Large, metropolitan area in Scotland situated at a starkly northern latitude. A living embodiment of modern Britain in its urban and technological
avant-garde, where experimentation constantly heralds in 21st century innovation.
Dark, brooding, mysterious, enthralling.
Relic of the past and one of the oldest settlements in the world. A small island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, balmy and provincial, with rural charm and history-laden nostalgia dotting its hilly topography and underscoring the locals’ character. Earthy, colourful, ancient, warm.
"Art is not what you see,
but what you make others see."
— Edgar Degas
Not a traditional exchange. Nor a cookie-cutter contemporary one.
Our residency and retreats came into being with a purpose: to shed light on Glasgow's beauty, grit and striking contradictions in an idyllic setting in Gozo, far removed from the big city.
To trigger discovery through antithesis.
To deconstruct rigid notions of identity, place and belonging.
To search for redemption through art.
To support the artistic affinities of the working class and contribute to the building of a better world that elevates everyone without prejudice.
This is The Glasgow Effect.
Gozo is the sparkling diamond of the Mediterranean, in the words of a famed local folk song. It's the land of the mythological giants, whom the older generations still attribute the masterful and mysterious ancient stone architecture to.
Whether the ancestral builders were truly of larger-than-life physical proportions or not, greatness of spirit undoubtedly finds its home on this alluring isle.
Scottish superstars the likes of Billy Connolly have made this their holiday resting ground in the past, and despite its small size and remoteness, many a notable international character have walked among its fragrant garigue plains and dramatic coastlines.
Gozo remains relatively sheltered from the rapid, chaotic urban development consuming the bigger island of Malta. Agricultural traditions are still very much alive and nature currently stands at a crossroads: heaving resplendent with the pristine conditions of nostalgic times gone by, while experiencing deep changes as a result of the modernisation of the country.
The residency and retreats space has everything professional and beginner visual artists need to play with their creativity unrestrained, alongside a homely environment equipped with all amenities, right in the beating centre of one of Gozo's picturesque villages.
This project was a twinkle in the eye of the founder ever since she fell in love with Glasgow after moving there to study and work years ago. When she returned to her homeland, a slow but steady process of germinating the idea and bringing it to life kicked into motion.
Hailing from a culturally conservative, insular southern European country and being thrust into unorthodox, irreverent Glasgow in Scotland, the metamorphosis was explosive. In spite of its entrenched social issues, Glasgow resonated as a beacon of community, creativity and freedom that was still not as ripe and mature in postcolonial Malta.
Glasgow is a site of immense contrasts. Wealthy, leafy, upper-class neighbourhoods adorned in the Victorian architecture the city is renowned for mutate into rough, rundown, poor areas where the common man still shines brightly with artistic talent and perseverance in the face of all socio-economic odds.
This idiosyncratic combination is a fertile starting point for the empowerment of disadvantaged people and communities in both Glasgow and Gozo, through a variety of initiatives and projects fuelled by the residency and retreats. Our long-term goal is to address the high mortality rate in Glasgow, and by extension the rest of the Western world, through the advancement and merger of cutting-edge disciplines, particularly within the domain of the arts.