Glasgow’s Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) has announced plans to reopen under new leadership following a standoff with Art Workers for Palestine Scotland which led to the organisation’s temporary closure in June.
In a statement issued yesterday, the CCA said it “deeply regretted” its actions on 24 June, which saw police called to remove pro-Palestinian protestors who had planned to host an unofficial week-long programme of workshops. The group had called on the CCA to back the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) in light of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The CCA’s leadership overhaul includes the recruitment of a new chair and board members, new permanent leadership and a new finance manager.
In a statement, the CCA said: “CCA Glasgow acknowledges the disruption, confusion and harm experienced over recent weeks, particularly by our community, artists, staff, tenants and partners. We sincerely regret the outcome of our decisions on 24 June and that an individual was injured. We recognise that a lack of clarity on our choices had real human consequences, and for this we are deeply sorry.”
While the CCA says it will reopen without a formal endorsement of the PACBI, it will revisit the decision when the new leadership is in place. It said: “We condemn the violence of the Israeli state, the ongoing occupation, genocide, and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. We stand firmly against all forms of oppression and in support of the rights and dignity of the Palestinian people.”
The announcement was welcomed by Art Workers for Palestine Scotland who said CCA’s leadership had “agreed to almost every demand that has been made of them.”
They said: “We understand this statement to mark a vital and momentous change of direction at CCA—a signal towards real institutional decolonization. It is a huge win, not only for our city of Glasgow’s proud and defiant solidarity with Palestine, but also internationally.”
They added: “As Glasgow’s contemporary art centre, CCA must be a beacon for our city’s solidarity with Palestine, for anticolonialism, and for art to stand on the side of liberation. We urge everyone to use the example and precedent of CCA to apply pressure to publicly funded arts organisations.”
The CCA is “working towards” reopening from the week commencing 25 August.
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