AWAKENING to Bring First Nations and Scottish Artists Together at Glasgow 2026 Festival

A major new participatory land artwork bringing together First Nations custodians, Scottish artists, researchers and communities will take place at Bellahouston Park from 29 - 31 July as part of the Glasgow 2026 Festival, a ten-week celebration of Glasgow's world-renowned culture, creativity and people which runs from 23 May to 9 August 2026 as part of the Commonwealth Games.

Created by Scottish/Australian land artist Elaine Clocherty, internationally recognised Wardandi Elder artist Vivian "Nan Viv" Brockman Webb and Wardandi Custodian Mitchella Hutchins, the project will culminate in the creation of a large-scale collaborative bora, an ephemeral land artwork made directly on the earth of Bellahouston Park by artists, participants and visitors working together.

Developed through an ongoing international collaboration involving artists, researchers and community organisations from Scotland and Australia, the project acknowledges First Nations Peoples of the Commonwealth while exploring shared histories, cultural connections and relationships to land. Across three days, the public will be invited to participate in creating the artwork, attend guided walks, join discussions and celebrate its completion through music and collective gathering.

The artwork has been conceived specifically for Bellahouston Park and the site of the former 1938 Empire Exhibition. For artist Elaine Clocherty, the work represents an opportunity to re-engage with a location deeply connected to the histories of empire and colonialism while offering a space for reflection, healing and shared understanding.

Elaine Clocherty said: "This is a site-specific artwork made for the land at Bellahouston Park and the earth of Glasgow. It responds to Scotland's landscape, history and people, while celebrating the many hands, voices and cultures that will come together to create it. The work is a collaboration between Scottish and Wardandi artists and the communities who participate. I hope audiences take a moment to feel the land beneath their feet and experience a sense of connection between people, place and spirit."

Located within the former Empire Exhibition grounds, the project seeks to acknowledge the lasting impacts of colonialism across Commonwealth nations while foregrounding Indigenous perspectives, knowledge and cultural resilience.

Elaine Clocherty added: "By creating the work on this site, we are reclaiming a small part of the exhibition grounds and creating an opportunity to readdress and re-evaluate the impacts of colonialism. It acknowledges the loss of language, culture and traditional knowledge experienced by Indigenous peoples while celebrating the enduring strength of First Nations cultures."

"The project is intended as an acknowledgement of loss, but also as an act of healing, cultural exchange and connection."

The collaboration builds on relationships established through international cultural exchange and conversations around Indigenous languages, including connections formed during UNESCO's Decade of Indigenous Languages programme.

Researcher Dr Daisy Abbott has played a key role in developing the project's conceptual framework, exploring Glasgow's multicultural histories and encouraging dialogue around shared experiences across different communities and cultures.

The title and themes of gathering and awakening emerged through conversations between the collaborators and research into Glasgow artist Margaret Macdonald, whose work The Awakening Rose informed aspects of the artwork's design. References to feminine knowledge traditions, including the Celtic figure of the Cailleach, have also shaped the project's development.

Central to the work are Wardandi Elder Vivian Brockman Webb and Wardandi custodian Mitchella Hutchins, who bring cultural knowledge, language traditions and perspectives rooted in tens of thousands of years of uninterrupted connection to Country.

Mitchella Hutchins said: "We are all one people of this planet, and our primary role is caretaker of each other and boodja (Earth)."

Through discussions, walks and collaborative making, the artists will explore themes including Indigenous languages, environmental knowledge, community responsibility and approaches to climate action. Rather than a conventional performance or static artwork, the project has been conceived as a collective act of participation.

Clocherty said: "It is less a performance to be viewed and more a collaboration to be part of. It is a moment to invest in emotionally and an expression of connection between peoples. The artwork only comes into being through the participation of everyone involved."

Visitors taking part in workshops will help prepare and place natural materials within the artwork itself, becoming active contributors to its creation.

Alongside the live project, an exhibition at Edward House will provide deeper context for the collaboration, bringing together research, artworks and documentation from contributors including Researcher Glasgow School of Art Dr Daisy Abbott, Writer and Artist at Glasgow School of Art Dr Amanda Thomson, Writer. Artist & Producer EcoartScotland/ Gray's School of Art Dr Chris Fremantle, Glasgow Artist, Galgael Trust's Tam McGarvey and Project Manager Shan Daly and others. The exhibition explores the ideas, relationships and research that underpin the Bellahouston Park artwork, offering insights into language, land stewardship, cultural memory and collaborative practice.

Ahead of the public programme, artists and facilitators will gather at Cove Park for a residency designed to strengthen relationships, develop materials and finalise plans for the artwork on site.

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