Slides of the Centre for Contemporary Arts

Reference:GB 2978 CCA/2
Dates of Creation:1st Jan 1992 - 31st Dec 2008, 2009 - ongoing
Name of Creator:
Physical Description:

Scope and Content
The collection relates to the documentation of exhibitions in the period between 1992 and 2008 with ongoing expectations to catalogue from 2009 to the present. There are items that also include submissions by artists and examples of artists work used for press and marketing purposes within the collection. Artist submissions and press images have been catalogued in the same date as an artist's exhibition whether documentation of the exhibition is or is not available. This distinction is made in the catalogue descriptions. The number of slides for each individual exhibition is identified where possible. CCA2 comprises of colour slides which have all been digitised to item level.
Administrative / Biographical History
In 1974 the Scottish writer and playwright, Tom McGrath, founded The Third Eye Centre in Glasgow. Described by the Guardian as 'a shrine to
the 'avant garde', the centre hosted visiting artists and performers such as Allen Ginsberg, Whoopi Goldberg, John Byrne, Edwin Morgan and Kathy Acker, as well as quickly becoming the focus for Glasgow's counter culture. When it consolidated its activities in the 1980s it presented some of the key exhibitions by the new Glasgow painters such as Stephen Campbell, Ken Currie and Peter Howson and was the home of the National Review of Live Art.
With the demise of The Third Eye Centre at the turn of the 1990s, the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) established in its place, opening in 1992. In 1996, the organisation was awarded a lottery grant to redevelop and expand the building complex and in 2001 the newly refurbished CCA opened to the public. Now housing a spectrum of cultural tenants as well as a café/restaurant, bar and cinema. In 2006, the organisation itself underwent a profound cultural shift, deciding to pursue a more open curatorial policy - an 'open source' approach - which encouraged artists and organisations to propose their own programmes to sit alongside those
curated by CCA. Today, that policy has produced a livelier and more varied programme that offers a new kind of accessibility to audiences, drawing on the spirit of The Third Eye Centre and the early history of the CCA.*
Commencing in January 2012 The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) in partnership with the CCA embarked on a speculative research project to open up previously inaccessible archive material to assist research and reflection upon the causes and conditions which encouraged this renaissance of the visual arts in Glasgow since the late 1970s. The research team, led by Dr Francis McKee and Ross Sinclair, have overseen the cataloguing of existing archival material from the Third Eye Centre and CCA (material spanning the period 1972- the present) and conducted a series of interviews with artists, critics, curators and art administrators from across that time span to construct an archive for future investigators.
Arrangement
The slides have been arranged in ascending year chronology and then into relevant exhibition title or artist. A section of unidentified slides are marked blank in the lower drawer.
Access Information
The CCA Archive is open to all researchers including the CCA's staff and external researchers including members of the general public, subject to proof of identification and acceptance of the Reading Room General Rules and Access Policy. The CCA Archive Reading Room is accessible by appointment only. To access the collection please contact archive@cca-glasgow.com
Archivist's Note
Detailed catalogue compiled by Collette Rayner between April-June 2013 and revised by Carrie Skinner July 2013. Collection Level Description created by Collette Rayner June 2013 and revised by Carrie Skinner July 2013. Collection rearranged and re-catalogued by Holly Belch January 2014. Collection Level Description revised by Holly Belch August 2014.
Conditions Governing Use
Requests for copies of documents, images and audio-visual material are accepted at the discretion of CCA staff and are considered on an individual basis. The CCA reserves the right to refuse to provide copies, for instance on preservation grounds or if the copyright permission exists elsewhere. Every effort will be made to obtain the best quality copy possible whilst still ensuring the continued safety and integrity of the original. Permission to reproduce any of the materials in this collection or advice regarding where to seek permission should be sought in the first instance from archive@cca-glasgow.com
Appraisal Information
The items in this collection are from the CCA. Additional slides have come from CCA1 where contextual information has been catalogued. Unsuccessful submissions have been removed and successful submissions where artists have exhibited at the CCA remain. The digital files are catalogued and stored on the CCA archive server in year order. There is a cache of unidentified slides that need further research and digitisation in Stack 6.
Custodial History
Records of the CCA / Third Eye Centre – press / misc / publications / brochures deposited Glasgow City Archives c.2001. Records of Centre for Contemporary Arts, Exhibition and project records, correspondence and event files, slides and publicity information, 1993-2005, deposited Glasgow City Archives 2006. All CCA records were returned to the custody of CCA in 2012. Records of CCA Board of Governors 1992-2000 donated by Trevor Davies to CCA May 2013.
Corporate Names
Centre for Contemporary Arts Scotland