Time to pitch up and feel part of the community: Art Car Boot Sale, 2024
I am new to Glasgow; still figuring out which of the city’s stereotypes are true and which are false. Cold, wet, rainy—my time in the city has been glorious, tinged with golden-hour sun (let’s cross poor weather off the list and hope it lasts). Warm and inviting—most definitely, I mean people here say “hello” in the morning (a luxury coming from cold ol’ London)!
I am new to Glasgow; still figuring out what, where and how the city’s art scene is constituted. It’s a search filled with excitement and discovery, with actual conversations and actual encounters with artists (a luxury at a time of year tented in performative sales chatter, I mean have you ever spoken meaningfully to an artist at Frieze?).
An opportunity to really get to know artists and the artistic community enlivening Glasgow, I am hotly anticipating this year’s Art Car Boot Sale. Looking forward to some real, warm, arty and none, chat; perhaps to buying a unique artwork also (let’s not look at my overdraft)!
Before I get too carried away, I should state some basics: Now in its sixth year, the Art Car Boot Sale (26th – 27th Oct 2024) is billed as ‘one of Scotland’s biggest contemporary art events’. Situated at Tramway, the two day event showcases Glasgow’s internationally recognised contemporary art sector, providing visitors with the unique opportunity to meet over 100 artists as they sell their work directly from the boots of their cars—their vans, bikes and the odd skateboards even. Fun.
With recent controversy around public funding for the arts in Scotland, it seems timely to highlight this differently organised, community-centred way of economising. Indeed, as the art world settles into the Autumn season, with its high-speed circuit of art fairs and auctions, the Art Car Boot Sale provides a meaningful opportunity to sit with artists and to truly engage with some of the most exciting contemporary art on the market. (Coming from a background in commercial art galleries, it’s of note that this more personable way of acquiring artworks is becoming ever more fashionable for arts patrons and supporters).
Glasgow’ ahead of expectations. And here is a sunny taster of what to expect at the Art Car Boot Sale ‘24:
