995 was due to be heard in September.
The departure of M uji is a further blow to Glasgow's status as a premier- league shopping city. following the closure of Red ()r Dead in Buchanan
Street last month when its parent company Facia went into receivership. Liberty. which owns a Si per cent share ofthe Muji UK franchise. is also taking flight from Buchanan Street. in a nationwide retreat to its historic Regent Street base.
George Ritchie. spokesman for the Glasgow City Centre Traders Association. said the loss of these shops was regrettable. but pointed to the upcoming arrival of T-Maxx. John Lewis. and the possibility of Harvey Nichols siting in Glasgow. as proof of the undiminishcd quality and diversity of retailing iii the city. ‘As long as we have thetn replaced by other tenants of sufficient quality then there are no grounds for despondency.‘ he said. (Deirdre Molloy)
Child drug-users targeted by new campaign
Scotland is to share in a 21.5 million drugs scheme tackling the problem oi youth drug use.
The charity llCll Action ior Children will spend £200,000 north oi the border as part oi their campaign iollowing a survey which iound children as young as eleven who knew where to buy drugs, and claimed around 40 per cent oi iourteen to slxteen-year-olds are regular users.
llCll will work with Turning Point, a charity which tackles problems relating to drugs, drink, mental health and learning diiiiculties, on the £1.5 million scheme.
‘In areas oi our work like iamily projects, drugs were increasingly becoming a problem. There have been
examples oi children being sent by their parents to pick up smack irom dealers,’ said Joe Connolly, Assistant Director oi Social Work at NC" in Glasgow.
The £200,000 is likely to be spent on Scottish youth drug schemes. Turning Point, which has oiiices in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Falkirk and Aberdeen, will use its allocation to expand into Stirling and the Clackmannan area where the level oi drug use among young people is high. Turning Point Project worker Crawiord Bell described the iunding boost as ‘very welcome’ and said speciiic Scottish problems would be tackled.
‘We’ve got the Buckiast and Temazepam phenomenon that those
down south just can’t understand. There is greater use of downers such as valium and especially alcohol. Alcohol use among young Scots is purely ior getting out oi your iace,’ said Bell.
Elsewhere in Britain, a second study suggests knowledge oi drugs among young people is not so widespread. A report commissioned by BT and Granada Television, prompted by the death oi Leah Betts, claims nine out oi ten British teenagers are ignorant oi the eiiects oi drugs such as ecstasy. Based on responses irom 5500 teenagers, the report urges health educators to take a hard-hitting approach to drugs education.
(Peter Boss).
Edinburgh gallery ‘floundering’ say critics
The management of Scotland's flagship gallery of contemporary art. is under review against a backdrop of discontent in the artistic cornrrrunity.
Edinburgh‘s Fruitrnarket Gallery receives £3 i 5.000 a year from the Scottish Arts Council (SAC). the biggest grant of any Scottish visual arts space.
However its recent programmes have been criticised by many in the industry as inadequate and cliched. As the gallery prepares an exhibition of contemporary Chinese painting. Reckoning With The Past. lain Irving. former gallery manager at Glasgow's Centre for Contemporary Arts. now a freelance curator. claims the Fruitrnarket is ‘floundering'.
‘The fruitmarket has lost its pulling power and its status to other galleries over the last few years.‘ he said.
Although the Fruitrnarket hosted the British Art Show. this year. along with other Edinburgh galleries. previous shows at the gallery have included Aboriginal and Korean art and contemporary Japanese photography.
Irving and others argue that the focus on art from non-Westem cultures has lessened the emphasis on Scottish artists and contemporary art shows from Europe and America. which fail
to make it across the border frorn England.
Exhibitions themed according to country are outdated. according to Irving — who himself worked for the Fruitrnarket in the 80s: ‘Shows presenting the art of a country are like tourist information. By putting them on. the Fruitrnarket is missing the major solo shows.‘
Graham Murray. director of the Fruitrnarket. said the gallery was Scotland‘s top modern art venue. ‘The Fruitrnarket is the SAC‘s flagship for contemporary art.‘ he stated. defending his exhibition policy. ‘We show a range of national and international contemporary art and we are fulfilling
Fruitrnarket: Scottish Arts Council ilagship
our remit."
Murray. gallery director since I992. claims the Fruitrnarket sets out to bring the best work of leading an practitioners from Britain and abroad to Scotland. ‘We aim to promote quality contemporary art and to make it accessible.‘ he says.
Andrew Naime. visual arts director at the SAC said the council was reviewing the position of the Fruitrnarket. but said this was standard practice for anyone receiving funding over £250.000. However. he added: ‘We will be expecting the Fruitrnarket to respond to recommendations. We will be asking how the gallery can perform better.‘ (Susanna Beaumont)
4 The List 26 Jul-8 Aug I996