Glean: Early Twentieth Century Women Filmmakers and Photographers in Scotland

12 Nov 2022 – 12 March 2023

First Floor, City Art Centre, Edinburgh

This exhibition presents the work of fourteen pioneering women photographers and filmmakers working in Scotland during the early 20th century. The women are Violet Banks (1886-1985), Helen Biggar (1909-1953), Christina Broom (1862-1939), M.E.M. Donaldson (1876-1958), Dr Beatrice Garvie (1872-1959), Jenny Gilbertson (1902-1990), Isobel F Grant (1887–1983), Ruby Grierson (1904-1940), Marion Grierson (1907-1998), Isobel Wylie Hutchison (1889-1982), Johanna Kissling (1875-1961), Isabell Burton MacKenzie (1872-1958), Margaret Fay Shaw (1903-2004) and Margaret Watkins (1884-1969).

These women offer different accounts of Scotland, covering both rural and city places and communities. The exhibition shows the breadth of their photography and filmmaking, offering a critical analysis of their work. It considers their different motivations and how these informed the work they made, and the different narratives we see emerging from their work in Scotland. It is the first time their work has been seen together.

An accompanying programme of both online and in person events brings together key researchers, artists and archivists who have been looking after and creatively working with the legacies of the women in this exhibition.

With thanks to the following lenders:  British Film Institute, Dumfries Museum, Edinburgh Museums and Galleries, Glasgow Women’s Library, Historic Environment Scotland, Inverness Museum and Art Gallery High Life Highland, Hidden Gallery Glasgow, Highland Folk Museum High Life Highland, The Glasgow School of Art Archives and Collections, Moving Image Archive, Museum of London, National Library of Scotland, National Trust for Scotland Canna House, Orkney Library & Archive, Shetland Museum & Archives, Vanishing Scotland Archive

Curated by Jenny Brownrigg (Exhibitions Director, The Glasgow School of Art) in partnership with City Art Centre.

Poster image: Jenny Gilbertson (with Cuthbert Cayley) 1938 or 1939, courtesy of Shetland Museum and Archive.