Generator Projects

Generator Projects is disheartened and unsettled by the proposed closure of Cooper Gallery.

Cooper Gallery is internationally recognised for its contemporary transdisciplinary arts programme, rich with critical and theoretical engagement. Cooper Gallery leads the way for unapologetically radical programming in Dundee,made feasible by a curatorial practice rooted in discursive and experimental spirit.

To deprive Dundee of such a resource sends a message that The University of Dundee views this type of cultural output as dispensable. Cooper Gallery is an invaluable resource for the students at DJCAD as seen in the Cooper Gallery’s Student Curatorial Team, many of whom gained the experience and confidence from working with Cooper Gallery to further pursue a career in the arts. At Generator Projects we feel a strong connection to Cooper Gallery: many former members of the Student Curatorial Team went on to find a place on the Generator Projects Committee, and their experience with experimental programming via Cooper Gallery informed their curatorial decisions within our programme.

Generator Projects have sat with the gravity of the proposed closure of Cooper Gallery and what that means for the wider arts community in Dundee. We urge decision makers to consider the extraordinary benefits Cooper Gallery provides to the arts sector in Dundee and beyond. We extend our support and stand in solidarity with the curators, educators and researchers whose livelihoods are under threat by this proposal.

Generator Projects is deeply saddened and concerned to hear of the proposal to cut the Philosophy programme at University of Dundee. As we come to celebrate our thirtieth anniversary at Generator Projects, we reflect on the importance of the programme Art & Philosophy holds in our institution. The Operational Committee currently includes four alumni along with two of our current Board Members.. With a deep commitment to radical, expansive, and reflective programming, the legacy of Art & Philosophy is deeply felt within Generator Projects.

We also believe the provision of the programme Art & Philosophy to be an invaluable course within DJCAD. Every year, we tour the degree

Generator Projects stands in solidarity with colleagues, staff, artists, researchers, students, volunteers, families, and communities affected by the proposed closures and cuts at the University of Dundee.

Alongside the reported threats facing Cooper Gallery and the University of Dundee Botanic Garden, we are deeply concerned by proposals affecting university nurseries, academic courses, and support services. Together, these form a vital part of the university’s civic infrastructure, supporting learning, research, creativity, care, and access to education across Dundee.

Cooper Gallery is an internationally recognised arts space that has provided a vital platform for contemporary art, critical discourse, and artistic exchange for over 70 years. Dundee Botanic Garden is an invaluable public resource supporting education, biodiversity, and wellbeing. The university nurseries provide essential support for staff, students, and families.

Equally concerning is the potential loss of courses and academic provision, threatening the breadth of knowledge and intellectual diversity that universities exist to nurture. We are also mindful of the wider impact on Dundee, where students form a significant part of the city’s population and economy.

At a time when arts and culture, education, childcare, and public resources are already under immense pressure, these proposals risk causing lasting damage to Dundee’s cultural scene and the communities that depend upon it.

We recognise the difficult financial circumstances facing the University of Dundee. However, these proposals risk undermining the very spaces, services, and programmes that sustain cultural life, educational opportunity, and collective wellbeing.

Generator Projects joins those calling for transparency, meaningful dialogue, and the exploration of alternatives that protect these vital resources.

The arts, education, care services, and environmental spaces play an essential and interconnected role in building a more equitable, imaginative, and sustainable future - do not be a driving force that endangers this.

🐦‍⬛Evening opening

🕯️Thursday 25/6/26
🏙️1300 - 1900

⭐️They Had Four Years⭐️

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🫵 You are cordially invited to our Annual General Meeting (AGM aka the big meeting) at 📍Generator Projects on Sunday 28th June @ 2pm!

It’s a wonderful opportunity to celebrate Generator Projects’ achievements, share future plans, and enjoy some refreshments alongside th Generator community - including our lovely Committee and Board members, fellow members, incredible artists and writers, partners, and supporters.

Generator Projects is made by its members, for its community; it simply wouldn’t exist without you.

The AGM is a key moment to reflect on the past year and look ahead to what’s next!

What’s happening:
- Welcome and introductions; from Committee & Board Chairpersons
- Committee report; Hear the current Committee reflections on the past year’s programming, collaborations and projects. They will discuss upcoming events and opportunities for all to get involved!
- Board report; Hear from the Co-Chairs of the Board about what they have been up to this year.
- Financial report; hear a funding update from the Committee and Board Treasurer.
- Combined Committee and Board of Trustees; resignations, nominations and role changes.
- Q&A, Members feedback and activity: planting seeds together for the future

Please let us know if you have any access needs so we can make sure everyone is accommodated.

If you do want to get in touch with any access requirements, we’d appreciate it if you could RSVP by the 27th of June by contacting: [email protected]

Looking forward to seeing you there and hearing your thoughts!

