Glasgow Open House Festival 2017: What's On

Open House Festival, Glasgow’s vibrant biennial festival of visual art, has an ingenious premise: it celebrates the city's vital arts culture by inviting its resident artists and curators to turn their homes into the festival's gallery spaces and arts venues. It's a chance for artists of all stripes to bring their work to their communities, use unusual DIY spaces in their neighbourhoods and get their art to a new audience. As well as exhibitions and events installed in domestic spaces, the festival's venues also include other areas across the city, such as subways stations, cafes, old factories, shop fronts and studios.

The festival's DIY ethos embeds it in Glasgow's day-to-day, and brings down the usual barriers between artist and audience; in most cases they aren't only inviting the public into their work, but into their homes. "We see the festival as an ideal chance for people at all stages of their artistry to get involved and get some positive feedback on their creative endeavours," say the organisers. "We’ve found the format of the festival brings communities together, creating opportunities and situations where participants meet new people, get to know their surrounding area, and connect with some of their neighbours."

This year’s festival returns this May bank holiday with its third installment. A total of 69 venues are taking part, with work from over 200 artists spread across the city. The delightfully eclectic programme is now available to peruse over at Open House's website. There are plenty of group shows held in West End and Southside artist flatshares, as well as some interesting participatory events, such as Our House, Your House at The Glue Factory, where Glasgow Tool Library host two days of design and construction of household structures using recycled materials. There are also some great-looking pop-up cinema screenings, including two from Radical Home Cinema, while Glasgow Zine Festival comes to CCA, featuring collections from zine makers of all shapes and sizes.

Here are some of the other installations and events that have caught our eye. 

Water-Path

Murano Street – Fronde

Ever notice the similarity between Maryhill and Venice? No, you say. Well, participatory event Water-Path begs to differ. The aim of the show is to "establish an imaginative and visionary link between Glasgow and Venice"  and the starting point for this comparison is Maryhill's canal and bridges (e.g. Murano street footbridge). "We will explore water as a possible public space," says Fronde. "Through a participative walk, followed by a convivial moment, we would like to highlight how water can be conceived as communal space where more things can happen." Sun 30 Apr, 3-6pm | more info here

Hot Tub Kiln Machine

Flat 1/1, 462 Paisley Road West – Kevin Andrew Machine

Out in Ibrox, Kevin Andrew Morris is killing two bird with one stone with Hot Tub Kiln Machine, which centres around the artist’s efforts to heat a garden hot tub using the wood fired kiln he uses in his practice. "Visitors will be invited to stoke the fire, take a dip or view/use a selection of wood fired ceramics being exhibited indoors as well as consider other uses for the kiln." Swimwear and towel recommended. Sat 29-Sun 30 Apr, 12pm-6pm | more info here

An Alien World You Want to Say

Flat 1/1, 57 Tassie Street – Alison McBride & Giovanni Giacoia

Inside a tenement flat on Glasgow's Southside, you're invited to enter and help create a common space where people are allowed to use any language other than English to communicate with each other. "We are offering the experience of becoming-an-alien, i.e. a stranger, a foreigner, the ‘other’," say McBride and Giacoia. "Walking into the venue, the participants will be stripped of the English language and will be bound to operate in translation." By stripping yourself of language, say the artists, the hope is you'll learn more about yourself and enrich your understanding of yourself as the 'other'. Sat 29-Sun 30 Apr, 2-5pm | more info here

A Lock of Owen Wilson's Hair

Flat 1/2, 8 Dixon Avenue – Elaine Ang & Francesca Hawker

"A lock of Owen Wilson's hair is hidden somewhere in this very flat that you got a train to in Govanhill." Episode One of this intriguing piece sees readings and performances from Ang and Hawker. They've also roped in some accomplices to hold "cosmetic tutorials, a barbershop, a karaoke-in-a-closet and live music to transform you into Owen Wilson before you get out of the door." Head back for Episode Two the following day for "a mise-en-scène of a domestic wasteland," where the remains from the previous night's shenanigans will be used to create the scenes. Sat 29-Sun 30 Apr, 7-9pm | more info here

Freshly Baked Domestic Goddesses

Flat 2/1, 51 Grant Street – Allegra Salindini, Caitlin Higgins, Grace Higgins Brown & Pea Doherty

Four women artists are inviting people into their flat to start a dialogue around domesticity and the rituals of the home. "We want to question stereotypical notions of ‘craft’, and the position of women amongst such typecasting," say the artists, who all utilise ‘everyday’, recognisable objects and rituals within their work. In this show, they're trying to see if they "can combine and compare the processes of ceramics and food-making, make visible the actions normally kept behind closed doors; seeing domesticity not necessarily as a wholesome notion." Fri 28-Sun 30 Apr, 12-5pm | more info here

Tokyo to Glasgow: An Introduction into Hyperart Thomasson in Glasgow

63 West Princes Street – Harriet Morley

"Thomassons" are defined as architectural objects that served no apparent purpose, aesthetic or otherwise. Taking inspiration from artist Genpei Akasegawa study and documentation of such Thomassons in Tokyo, this walking tour around the city will highlight our own Hyperart Thomassons. Sun 30 Apr, 12-2pm | more info here