Cookies

We use necessary cookies to make our site work. We'd also like to set optional analytics cookies to help us improve it. We won't set optional cookies unless you enable them or accept our recommended settings. Using this tool will set a cookie on your device to remember your preferences.

Options
Necessary cookies enable core functionality on our website. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.
We use marketing cookies to personalise your visit to our website and show you tailored advertising based on your likes and interests.
We use analytics cookies to monitor visitor behaviour patterns and improve our website performance.

Your preferences have been set. If you wish to change your preferences, you may do so on our cookies page.

Search My Trust
Join now
Join
Close

Looking for places? Use our place search to find them by name, town or postcode.

See all stories
5 Aug 2022

Pollok House seeks a storyteller to explore links with enslavement

A view of the exterior of Pollok House, seen from the foot of some semi-circular stone steps and through a cast iron gate. Two large stone statues of lions, holding shields, stand either side of the gate.
Pollok House in Glasgow
At the National Trust for Scotland, we believe that it is our responsibility to explore the whole history of the places in our care and to share this history with visitors.

Update | March 2024: Pollok House is now closed for approximately two years to facilitate the second phase of a £4 million programme of investment led by Glasgow City Council. The works will comprise roof and general building fabric repairs.

The team at Pollok House are currently inviting applications from creative practitioners for a six-week residency which will take place in autumn 2022.

Over the course of the residency, the creative practitioner will research the connections between Pollok House, the Stirling Maxwell family and the history of enslavement, and develop a suite of stories which will become part of the long-term visitor offering at Pollok. The Engagement team at Pollok will support the practitioner through the research process and in the delivery of a series of online and in-person events to share the stories with staff and visitors.

A room inside a grand house, with a dark-wood bookcase on one wall and detailed rugs covering the wooden floor. There is a white archway with plinths, and through it you can see the next two rooms, one of which contains a grand piano.
Pollok House

The commission forms part of the Facing Our Past project which explores the connections between National Trust for Scotland properties and historic enslavement. An interim report outlining these connections was first published in December 2021. The residency is supported by the Year of Stories 2022 Community Stories Fund. This fund is being delivered in partnership between VisitScotland and Museums Galleries Scotland, with support from National Lottery Heritage Fund thanks to National Lottery players.

The deadline for applications is 5pm on Friday 26 August 2022.
Please see the document below for more information about the role and how to apply.

Download

Pollok House, Creative Practitioner: project brief

pdf (196.668 KB)

Read next

The sun sets over a loch, centred in a narrowing glen. Silhouetted against the sunset is a tall, thin column with a statue on top. A sign reading Glenfinnan stands in the field in the foreground.

Facing Our Past

For many years, the Trust has uncovered and shared the stories of the people behind our properties. Researching this is important work for us to undertake, in order to better look after, understand and explain the heritage in our care.

An exterior view of Fyvie Castle, seen from the lawn. Tall trees frame the image either side.

Facing Our Past at Fyvie Castle

As part of our Facing Our Past project, we take a look at the Forbes-Leith family and their American connections.

Leith Hall seen from the driveway as the sun sets on a autumnal sunny day.

Facing Our Past: Leith Hall’s Tale of Two Duels

As part of a blog series for our Facing Our Past project, we take a look at the Leith family and their links to the Caribbean island of St Vincent.

Grass swishes in the wind in a large field, with mountains, hedgerows and one tall tree in the distance.

Contesting Landscapes: creative interventions at Balmacara Estate

We are working with the artist Annalee Davis on the creative intervention ‘Contesting Landscapes of Distraction’ at Balmacara Estate, to explore the complex shared histories of the Scottish Highlands and Barbados.

Read more stories on

Back to top