After the Garden Festival, with Lex Lamb, Gordon Barr and Kenny Brophy

If Glasgow’s Walls Could Talk

The 1988 Garden Festival changed how the world saw Glasgow, and how it saw itself. It lives on only in people’s memories as the buildings, objects and artworks from this temporary event are gone forever – or are they?

Urban Prehistorian Kenny Brophy, Project Leader Lex Lamb, and Holder of the Official Garden Festival Umbrella Gordon Barr for a conversation with Niall & Fay in front of a live audience, to learn how they have used crowdsourcing to build an ever-growing digital record of the hundreds of pavilions, sculptures and attractions that made up the Garden Festival, as well as the experiences of those who made it happen.

Items with Garden Festival stories to tell were discovered across the UK and further afield, from the large (the Coca-cola Roller Coaster, now in Suffolk) to the small (a Garden Festival tea-towel, now in Papua New Guinea). But in addition to relic artefacts and traces in the landscape, the team identified something else: the absence of a proper record of this pivotal event, while memories fade and documents are lost.

Hear how the 1988 Festival was put together, taken apart and spread around the world, and how with the help of hundreds of individual submissions and leads After the Garden Festival are striving to preserve the legacy of a summer where Glasgow shone.

Highlights:

1. Reflecting on the Legacy of the Garden Festival (00:00 - 02:30): The discussion opens with reflections on how the Glasgow Garden Festival has shaped the city’s landscape and cultural memory.
2. The Impact of Urban Regeneration Projects (07:45 - 09:30): Insights into the broader impact of urban regeneration efforts in Glasgow, particularly those initiated in the wake of the Garden Festival.
3. Personal Stories and Memories of the Festival (15:30 - 17:00): The guests share their personal experiences and memories of attending the festival, highlighting its significance on a personal level.
4. Challenges in Preserving Historical Sites (23:00 - 25:00): The conversation turns to the challenges faced in preserving the historical sites associated with the Garden Festival and other urban regeneration projects.
5. Looking Forward: Future Projects and Their Potential Impact (30:45 - 32:00): The episode concludes with a discussion about future urban projects in Glasgow and their potential impact on the city’s cultural and physical landscape.

Learn more:

• Check out After the Garden Festival’s website here to learn more the project
• Follow Glasgow City Heritage Trust on social media: @GlasgowHeritage #IfGlasgowsWallsCouldTalk
• Produced by Inner Ear (innerear.co.uk) for Glasgow City Heritage Trust
• Sponsored by Tunnock's (tunnock.co.uk)

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