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Glasgow's historic Pollok House to host arts festival

News imageSonica A large 18th century house, seen from the outside. It has large gardens around it.Sonica
Pollok House will have audiovisual events across three floors and in the gardens

Glasgow's historic Pollok House will be taken over for an experimental arts festival event ahead of the building re-opening to the public.

The Listening House at Pollok House will be the centrepiece of this year's Sonica festival.

The event will see singing sculptures, wandering sonic experiments and mechanical birds spread across three floors of rooms and the gardens of the 18th Century home.

It was built in 1752 and usually has large collections of period artefacts and paintings on display, but has been closed for refurbishment since 2023.

Sonica is described as a festival for "curious minds and adventurous spirits", featuring audiovisual art and experimental music.

It will also see installations taking over spaces in the city centre's Buchanan Galleries shopping centre, including surprise robotic sculptures that will interact with shoppers.

More than 170 artists and musicians from 21 countries are slated to appear during the 11-day festival, which runs from 24 September until 4 October.

The events at Pollok House, which is owned by the people of Glasgow, will last throughout all 11 days of the event.

Exhibits include a video installation called Mundus Inversus by the group AES+F, themed around showing a world turned upside down.

The stately home will also host an immersive installation from artist Konx-om-Pax shaped by his experience of synaesthesia, sculptures in the gardens that respond to movement, and flocks of hanging birds that will interact with passers-by.

Pollok House is expected to re-open later this year, having closed for roof and general building repairs near the end of 2023.

The work is part of a a £4m investment programme by Glasgow City Council.

News imageSonica A woman with dark hair to her shoulders, wearing a black suit and standing behind a synthesizer keyboard.Sonica
Suzanne Ciani will perform for the first time in Glasgow

Buchanan Galleries will host four audiovisual artworks which will interact with shoppers and use space in shop units.

Other events lined up include a new audiovisual presentation from artist Dinos Chapman, which opens the festival, and the first ever Scottish performance by famed electronic composer Suzanne Ciani.

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra will mark the tenth anniversary of David Bowie's death by performing Philip Glass's Symphony No.4 "Heroes" - the composer's orchestral response to Bowie's classic album.

News imageSonica An art installation, which sees paper and wooden bird sculptures hanging down. Several people are examining them and looking at them. Sonica
A number of art installations in the city will be interactive

The festival is put on by Scotland's arts house Cryptic.

Artistic director Cathie Boyd said the line-up will feature "thrilling firsts", including the Pollok House takeover.

She added: "Sonica continues to transform the city through sound and vision, and we are especially excited to collaborate with Buchanan Galleries for the first time, alongside the privilege of creating our Listening House within the beautiful surroundings of Pollok House.

"We are proud to present the highest quality audiovisual work from exceptional artists from both Scotland and around the globe whose work challenges perceptions, sparks imagination and truly ravishes the senses."