Statue sculptor to be announced at Mary Barbour Concert

The five shortlisted statues

The name of the successful sculptor chosen to create the statue of Mary Barbour will be announced from the stage of the Gala Concert scheduled for this Sunday, 21 February in Glasgow’s Old Fruitmarket, the Remember Mary Barbour Association (RMBA) said today.

Maria Fyfe, Chair of the Remember Mary Barbour Association said. “This concert is a part of raising the funds to commission the statue, so it seemed only right to announce the successful candidate here. At long last there will be a new statue of a woman of achievement - achievement not for herself but for the people of Glasgow. This concert will be both a celebration of the statues and of Mary’s life and work.”

In addition to the stars already announced, prominent Scottish actress Libby McArthur has joined the guest list to add drama to the variety of the concert. She will be delivering a speech from Julia Taudevin’s play, Mrs Barbour’s Daughters.

Compering the show is comedian and presenter, Susan Morrison, and the performers will include folk legends, Sheena Wellington, and Arthur Johnstone, rising singer and musician Siobhan Miller, Scottish legends The Whistlebinkies, Gaelic singing star, Maeve Mackinnon, harmonica supremo, Fraser Speirs, and folk-rock recording artists, The Wakes. A local Govan-based community choir – the Govan Allsorts, will bring Mary’s community centre stage!

Susan Morrison

Compere, Susan Morrison said “Too often we look at history and see the word hero linked only to men who did things in wars of dubious morality The women who stood with Mary fought for something greater. They fought for fairness, for justice and for their communities. They were kitchen table heroes and that is worth celebrating, to inspire a new generation of women to continue the fight.”

In addition to the maquettes of the statues, a new portrait has been painted of Mary Barbour, by Govan artist Daniel Fitzpatrick. He has donated the powerful and striking portrait to the RMBA. The portrait depicts her steely determination but also captures her warmth and compassion, and a series of limited edition signed prints are being created for sale - hopefully in time for the concert!! 

Mary Barbour by Daniel Fitzpatrick

Mary Barbour led the successful rent strike of 1915 and went on to play a leading role in the labour movement as a Glasgow Councillor and energetic social reformer. Following an extensive campaign to have her contribution recognised, five sculptors were shortlisted to create a statue of her to be placed in her community of Govan. So far each has created a maquette of a proposed statue . These were unveiled in November and have been toured across Glasgow for people to express their opinion. See them on the Facebook page here.

Details of the Gala Concert are as follows

Remember Mary Barbour Gala Concert , Sunday 21 February, Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, 7.30pm, Tickets: £25, from the Glasgow Concert Halls box office. http://www.glasgowconcerthalls.com/Pages/home.aspx#  0141 353 8000. For further information  - www. remembermarybarbour.wordpress.com/ and on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RememberMaryBarbour/

Acts announced for Mary Barbour Gala Concert

This release was featured in the Evening Times on the 19 January. It updates earlier news with some of the artists who have signed up to play in the GalaConcert. Get your tickets NOW!!

A galaxy of stars will play at the Gala Concert to raise money for a statue to Govan Rent Strike leader, Mary Barbour, it was announced today. The concert, which is scheduled for 21 February in Glasgow’s Old Fruitmarket, will feature a number of great performers for a night of entertainment, song and music. 

Compereing the show is comedian and presenter, Susan Morrison, and the guest

Arthur Johnstone

list will include folk legends, Sheena Wellington, and Arthur Johnstone, rising singer and musician Siobhan Miller, Scottish legends The Whistlebinkies, Gaelic singing star, Maeve Mackinnon, harmonica supremo, Fraser Speirs, and folk-rock recording artists, The Wakes.

A local Govan-based community choir – the Govan Allsorts, led by musician Lesley Robertson - have also been called in to bring Mary’s community centre stage! Further special guests are anticipated.

Susan Morrison

Compere, Susan Morrison said “It has long been the case that the role of women activists in the struggle for decent conditions has been overlooked. Its great that we are helping an important move to redress that, and that so many wonderful artists are keen to help.”

Maria Fyfe, Chair of the Remember Mary Barbour Association said. “This concert has taken off and looks like being a superb celebration of Mary’s life and work. Isn’t this a great way to raise much-needed funds, display the huge support for this project and have a great night out?”

