Curators in Glasgow use the historical context of their sites to create exhibitions. They break traditional linear narratives and engage with space. These exhibitions explore history while offering new ways to understand art, history, and society. Each institution applies different curatorial methods. Some reinterpret collections critically, while others use space to create immersive experiences or integrate multiple media.
1. Hunterian Museum – History, Science, and Colonial Critique
The museum focuses on research and classification while reflecting on colonial history. The “Curating Discomfort” project examines links between collections and empire. It follows a traditional classification model but introduces critical curatorial approaches, encouraging audiences to engage with history.
2. Hunterian Art Gallery – Visual Language and Art History
The gallery rejects chronological displays and organizes works based on visual similarities. It creates dialogues between form, color, and composition across different periods. This approach challenges traditional art history structures and highlights underrepresented artists, particularly women and marginalized creators.
3. Excavating Another Time: Derek Jarman’s Modern Nature – Cross-Time Dialogue and Experimental Curation
This exhibition connects contemporary art with historical archives. It places Derek Jarman’s works alongside six contemporary artists, merging past and present. It uses experimental methods to guide audiences through different historical periods and create new interpretations.
4. Tramway – Contemporary Art and Archival Dialogue
The exhibition integrates space and archival materials using film, sound, and poetry to reconstruct identity and memory. The abandoned tram tracks in the venue connect with Glasgow’s industrial and migration history. Immersive techniques like theater lighting, choreography, and projection enhance the experience. The exhibition operates through institutional partnerships, allowing it to tour and engage wider audiences.
5. GoMA – Site History and Colonial Legacy
GoMA addresses its ties to slavery and colonial economy through exhibitions. The museum building was originally owned by a tobacco merchant profiting from slave labor. The exhibition Mimesis: African Soldier by John Akomfrah presents the overlooked history of colonial soldiers in World War I. It combines film and archival material to explore Britain’s colonial wars and their lasting impact on people of color today.
Application to My Curatorial Project
The Glasgow fieldtrip inspired me to rethink how site-specificity and historical context shape curatorial strategies. At the Hunterian Museum, the “Curating Discomfort” project showed how institutional critique can confront colonial legacies—offering a model for critical engagement with overlooked histories. Meanwhile, the visual juxtaposition approach at the Hunterian Art Gallery informs my plan to present Ghost Art through aesthetic resonance, not chronology. Derek Jarman’s exhibition highlighted how archival material and contemporary voices can co-exist in speculative curatorial structures. These insights encourage me to explore historical tension, visual logic, and intergenerational dialogue in my curatorial planning for Telfer Subway.
Glasgow Fieldtrip Notes: Curating Through Institutional Critique and Site Histories © 2025 by Yiran Gu is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 
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