Please Leave a Message

Creating Space With Writing

The Free Writing Society at the Glasgow Women's Library

Thursday, 16th January, 2025 to Saturday, 22nd March, 2025

Free, Open to all

Exhibition Access Information:
Wheelchair accessible, printed texts, audio-described, online version, comfortable seating, gender-neutral and accessible toilets.

Glasgow Women’s Library

23 Landressy Street
Glasgow, G40 1BP

Telephone: 0141 550 2267

More about the Glasow Women's Library:

https://womenslibrary.org.uk/

Spend some time in this installation presented by the Free Writing Society from Glasgow School of Art.

Immerse yourself in writing and recordings played through old telephones, where different voices touch on topics from politics to gender, loneliness to love. This installation invites you to write your own words to be shared with future visitors and will end with a publication of the collected works.

This interactive exhibition serves as a living archive of writing—a dialogue where visitors are encouraged not just to listen but to respond. You can contribute your own writing and leave your own ‘messages’. All the tools you need to start your own writing journey await you in the installation or join us for free writing sessions at GWL that we will host throughout the weeks.

After a year of exploring creative writing, the Free Writing Society invites you to experience the peaceful and connecting space they’ve discovered through writing and sharing.

Writing Sessions

The Free Writing Society will be running Free Writing Sessions at Glasgow Women’s Library and Online during the exhibition.

Saturday 25th January, GWL, 2pm to 3.30pm
Saturday 1st February, Online, 10.30am to 12pm
Friday 7th February, GWL, 2pm to 3.30pm
Sunday 23rd February, Online, 10.30am to 12pm
Thursday 6th March, GWL, 5pm to 6.30pm

The online sessions can be booked over this link:

https://pleaseleaveamessage.eventbrite.com

A collage of an armchair, round rug, cut-out words, and a hand-drawn yellow telephone, set against a yellow and blue background. This image serves as the poster for the Please Leave a Message exhibition, exploring themes of communication, space, and writing.

Armchairs and side tables in Glasgow Women's Library

A person holding a telephone receiver to their ear while looking into the distance

A yellow round-shaped telephone next to an opened book on a side table.

A person sitting in an armchair holding an open book with a phone drawing.

A red telephone, a small photograph of a person in nature and a Phonebook are placed on a side table

A person dialling a number on a telephone

Armchair, side tables, a yellow telephone and a photograph.

A blue postbox, ruled paper and pens on a table.

A person picking up a phone receiver while looking into the phonebook

A person plays with the telephone cord while listening on the receiver.

About

This exhibition intends to create a space for people to write freely and to explore writing through different mediums. It is a space for people of all backgrounds and experiences to share their words and have a platform for their stories. The Free Writing Society has been writing together for nearly two years. Through weekly writing sessions, we connected and found a safe space to share our thoughts and words. It was originally founded to create a space for writing that is not based on having to produce ‘great writing’ but about enjoying the act of writing itself.

To create more access to writing that doesn’t exclude people with different skills or approaches.When the idea came up to share our writing in an exhibition, instead of making a text-based show, we wanted to translate these principles and goals into an immersive installation that creates even more space for writing and offers different ways of interacting with text.

After being granted a two-month space at the Glasgow Women’s Library, a group of members from the Free Writing Society came together to collaboratively create the installation, which is now being exhibited for the first time.(A list of everyone involved in creating the installation can be found at the end of the phone book in the Library.)