Scotland Can Make It

25th July 2012

A celebration of Scottish design and manufacturing, Scotland Can Make It! is a major new exhibition, coming to the People's Palace in Glasgow ahead of a film which will tour Scotland in 2013.

Last year, Scottish curatorial team Panel, working with Creative Scotland, put out a call for Scottish artists and designers to create new Scottish souvenirs. The souvenirs would be sold to locals and tourists coming to Scotland for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. They'd be alternatives to the mass-produced corporate pieces usually available at large-scale events, and, crucially, each souvenir had to be made by a Scottish manufacturing company.

The winning designs, which were judged by a jury including 2011 Turner Prize winner Martin Boyce and submitted by some of Scotland's leading artists, designers and musicians, include medals made from Tunnock's Teacakes, ceramic jelly moulds, travel blankets, sports scarves, an iPhone app, and a piece of jewellery in the shape of the last East End tenement demolished to make way for Commonwealth Games development. Not a magnet or tartan shortbread tin amongst them.

The exhibition Scotland Can Make It! showcases prototypes of each souvenir, but it also tells the stories behind the pieces: not only in the form of a film by Reset Films, documenting the manufacturing process, but also by celebrating and paying tribute to the long history of Scottish manufacturing and to its importance in the East End of Glasgow (the future hub of the 2014 Games), the city, and the country.

A programme of events, including a public discussion and a gig organised by Glasgow record label Chemikal Underground, have been designed to increase engagement with the issues raised in the exhibition. The souvenirs will be available to buy in the run-up to Glasgow 2014.

Artists involved include the band FOUND, award-winning ceramic designer Katy West, fashion designer Beca Lipscombe, graphic designer Neil McGuire of After The News and goldsmith/jeweller Marianne Anderson, textile designer Claire Duffy, weave designer Angharad McLaren and Emlyn Firth of A Visual Agency, and internationally-renowned visualartists Lucy McKenzie and Marc Camille Chaimowicz. Manufacturers include Tunnock's (with Chesapeake and Friths Packaging), Highland Stoneware (with Rogano Oyster Bar), Johnstons of Elgin, Begg Scotland, McRostie of Glasgow, Carlton Casting and Chemikal Underground.

SCOTLAND CAN MAKE IT!
PEOPLE'S PALACE, GLASGOW
7th Sep 2012 - 13th Jan 2013
www.scotlandcanmakeit.com