Arches Announces Two Month Relocation For Rail ImprovementsDate: 29 November 2009
Multi-award winning subterranean arts venue The Arches on Glasgow's Argyle Street will close in January and February 2010 while improvement works are carried out in the city's Central Station. The venue plans to host a range of off-site events titled Arches Off-site at unusual venues including a garden shed, a car, a flat and a disused shop in Govan.
Re-opening in March 2010, the venue will play host to the 30th Anniversary of major international festival the National Review of Live Art, [RSAMD] showcase Into the New, Magners Comedy Festival performances, a new programme of gigs and visual art exhibitions and will see the return of all of the major clubs including Death Disco, Octopussy, Pressure, Inside Out and Colours.
The Central Station works will see the creation of two new platforms in what is the biggest capacity enhancement at the station in more than a century. Part of a £180m investment in rail routes into Central, the platforms will provide additional space at Scotland’s busiest station and enable the introduction of new, longer trains on the Ayrshire and Inverclyde routes in 2010.
Staff from the venue will move to temporary offices in Albion Street, Merchant City during the works and business will operate as normal for most departments throughout the January and February closure period.
Although there will be no events taking place in the building during this period, the Arches Off-Site will take theatrical performances out of the venue and into a series of unusual spaces. Birds and Other Things I Am Afraid Of by Lynda Radley, which runs 2 to 21 February 2010, will see the audience meet at Kelvinbridge underground station to go on an adventure trail to a garden shed somewhere in the city. The show is a lyrical, humorous look at the task of freeing yourself from family mythology. The show will feature original music from Michael John McCarthy of Glasgow based band Zoey Van Goey.
The National Theatre of Scotland in conjunction with The Arches will also host Allotment on Friday 19 February at Govan Cross Shopping Centre. The night will fuse live performance, new art and music in a deserted shop. Join the online community at www.allotment-glasgow.co.uk.
[Glas(s) Performance] also present their show Life Long at The Glasgow Art Club 18 to 20 February 2010. The performance invites us to the wedding anniversary celebration of Tillie and Ronnie Jeffrey and looks at what it means to shared a lifetime with one person.
Andy Field from Edinburgh venue The Forest Fringe, recent winners of the Peter Brook Empty Space Award in London, will present Motor Vehicle Sundown 9 to 13 February. The show is based around the car, the venue is a car and it’s a journey that doesn’t go anywhere which is part installation, part participatory performance and audio show.
Molly Taylor presents A La Carte which requests the pleasure of the audience’s company for dinner in a cozy flat. Join her for good food, decent chat, bring a friend and bring a bottle. RSVP to jill@thearches.co.uk for more information.
Whilst the building will be closed for events, the Arches are in discussion with Network Rail to keep the box office function open at 253 Argyle Street throughout January and February. It will also be business as usual for the corporate events team who will be contactable on their normal Arches numbers during the closure but will offer a unique virtual tour of the building for those wishing to hire the venue from March 2010 onwards.
- by Joseph Pike
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