The Hunterian is delighted to announce the launch of Assembly, a solo exhibition of new work by acclaimed artist-filmmaker Margaret Salmon. Resulting from and reflecting upon a process of community outreach, story counselling and cinematic experimentation, the exhibition encompasses a film, photographs, and sculptures in an installation that will expand over time, inviting local audiences to return to the Hunterian’s galleries as materials shift and evolve.
An intimate enquiry made by a socially-committed, locally-engaged artist, Assembly highlights the voices of a diverse range of residents within the areas of Kelvinside and Maryhill, Glasgow. The exhibition, grounded in everyday Glasgow and its residents, asks: how have years of austerity and a global pandemic affected individuals and community in Glasgow? How has a mass collective loss affected that community’s understanding of death, healing and the future? Central to the exhibition is a long-form narrative film. The artist describes To a God Unknown as 'a feminist existential melodrama and ghost story', to be researched and filmed on 35mm during the exhibition throughout summer and autumn 2025.
Key collaborators on To a God Unknown include: G20 Works; Amma Birth Companions; Traceyann Campbell and Donna Maciocia (Camera Obscura); Sacred Paws.
Margaret Salmon (b. 1975, New York) lives and works in Glasgow. Concerned with a shifting constellation of relations, such as those between camera and subject, human and animal, or autobiography and ethnography, Margaret Salmon’s work often examines the gendered, emotive dynamics of social interactions and representational forms. Solo exhibitions of her work have been held at institutions including The Hunterian (forthcoming) Secession, (2023), DCA (2018/19), Tramway (2018) Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, USA (2011); Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam (2007); Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (2007). Her work has been featured in film festivals and major international survey exhibitions, including Yokohama Triennial (2024), British Art Show 9 (2021/22), Glasgow International (2021), Berlin Biennale (2010) and Venice Biennale (2007) London Film Festival (2018, 2016, 2014) and Open City Documentary Film Festival (2021,2024, 2025).
Dominic Paterson, Curator of Contemporary Art at The Hunterian says: ‘Margaret Salmon’s work combines a commitment to artistic experimentation with a concern for socially and politically important themes. Her previous films have tackled subjects ranging from motherhood to the natural world, feminist economics, and the intimacy between couples. The Hunterian is delighted to be able to support the Assembly project, which brings Salmon’s lens to bear on topics close to home for the artist, in the Glasgow community she is a part of, and within her own lived experience. Assembly will share the process of making an ambitious film work with our audiences in real time, gathering new material from Salmon’s work with local community participants into the various elements of the exhibition as it proceeds—literally assembling the participants and the resulting works over the exhibition’s duration. Through film, photography and installation, Assembly will consider how individuals and communities find resilience in the face of economic and social inequality. At the same time, it responds to the practical challenges of making artist’s film with limited budgets, through DIY methods and collaborative practices.’
Supported by the Hope Scott Trust and Assembly Supporters Circle.
