‘Jimmy Who?’- The UCS Work-in and the National Portrait Gallery

By rachaelegan on May 1, 2012 • ( 1 )

We recently welcomed Martin O’Connor, who wanted to look through our Jimmy Reid collection, to our searchroom here at the archives.

Jimmy Reid on Engineer Magazine front cover, from our collection (DC455/6/2)

Martin works for ‘Visible Fictions Theatre Company’ who are taking part in the first major community outreach project for the new Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

The nationwide project includes communities in five Scottish regions where participants will create artworks representing key historical moments relevant to their region and these separate works will be amalgamated in a video artwork. The project will culminate in a display in 2013.

Glasgow’s contribution is a work based on the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders work-in of 1971-2. Visible Fictions Theatre Company have been touring a reproduction of a large sculptural portrait of Jimmy Reid (a key figure in the history of industrial Glasgow and the work-in) from the Scottish National Portrait Gallery around Glasgow, and Martin has been speaking to people of all ages to discover what the UCS legacy is and how it has affected attitudes to work today.

You can follow Jimmy’s progress on the Facebook group ‘Jimmy Who?’

Join the page and share your memories/ thoughts/ stories about the UCS work-in!

There will be a live performance of: ‘Work: A Reconstruction of Clydebank Voices’ on Monday 7th May, 7.30pm in Bruce Street, Clydebank (beside Clydebank Town Hall). The event is a free one so go along and find out about Jimmy and the Work-in.