Green-fingered residents are being encouraged to grow potatoes during lockdown.
A community project is distributing brightly-coloured pototo bags and inviting people to grow the vegetables 'on their front doorsteps' and in isolation.
The innovative growing scheme goes by the name ‘An Empty Gunny Bag Cannot Stand / Goni vid pa kapav dibout’.
The idea of Glasgow-based artist Angus Farquhar and Edinburgh-based artist Rudy Kanhye, the project was originally intended to take place in the green space that fringes the SWG3 music and arts complex in Yorkhill.
Each of the 120 bags have been designed by SWG3 studio residents Trakke and sewn by people in Kelvindale.
Olive green, brilliant red, and mustard yellow, the brightly coloured bags – as well as the bilingual title of the work, draw on Rudy's Mauritian roots.
Angus said: “We originally intended to transform the derelict green space that fringes the SWG3 complex, which is in the first stages of becoming a public garden, with a sea of colour.
'Respond positively'
"This is where all the growing would have taken place. But of course, something got in the way.
“With the current restrictions on gathering, we wanted to respond positively and think about how we could still go about collaborating, to make things, share things, grow things; to use our isolation to work together.”
Once the limitations of the lockdown are lifted, the culmination of the project will see the 120 potato bags transferred from growers’ homes to SWG3, where the potatoes will be harvested, prepared, cooked and shared as part of an outdoor harvest party – complete with a specially designed mobile chip shop.
Angus said: “Community was always at the heart of this public art initiative, but now even more so through the support of my neighbourhood.
"When all this is over, we look forward to opening our chip shop at SWG3 and feeding Glasgow for free for a day.”
Mutley, director of SWG3, said: “Angus and Rudy have responded brilliantly to the lockdown situation, finding a truly creative and inspiring way for people to continue to work collectively in isolation.
"We are delighted to see that the project is continuing and welcome people from across Glasgow to get involved.
“During these challenging times, it’s comforting to see that the world keeps on turning – and that, despite the challenges of social distancing, community spirit has never been stronger.”
Over the next four months, while the potatoes are nurtured by people living on Angus’s street and in homes near SWG3, Angus and Rudy will share progress updates through videos, images, and words. The project can be tracked online via SWG3’s Facebook page.
* To find out more about the project, go to: www.SWG3.tv
