CLYDESIDE music and arts venue SWG3 is this year marking its 20th anniversary ‘at the heart of Scotland’s creative landscape’.
Starting out two decades ago as a disused warehouse alongside the railway line behind Yorkhill hospital, the multi-space venue’s fortunes have risen in parallel with the nearby Finnieston strip of bars and restaurants, and the ever-expanding SEC campus just across the road.
To celebrate this 20 year milestone, SWG3 has prepared a programme of ‘creative collaborations, special projects, and landmark events that honour its past while looking firmly to the future’.
Acclaimed visual artist Sandy Smith – now based in New York but once among the first to rent a studio at SWG3 – returns with a sculpture installed in the community garden ‘Please Don’t Break My Heart’.
The artwork also inspires a collaboration with Folk Clothing, producing a limited-edition collection that ‘embodies the intersection of art and fashion’ that is part of SWG3’s identity.
Another anniversary partnership involves The Clydeside Distillery and artist Jim Lambie – a unique, limited-edition whisky, paying tribute to one of SWG3’s most notable friends and a longstanding figure in its history.
Before its conversion into a venue, SWG3’s ground floor was a wedding car garage. In 2006, as the space transitioned into a gallery, Jim Lambie was invited by SWG3 to create a work and used a white Daimler Limousine from the garage as his canvas.
That artwork will be revisited for the whisky’s packaging, with the bottle and tubing adorned in the same Paisley Pattern.
The whisky itself is a single malt, matured in first-fill bourbon barrels from 2018 and finished for six months in a Pedro Ximénez sherry butt.
Bottled at 48.5% ABV, non-chill filtered and natural in colour, it is said to bring together notes of tropical fruit, toffee, oak spice and dark chocolate.
There is also a commemorative ‘20 Years of SWG3’ book being curated by resident designer Phoebe Wilson and poet Leyla Josephine. Weaving together key moments, personal reflections, and ‘unseen and unheard’ memories, it will recall the artists, musicians, and communities that have shaped the venue.
SWG3 founder and director, Andrew Fleming-Brown, said: “Reaching 20 years is a special moment for SWG3. The space has evolved in ways we could never have fully imagined, but at its heart, it has always been about creativity, collaboration, and community.
“This year is about reflecting on that journey, celebrating the people who have been part of it, and looking ahead to what’s next.”
