The Old Fruitmarket. A suburban house. The Barrowland. Glasgow’s Tramway has spent the past two years everywhere but Tramway. But with its £3.2m refit just about complete, the former Museum of Transport will be back in high-profile action from the/start of June. And it's going to look very different. The most significant change is the appearance of a street leading from Albert Drive to the back of the building, allowing access to a redeveloped stable block and a host of upgraded facilities including a new cafe bar, a video room and a dedicated reading room.
The highlight of the summer programme is a return visit of New York's legendary Wooster Group, the multi-media avant gardeners last seen in the city in 1992. From 7—10 June, House/Lights, a UK exclusive, is a high- tech amalgam of an obscure Gertrude Stein play and an even more obscure 605 B-movie (we've seen it, book early, it's fab).
Other performances include a music and theatre collaboration featuring hot young playwright Zinnie Harris and composer Marina Adamia (Gravity, 14-17 June), a 30-minute show that numbers Nottingham University's Massive 2 computer among the cast (Desert Rain, 29 June—8 July), and a collaborative project drawing on the talents of an international team of artists including Scotland's A.L. Kennedy (True, 1—16
September).
The exhibition programme launches on 2 June with Another Place, a major group show featuring leading younger figures from the international art scene, among them Scotland’s Alan Currall, the Denmark's Ann Lislegaardz and England's Graham Gussin and Jeremy Millar. The season will continue throughout the summer with work from France, Portugal and Scotland.
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Another Scottish institution has fallen in the face of competition from High Street giants. In the case of John Smith and Son, the Glasgow bookseller, it's a double blow for Glasgow. The closure of the firm’s outlets at St Vincent Street and Byres Road will mean the loss of not only the world's oldest bookshop, but one of the city's most distinctive record shops, upstairs in the West End branch.
The independent bookseller has been unable to withstand the commercial pressures of ’Glasgow’s book wars', buckling under the city centre presence of the giant branches of the Borders and Waterstones chains. Last week, Smith’s managing director Willie Anderson announced the closure with the St Vincent Street branch scheduled to close its doors forever on Saturday 13 May, and the Byres Road branch to cease trading shortly afterwards. At this stage, a maximum of SO redundancies is expected.
John Smith and Son was founded in 1751 and praise from the Scottish literary greats dates back as far as Robert Burns. In more recent times, the huge developments in Scottish writing in the last couple of decades was undoubtedly nursed along by the store, well known for its literary events and support of Scottish titles.
But for many readers of The List, the closure of the Byres Road branch will hit the hardest. Tucked beside Hillhead underground, this small branch was known for its informed and dedicated staff and a distinctly bohemian ambience. The record department staffed by some of the most dedicated vinyl fanatics in Glasgow is well-loved for its meticulous attention to detail and impressive array of
Andrew Savage, of Glasgow label Chemikal Underground, has been a regular customer of the shop. 'lt has an amazing collection of records,’ he says, ’and is particularly representative of the Glasgow scene.’
John Smith and Son will retain its academic branches and its extensive library supply business.
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