Love,
The GennyP Committee 🙂‍↔️ x

🌞 Come along to Forgan Art Centre, Newport on Thursday 18th of June to celebrate the launch of a new Generator Projects publication by Poppy Gannon and Christopher Ivor Adam. We have been working hard for the last 3 months to bring this project to light and want to celebrate in style!

Join us for food, drinks, live music and sharing some readings in the beautiful Forgan Arts garden 🌿

We encourage you to join us with a little trip across the bridge and will be providing lifts via taxis, and cars. Alternatively you can make your own way by bike or bus 🚌

Taxis will leave from Generator at 4:45pm and return from Forgan at 7pm. If you’d like to join us in a taxi please message us on instagram or via our email at [email protected] so we can book you a spot.

Please be aware that this event will be photographed.

TH4Y ‘26 - MEET THE ARTISTS: Sam Black /

Sam Black is a painter working predominantly with oil - her use of layered oil paint explores the unstable terrain between language and image working to investigate how images can be recontextualised subconsciously, looking for patterns of reassurance in dreams.

Through her practice Sam explores personal feelings of identity, desire and conflict through themes of mistranslation and repurposing of the imaginary in the desire for authenticity. Her work is punctuated by typography that destabilises the visual language of the paintings, interpreted as commands, spells or poems upholding an intentionally ambiguous communication speaking to the languageless-ness of connection.

For TH4Y, Sam has expanded on her current practice of typography and visual collaging, expressing cultural merging and reconstruction. Drawing inspiration from the customisation and personification seen in everyday Filipino visual culture particularly the customisation of jeepneys and tarpaulin banner tradition.

PREVIEW - 30/05 6-9pm
OPEN - 31/05 12/07 thurs-sun 12-5pm

TH4Y ‘26 - MEET THE ARTISTS: Anna Tewungwa /

Anna Tewungwa is a Glasgow based mixed-media artist whose practice centres her relationship with her built environment. Taking inspiration directly from the urban landscape, Anna calls attention to the derelict and underutilised sites around us, by collecting and recording symbols, colours and objects to represent sites of unfulfilled civic desire.

Drawing from encounters with the excess of highstreet retail and idealised advertisements has inspired a visual lexicon of repetition and collection that forms an artistic practice. Utilising craft based methods such as beading and sewing to invoke a sense of play, messiness and vandalism

For TH4Y, Anna has leaned into a more considered visible process of working through ideas about object-hood and material culture.

PREVIEW - 30/05 6-9pm
OPEN - 31/05 12/07 thurs-sun 12-5pm

TH4Y ‘26 - MEET THE ARTISTS: Jock Thomson /

Jock Thomson is a Glasgow based artist working across photography, printmaking, and sculpture. His work relates strongly to body politics as he challenges the stigma that continues to surround q***r erotic life. Bringing this subject matter boldly to the forefront, his work centres pleasure as something of both aesthetic and political importance.

For TH4Y Jock has combined his photography and printmaking practice with sculptural installation. Through juxtaposition of organic and industrial materials, tension acts as a material and conceptual focus of his work. By incorporating fe**sh imagery, Jock reveals identity and desire as sites of fluid construction.

PREVIEW - 30/05 6-9pm
OPEN - 31/05 12/07 thurs-sun 12-5pm

Thea Moston: Meet the Artist

TH4Y ‘26 - MEET THE ARTISTS: THEA MOSTON /

Thea Moston is a visual artist based in Edinburgh. Thea works with textile manipulation, specifically Shibori, a traditional Japanese technique in which steam is applied to a bound and knotted fabric. Through this process, the material stiffens, creating enclosed forms. Thea combines this technique with natural dyes to create intricate structures. The resultant work is a map of imprints, playing with complex repeating patterns reminiscent of organic networks.

For They Had Four Years, Thea has been continuing to develop her practice working with various installation methods and new materials.

PREVIEW - 30/05 6-9pm
OPEN - 31/05 12/07 thurs-sun 12-5pm

TH4Y ‘26 - MEET THE ARTISTS: NINA PRICE /

Nina Price is a visual artist living and working in Shetland. As a painter, Nina responds directly and sincerely to the landscape she calls home. Embracing immediacy and states of flow, Nina distils a scene into its essence through decisive demarcations of colour and texture. Rather than depicting a single location or landmark, she captures an impression of the land in a moment. Nina’s practice relies on being keenly attuned to time and place. While negotiating shifting light and the elements, she finds a free-spirited meditation in painting. 

For They Had Four Years, Nina has been working on a collection of small landscape paintings inspired by Shetland, working across acrylics and oils.

PREVIEW - 30/05 6-9pm

OPEN - 31/05 12/07 thurs-sun 12-5pm