So excited to share this next issue with you! Want to know the theme...?
Plus: new local record label, women's day events, spring clean Govanhill, and all the latest news and events from around the neighbourhood
I’m working from home today which sometimes means I’m working from my local library. I always feel a funny sense of nostalgia whenever I come here. It’s the same library me and my sister would rush to after school to use the computers. Sitting here over ten years later I think about how much has changed. Back then I was scrambling to get the best computer (the one at the back, of course) so I could indulge in mindless hours of computer games and watch my favourite YouTubers. Now, I’m putting together our latest newsletter to let you know that issue 13 of the magazine is out this Friday!
Issue 13, Talking My Language, is packed with diverse stories – from multilingual households, an incredible project bringing to life stories from tapes, a blether with a bot and Glasgow’s Language Festival. We already have a sneak peek of a couple of the stories on our website which you can read below. Look for copies in your local community spaces and cafes from this Friday. Or become a member to get yours posted out to you.
-Samar, Journalist
Latest From our Website…
City of Empire: A Q&A with Community Curators of a new Exhibition Unveiling Glasgow's Colonial Legacy
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is home to a new permanent exhibition - City of Empire. An empowering display that unpacks Glasgow’s colonial history. In this article, we learn more about the display from the team that put it together.
New research in Govanhill aims to tackle Roma health inequalities
A new £1.1M research aims to address health inequalities within the Roma community across the UK, and will work with Community Renewal’s Rom Romeha (For Roma By Roma) group in Govanhill.
Rumpus Room Announce New Record Label
The organisation located on Langside Lane, launch Rumpus Records with the debut release of ALL IN by The Suits
Our Gift to Glasgow: Celebrating Mother Language Day:
In this piece, Bangladesh Association Glasgow, the team behind BHASHA – Glasgow's Language Festival, tells us more about the roots of the festival.
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Latest News From Around the Neighbourhood…
🚮 Get involved with a spring clean of Govanhill 🚮
Greater Govanhill have been approached by local residents hoping to organise a ‘spring clean’ litter pick for the neighbourhood in April. Details and dates are yet to be confirmed, but it would be great to get as many residents, businesses and community groups involved as possible. If you are interested in being part of it, please email newsroom@greatergovanhill.com.
💨 Your views sought on GCC’s updated Air Quality Action Plan 💨
GCC has set out refreshed plans to reduce levels of air pollution across the city in their latest draft of the document. The council is encouraging feedback through public consultation to help them determine the best course of action to take over the next five years when it comes to reducing emissions and improving overall air quality in the city until 20 March. The survey can be found at bit.ly/govanhillairquality
🚌 Call for better buses just got louder 🚌
Currently, Glasgow has some of the most expensive bus fares of any city in the UK with a single fare costing a whopping £2.85 (compared to £2 in Edinburgh for example). Get Glasgow Moving, the organisers of the Better Buses campaign, have shared a petition they will send to SPT on 15 March in the hopes of improving transport fares and services in Glasgow. Read more about it here.
What’s happening in The Community Newsroom
🏠 The Community Newsroom launches Open House event series 🏠
Greater Govanhill and The Ferret have launched a new series of events in our shared space. Exploring a different topic each month, we want to know what stories are missing from the public conversation and how the media can better report on different issues. More info on the next meeting soon.
