Films of the Glasgow Empire Exhibition

The 1938 Glasgow Empire Exhibition provided an international platform for British industry in general and the industries of Glasgow and the West of Scotland in particular.

Over 12.5 million visitors came to see the exhibition, which was staged in a series of specially designed pavilions, and its iconic centrepiece the Tower of Empire, which later affectionately became known as ‘Tait’s Tower’ after Thomas S Tait, architect-in-chief and organiser of the exhibition.

A surprisingly large number of the visitors documented their visits using the latest technology in hand-held cine cameras, recording magnificent viewpoints of the exhibition in both colour and black and white. It is a selection of these films, currently held in the Scottish Screen Archive, which are now being given a rare public screening at The Lighthouse. Films of the Glasgow Empire Exhibition, which runs until 22 June 2008, offers a glimpse back in time to a different age, capturing the ultimate in 1930s cutting-edge architecture and design, as well as the fashions, cultural interests and preoccupations of a nation on the brink of the second World War.

Download the full press release.