Above: Pearl Union logo; courtesy the artist

Pearl Union is a new library based in Glasgow, initiated by artist Rose Thomas and specifically aimed towards art and culture. Thomas, working in conjunction with the Mitchell Library, which is the main public library in Glasgow, has opened up a space which aims to act as a conduit through existing structures.

The initial premise for a new arts library was an awareness of the lack of good contemporary art-related material within the public-library system or indeed commercial bookstores in Glasgow. As Glasgow has a young and dynamic visual-art community, this information deficit was something Thomas felt it was important to overcome. While the main commitment was the need to create a discursive space for the arts community, Pearl Union is also interested in promoting awareness of contemporary art amongst the general public.

Pearl Union follows an eclectic archiving process by choosing different people within the arts to curate a selection. This selection of books/videos, etc., becomes the focus point for a series of lectures and seminars. The Pearl Union selection is then accessible to the public in the Mitchell Library. The idea allows Pearl Union to focus on specific things for a limited duration and then allows this material to filter into the main lending library. The first book and video collection was made by Kathleen Hanna whose first band, Bikini Kill, led the Riot Grrrl movement in the early '90s. Hanna's interest in the collision between punk rock and feminist politics has more recently led her to team up with the film maker Sadie Benning and the zine editor Johanna Fateman to form Le Tigre. Le Tigre, described as "bubblegum punk," are equally known for engaging with the work of postcolonial feminist Gayatri Spivak.

The series of seminars to accompany Hanna's selection continued the feminist discussion introduced by Hanna's selection and included a talk by Leslie Singer, a New York-based artist (April 20, 2002) and Trina Robbins, the American cartoonist and founder of the Wimmin's Comix Collective (May 4, 2002). Singer was collaborator and co-producer with Laura Cottingham for the feminist video essay Not for Sale: Feminism and Art in the USA during the 70s, which Hanna had chosen as part of her selection. Cottingham's Not For Sale is an important document which selects interviews and comments from some of the most important feminist artists working in the States at that time. (It was shown here as part of Somewhere near Vada, the exhibition curated by Jaki Irvine for the re-opening of Project.) Singer's talk was in a large, imposing room upstairs in the Mitchell, the walls hugged by large 19th-century shelves and cabinets full of their rare-books collection. A section of Not for Sale was shown first and then Singer gave an stimulating talk on some of the issues that arose from trying to cover the multiple ways in which feminists had engaged with the cultural dynamics.

Pearl Union has also become the home for an interesting and ongoing video archive called Trigger Tonic. Trigger Tonic began in Glasgow in 1999 and is a series of interviews between locals and artists, performers, writers, etc., visiting Glasgow. See www.pearlunion.com for upcoming events and to view excerpts from Trigger Tonics archive, http://www.deadrelativist.com/a_m_finale/triggertonic_entry_index.htm.