Film Records of the Centre for Contemporary Arts

Reference:GB 2978 CCA/3
Dates of Creation:1st Jan 1987 - 2011
Name of Creator:
Language of Material:English
Physical Description:

Scope and Content
The collection is related to the documentation of the exhibition, musical event,
theatre, literature and community arts program at the Centre for Contemporary Arts from
1992 until 2011. It also contains some by the Third Eye Centre from 1987 before its closure in
1991 as well as BBC and STV program recordings featuring events at the CCA.
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.
*Information taken from CCA website www.cca-glasgow.com
Arrangement
The films have been arranged in descending year chronology and then into relevant exhibition title. A sub section of unknown dates are marked as 0000.
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 Nicole Stapinski between October 2012 and May 2013. Collection Level Description created by Carrie Skinner July 2014.
Appraisal Information
No editing or removal of copies has been made. Additional DVDS and VHS which remain uncatalogued are also stored in the CCA.
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