How do you navigate your world? Could you find your way through a city with no means of knowing where you came from? 

​

The maps we use today to navigate the city often hide the relationships of power that have been behind the reshaping of our cities. The ubiquitous use of GoogleMaps is just one example of how maps shape how we interact with our city, promoting accessibility alongside conformity. Alongside maps from the past, however, we can consider how the spaces we occupy have changed, and how this has affected our own lives. 

​

The photographic record of Glasgow, albeit in a different medium, also demonstrates these changes to our urban landscape. But does a connection exist between maps and photographs? What happens if we take a break from cyberspace and stop to consider the actual urban spaces we occupy using both maps and photos? 

​

In this interactive workshop, we will use a selection of maps and archival photographs of Glasgow over its past 850 years of history to discover not just lost details of our collective histories, but patterns that reveal how we got to where we are now. The workshop will explore how Glasgow at different stages in its development has changed, and help us to work together to imagine different solutions and opportunities for a city that we have right to.

​

The workshop is led by lecturer, urban geographer and PEN Scotland organiser Don MacKeen.

Participants may also be interested in attending the event that immediately precedes this event, From Glasgow Corporation to Glasgow Plc.