📸 Get involved with our photography group 📸
Govanhill seems to have a proliferation of talented photographers – many of whom have had their work featured in the magazine. In order to build new connections, share skills and create a network, we’re launching a new photographers meet-up group. Whether you’re a seasoned snapper or an enthusiastic newbie, all welcome. To get involved, fill in this short form at: bit.ly/govanhillphotography
Events in Govanhill and the nearby area:
💃 Brass Ayes Wee Beasties Ball on Saturday 2 March, 8pm. This is a Mardi Gras-esque masquerade with Brass, Aye? at The Rum Shack, with fancy dress and a funky brass band. 💃
📸FONDS at Tramway. In this exhibition, the objects featured represent stories of migration, transformation, love and resilience. Take along a pair of headphones as images are paired with QR codes that link to the accompanying podcasts. Or listen in advance by searching for FONDS.📸
🏊🏾♀️ Govanhill Baths and South Asian Women on 5 March, from 1–3pm at The Deep End, 1 Nithsdale Street Glasgow G41 2PZ. This free event celebrates the contributions of South Asian Women involved in Govanhill Baths who participated in women-only swimming, sauna, Turkish, steamie, and were involved in the Save Our Pool campaign for the Baths' reopening. 🏊🏾♀️
👊Women’s Self Defence Classes Wednesdays 6 March to 27 March at the Neighbourhood Centre. These free self-defence sessions for women are delivered by female martial arts experts with years of experience. LGBTQ+ friendly.👊
🎤Govanhill Voices Spring Sing on 9 March, 2–4pm at Queen’s Park Govanhill Church of Scotland. The local choir is back and this time they are performing a springtime community concert celebrating love and connection. Featuring their special guests, Quoir!🎤
⚽️Feminist Tabletop Football on 9 March, 1–3pm at Rumpus Room, Langside Lane, G42 8BH. A participatory artwork in the form of a cooperative table-top football game, played on a hexagonal board between three teams. More info: Contact feminist-exchange-network@riseup.net⚽️
🏳️⚧️Music You Can Trans To on 30 March at Bees Knees Cafe, 83 Bowman Street, G42 8LF. Music you can Trans is the second outing of an event bringing together an all trans billing of music and poetry performers, raising money in support of Palestine.
More info: Pay what you can. 🏳️⚧️
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Reviews of our FONDS podcast
Delighted to see the love for our FONDS podcast, produced by Flora Zajicek which accompanies the exhibition of photos by Morweena Kearsley and film by Sam Goncalves on upstairs at Tramway until the end of the Month.
It got a shout out in the Radio Times, and also a lovely write up in The Elephant by Gabrielle de la Puente of the White Pube who wrote:
In a very real sense, now that I have listened to FONDS, I know more about the people of Govanhill than I do my own neighbours, and that’s bittersweet.
I know about Engles, who brought a mask from Nicaragua’s most famous theatrical protagonist to Scotland with him: the grinning mask of El Macho Ratón. A great symbol of post-colonial strength, I know it makes him feel like there is an ancestor in the room, someone encouraging him to keep going when things in Glasgow feel hard. I know about Eva, who moved from school to school to avoid bullies. Eva, who started wearing a tie printed with Tweetie Pie and Sylvester the Cat when it felt about time that the bullying stopped, or stopped mattering so much. I know about the ornate pink and gold perfume bottle that Arij keeps safe, because the scent is similar to her mother’s perfume. Though her mother is home in Syria, when Arij smells it, Arij feels as though she is standing right in front of her. I know that it’s not a question of which object does each person treasure most, but it’s about the people and places that those objects recall.
Each episode of the podcast has an accompanying image of the object, in which the mask and the tie and the perfume bottle are set against illuminated satin backdrops like you might stage a still life against draped fabric, or photograph a precious jewel. Kearsley’s approach gives great import to the objects, the same way the stories do. Subjects are captured in the dark while Kearsley moves a torch around them continuously for the 8 minute-long exposure. It’s a photographic process that lends a sharp nostalgia to each image, and a fullness too. It’s actually only thanks to the photograph that I realised Eva had pinned a small nazar charm to the Tweetie Pie tie; the blue, black and white of the evil eye almost hidden against stripes of the same colours but not quite, gently revealed by the photographer.
I like the episode length lining up with the slow burn of the shutter speed. It wraps each story up neatly, and is a reminder that this project began in photography. I like that the host’s questions are not heard so that the keeper of the object has the floor, and the podcast barely feels like it has any edges. I like that this series made me want to put words to just how important that green plate and bowl are to me, because it is a way to honour them without a large format camera and a podcast producer to hand. But mostly, I like that FONDS has achieved the thing I crave. The thing that feels nosy of me, but isn’t nosiness, only a desire to connect with other people. I can easily see more seasons of this. I can see it covering other places beyond Govanhill, although I’m sure it could also stay there forever and never reach the end of the book. So much public practice aims to do what FONDS does in making people feel seen and heard, and in closing the distance between us. What gives a life quality? What gives a home personality? As much as I want to rummage through other people’s houses, I think it might be better to simply ask them who they are.