Here's some worthwhile video entertainment to be enjoyed:
Camera Obscura, a project by Street Level Photoworks. It was run at the famous Red Road high rise flats in Glasgow, once the highest dwellings in Europe. They are to be demolished over the next decade because nobody wants to live in them anymore. Currently, lots of asylum seekers are being housed in the flats - because they are empty and nobody else wants them. The flats are impressive, and with the influx of asylum seekers to them, more vibrant than in a long time. There's a real buzz going on there, they really aren't as bad as their fame, and I'll shed a tear or two when they'll be knocked down. Of course nobody wants to live in these monstrosities, so that reality needs to be faced. It's good though that there is an attempt to document the people behind the towers, their lives, their sense of home. Street Level Photoworks has lots of great community art projects, check them out - such as Mother of Purl, also based at Red Road.
My favourite Red Road anecdote: Once, when visiting someone at Red Road, I made the mistake of turning up when all the kids got home from school. With 30 floors, 2 lifts of which one was broken, it took me almost an hour to get a turn - and I jumped the queue (or was made to by a parent).
Remaining on the theme of home (which incidentally is the theme of this year's Scottish Refugee Week) is a little feature on what home means to refugees in Glasgow (and once you've watched the clip, there's more little clips to be chosen from which magically pop up. I particularly like them because I know some of the people in the clips):
Finally, there's a nice feature film also on the theme of home. Home is a non-profit film. Home has been made for you: share it! And act for the planet. Above all, enjoy it!!!
3 comments:
Monstrosities they are. Do they belong to the era of brutalism? I think the name of this architectural decade says everything.
PS: You have the biggest heart ever. Bless you!
MM, no idea if that era has a name. They were popular at one time, honest. I take all my visitors to them if I can, there is a strange appeal in ugliness... The flats themselves aren't actually too bad. You just have to carry an umbrella in case someone flings out stuff from floor 28 or so (even a sandwich could be a lethal weapon...)
Thanks for the flowers, but I have to insist that there are many people with much bigger hearts than mine!
Just a thought- have you ever done any work with any of the museums in glasgow? Im convinced there would be lots of opportunities to do some fab exhibitions on refugees, particularly in some of the smaller places.
Great stuff as usual!
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