GLASGOW 2014 CITY GUIDE
MUSEUMS & GALLERIES
Glasgow’s top exhibits in some of the city’s finest buildings – both old and new
THE BURRELL COLLECTION 2060 Pollokshaws Road, Southside, G43 1AT, 0141 287 2550, glasgowlife.org.uk/ museums In the heart of leafy Pollok Country Park is this impressive and extensive collection of art in a custom-built setting. Featuring works by Degas, Rodin and Cézanne as well as ancient and medieval artefacts, it was all donated to the city in 1944 by shipping tycoon Sir William Burrell, who collected the 8000 objects in his lifetime.
GALLERY OF MODERN ART Royal Exchange Square, City Centre, G1 3AH, 0141 287 3050, glasgowlife.org.uk/museums The city’s artistic accolades can be sampled at GoMA, Scotland’s most visited modern art gallery, housed in a striking former exchange building. Changing exhibits feature
artists from around the globe as well as local names including, for summer 2014, the entire collection of Glaswegian Turner Prize winner Douglas Gordon’s video work.
HUNTERIAN MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY University of Glasgow, 82 Hillhead Street, West End, G12 8QQ, 0141 330 4221, glasgow.ac.uk/hunterian Scotland’s oldest public museum, founded in 1807, houses collections relating to science and medicine, archaeology, geology and more, as well as works by James McNeill Whistler and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The permanent Mackintosh House is the reassembled interior of his home, and a major exhibition of his architecture runs from mid July 2014 until early 2015.
KELVINGROVE ART GALLERY AND MUSEUM Argyle Street, West End, G3 8AG, 0141 276 9599, glasgowlife.org. uk/museums This exuberant piece of Edwardian architecture in gleaming red sandstone by the River Kelvin has an eclectic appeal – few museums can
offer a stuffed elephant, a Spitfire and an outstanding collection of French Impressionists. Twenty-two collections and over 8000 artefacts cover natural history, weaponry, paintings and a huge, regularly played organ.
RIVERSIDE MUSEUM 100 Pointhouse Place, West End, G3 8RS, 0141 287 2660, glasgowlife.org.uk/museums A paradise for public transport fans, the Riverside houses over 3,000 objects in an award-winning building by Zaha Hadid. The collection includes bicycles, cars, trams and a 100-ton steam engine built in Glasgow, plus interactive exhibits and recreated streets. Moored outside is the Tall Ship, Glenlee, a restored 1896 Clyde-built sailing ship, now a floating museum.
ATTRACTIONS
The best spots for outdoor explorations, and where to stretch your mind – and your wallet
GLASGOW BOTANIC GARDENS 730 Great Western Road, West
34 THE LIST 10 Jul–21 Aug 2014
MY FAVOURITE PLACE IN Glasgow
‘My favourite place in Glasgow is the
Barrowlands Ballroom. For the bouncy floor and the roof that sweats and the fact you can buy 16 cans of Tennent’s off a guy at a desk. For the fact that every single important band has played there and it is simply the best music venue in the entire world.’
MARK NELSON COMEDIAN
End, G12 0UE, 0141 339 6964, glasgowbotanicgardens.com A great place to relax in summer or take a brisk walk in winter, with a programme of events including stargazing, gardening talks and even Shakespearean theatre with the annual summer Bard in the Botanics thespfest. Also look out for exotics and exhibitions in the beautifully restored Kibble Palace Glasshouse and the vegetable, herb and flower gardens.
GLASGOW NECROPOLIS 50 Cathedral Square, Glasgow, G4 0UZ, 0141 552 3145, glasgownecropolis.org Literally a city of the dead, this vast hilltop burial ground behind Glasgow Cathedral pays tribute to the city’s wealthier 19th century departed. Influenced by Paris’ Père Lachaise, it may not have Jim Morrison, but it has plenty of spectacularly ornate gravestones and mausoleums, some designed by Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson, and also the first solo work by Charles Rennie Mackintosh – a Celtic cross on the monument to Alexander McCall.
GLASGOW SCIENCE CENTRE 50 Pacific Quay, Southside, G51 1EA, 0141 420 5000, glasgowsciencecentre.org The £75 million Science Centre features hundreds of interactive exhibits, a planetarium, theatres, the country’s largest IMAX and the 127m Glasgow Tower. After years closed, the top of the tower is set to reopen in summer 2014 in time for great views of the Games and the neighbours’ BBC at The Quay festival.
THE STYLE MILE Buchanan Street etc, City Centre, glasgowstylemile.com Glasgow loves to shop – so much so that it has the UK’s largest