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 Inspired Exhibition 

4 April until 20 September 2009

As part of the Year of Homecoming 2009 celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, the Mitchell Library hosted a major exhibition celebrating the life and work of Burns. 

The exhibition featured around 50 contemporary works of art and several Burns relics.  The contemporary pieces on display as part of Inspired were primarily new unseen works.  This exhibition went  some way towards increasing the public’s awareness of the extent of not only Burns’s talent, but also how his words still have the power to both touch and influence others throughout the world.  

Many artists from the cutting edge of the contemporary art world, and a number of Scottish artists such as Peter Howson, Calum Colvin and John Bellany, presented new works in the Inspired exhibition. Tracey Emin, Douglas Gordon, Ed Ruscha, Mikhail Magaril and Itamar Jobani were among the many prominent UK and international artists taking part.  View further details about the artists and some of the artwork online.

 

Burns relics

Items from the Mitchell Library's Burns Collection, which is among the biggest in the world, sat alongside the contemporary artwork and can be viewed online in Burns @ The Michell.  Items include the original 'Auld Lang Syne' and 'The Ordination' manuscripts.

Also on display were a selection of relics which have only been shown in public once before – in 1896 – in the ‘Great Burns Exhibition’ which was also in Glasgow. Among these relics were 'The Auld Alloway Clootie Horn' , linked to an incident that is reputed to have been an inspiration for Tam O'Shanter,  as well as letters, books and a small portrait.