Matinees and Memories: Thomas McGoran’s Glasgow Exhibition

Location: GDODF Mini-Festival Hub, Edward House, 199 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3EX

From Thursday 17 to Sunday 20 September, Matinees and Memories: Thomas McGoran’s Glasgow will bring together a special exhibition of Thomas McGoran’s beautiful drawings and prints at Edward House, 199 Sauchiehall Street, as part of Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival 2026.

Thomas, now 98, grew up in Glasgow in the 1930s and 1940s and began working in cinemas as a young spoolboy before later becoming a projectionist. His love of cinema started early, with a childhood trip to the Annfield on the Gallowgate: “I was more interested in the back of the cinema, where the light came from.”

His beautiful drawings and prints capture old Glasgow picture houses and everyday life with warmth, nostalgia and imagination, preserving memories of a time when the city was known as a true Cinema City.

The exhibition connects closely to this year’s Festival theme, Glasgow Goes Out: The Places That Made Us, by looking at the cinemas, streets and shared experiences that shaped generations of Glaswegians.

Festival Manager Yvonne Caddell says: “Thomas has been incredibly generous in allowing us to share his work at Edward House, our new Mini Festival Hub. His images sit beautifully alongside the wider Cinema City programme hosted and organised by the Sauchiehall Street Culture & Heritage District.”

Visitors may also recognise Thomas’s work from Glasgow Life Museums, including Provand’s Lordship and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. They will also have the opportunity to browse Thomas’s truly captivating book, A Glasgow Memoir.

This special GDODF exhibition offers another chance to enjoy his deeply personal reimagining of Glasgow’s cinema-going past.

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