Student Placements
The Archive is a centre for research, allowing a unique, unparalleled opportunity for students, academics and the wider public to gleam a fuller understanding of the expansive nature of Gray’s practice and the invaluable contribution he made to 20th century culture.
Teya Zeinalabidin graduated from the University of Glasgow in the summer of 2020 with a degree in English literature. She first encountered Alasdair Gray when she saw a facsimile of one of his murals exhibited in The Lighthouse in Glasgow. After that, her imagination was captured by Poor Things , and she became captivated by all things Gray. During her fourth year, she completed her dissertation on Gray’s literature. This research resulted in a thesis entitled ‘This Imaginary Stuff Seems Familiar’: The autobiographical dimensions of Alasdair Gray’s fiction.
As an outcome of her placement at the Archive in 2024, Delin Kong wrote this essay examining Gray’s relationship to the River Clyde. At the time of writing this Delin was studying Modern and Contemporary Art at the University of Edinburgh. She also assisted in the cataloguing of the collection.
Polina Szwedowa produced this text when she was an art history master’s student at the University of Edinburgh in 2024. She is passionate about collaborative educational programs, particularly those at the intersections of arts and education knotted into knowledge exchange networks. Within the realm of art history, she is fond of seeing and perceiving currents of the avant-garde, with a particular interest in the critical underpinnings of the grotesque whilst considering artistic responses to critiquing modernity. Exploration of such entanglements was explored in her undergraduate studies through the placement at AGA by looking at Alasdair Gray’s postmodern amalgamation of visual influences unfolding from his visual grotesqueries.
Priscilla Chan is studying Technical Art History at the University of Glasgow. At the time of writing in 2024 she was helping to catalogue Gray’s ephemera, specifically the paints in the Plan Chest. This case study is the outcome of her findings.
While on placement at the Alasdair Gray Archive in 2024, English and Creative Writing student at the University of Strathclyde, Ross Maneely was helping to catalogue Gray’s library. In doing so, they found different curiosities within the collection which they decided to write about.
In 2024, English student Sophie Kay was working with the other placement students on cataloguing Gray’s personal library. She wrote this short piece on the books that seemed particularly significant.
While on placement at the Alasdair Gray Archive in 2024, fifth-year Cleveden Secondary School Student Kirsten Ferguson was helping to catalogue Gray’s library. In doing so, she found different curiosities within the collection which she decided to write about.
While on placement at the Alasdair Gray Archive in 2024, Curatorial Practice student at The University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art, Lori Baird developed a creative response to the archive, using her background in jewellery design and silversmithing.