Mary Barbour led the successful rent strike of 1915 and went on to play a leading role in the labour movement as a Glasgow Councillor and energetic social reformer. Following an extensive campaign to have her contribution recognised, five sculptors were shortlisted to create a statue of her to be placed in her community of Govan. So far each has created a maquette of a proposed statue . These were unveiled in November and are being toured across Glasgow from then until February. See them on the Facebook page here.

Details of the Gala Concert are as follows

Remember Mary Barbour – Gala Concert , Sunday 21 February, Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, 7.30pm, Tickets: £25, from the Glasgow Concert Halls box office. http://www.glasgowconcerthalls.com/Pages/home.aspx#  0141 353 8000. For further information  - www. remembermarybarbour.wordpress.com/ and on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RememberMaryBarbour/

Mary Barbour ‘stars’ in Gala Concert

This is the original release that led to the story re the Gala concert appearing in The Herald recently - here, and also in Pat's Guide to the West End, here. Thanks to both. The tickets are now on sale from the Concert Halls box office - see link below.

A major Gala Concert has been announced to raise funds to create the statue of 1915 Rent Strike leader, and political activist, Mary Barbour.


The concert, which is scheduled for 21 February in Glasgow’s Old Fruitmarket, will feature some of Scotland’s leading performers in a great night of entertainment, song and music. Names are to be announced in the New Year.
 

Maria Fyfe

Maria Fyfe, Chair of the Remember Mary Barbour Association said. “We’ve planned this major concert to celebrate Mary’s life and work. It is part of our continuing campaign to create an appropriate tribute to one of Glasgow’s greatest heroes. Following the unveiling of the five statue maquettes, we are busy circulating them, ensuring as many people as possible get the chance to have their say. They’ll be on show at the concert.

“We have been fundraising for just over a year now and are more than halfway to our target of £110,000. So we’ve asked Fairpley to put together this concert. It will be simultaneously a major method of raising the funds to fill the gap, a huge public display of support for this project and, of course, a great night out!”

Mary Barbour led the successful rent strike of 1915 and went on to play a leading role in the labour movement as a Glasgow Councillor and energetic social reformer. Following an extensive campaign to have her contribution recognised, five sculptors were shortlisted to create a statue of her to be placed in her community of Govan. So far each has created a maquette of a proposed statue . These were unveiled in November and are being toured across Glasgow from then until February. See them on the Facebook page here.

Details of the Gala Concert are as follows

Remember Mary Barbour – Gala Concert , Sunday 21 February, Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, 7.30pm, Tickets: £25, from the Glasgow Concert Halls box office. http://www.glasgowconcerthalls.com/Pages/home.aspx#  0141 353 8000. For further information  - www. remembermarybarbour.com/ and on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RememberMaryBarbour/

 

Mrs Barbour’s Army – 100 years on!

As we approach November 17 – the centenary of the day the court case against 18 Glasgow women on Rent Strike was dropped – it is probably not surprising that the amount of references to Mary Barbour, and in particular the proposed statue to commemorate the activist, campaigner and politician, are likely to increase dramatically.

Mary Barbour

The Scottish Morning Star ‘Our Class, Our Culture’ series of events starts the feature tomorrow (3 November) – with a talk by Maria Fyfe on Rent Strikes and Red Clydeside. The former Labour MP for Maryhill is now Chair of the Remember Mary Barbour Association and will no doubt be keen to bring everyone up to speed on the status of the statue project as well as bringing out some of the important advances that Mary contributed. This is at the STUC centre at 7.00pm. Details here.

Hopefully the woefully small number of prominent women marked by  statues in Glasgow (three at the last count) will soon be increased!

The AJ Taudevin play, Mrs Barber’s Daughters, first performed at A

Mrs Barbour's Daughters. Photo - Leslie Black

Play, a Pie and a Pint, at Oran Mor in 2014, has a fresh outing at the Tron this week. From the 4 -7 Nov this short play, incorporating worker, protest and popular songs from the last 100 years, will update the history and point to lessons for today.  7.45pm each night – details here.

And watch out on the 17 itself, for the latest steps in the statue saga!