Shining a light on Glasgow’s toxic air through the art of pottery

To celebrate Clean Air Day 2023, Asthma + Lung UK was part of an exciting and thought-provoking project which used the art of pottery to highlight the dangers of Glasgow’s toxic air.  Maddy, our Regional Campaigns and Policy Officer, is here to tell you all about Glasgow Smogware. 

Making the invisible visible

Smogware is an international project founded by Rotterdam’s Lab AIR. It uses the residue from air pollution that collects on surfaces to create ceramics, making the invisible threat of toxic air visible.  

Students collecting the dust

With its once-thriving pottery industry, Glasgow was the perfect city to bring Smogware to Scotland for the first time. This rich heritage inspired Glaswegian artist, Ruth Impey. She worked with students from the City of Glasgow College to make the connection between the pollution of Glasgow’s industrial past to the pollution of the present day, much of which is caused by road traffic. 

Ruth said ‘I really liked the idea of being able to visualise air pollution. We can’t see it, but we’re breathing it in every single day. And using ceramic as a way of visualising that I just thought was a fantastic idea.’ 

Air pollution in Glasgow is 4.5x the World Health Organization guidelines and this needs to change, urgently.  We were delighted to be involved in this innovative project to highlight the problem with Glasgow’s air and use it to open up conversations with politicians.

How we turned toxic pollution into beautiful pottery 

For several weeks, Ruth and the students worked on the creation of the Smogware sets, with the guidance of Annemarie from Lab AIR. The first step was to carefully harvest the ‘dust’ (particulate air pollution) from roads beneath two of Glasgow’s train stations. Once the dust had been collected, it was made into a glaze for the pottery, a process which opened the students’ eyes. They were shocked by how disgusting the dust was, and that they breathe it in every day. The glaze was then applied to the pottery which was cast in a mold based on a historic Glaswegian tea set. Ruth and the students also created their own unique designs. The pieces were finished by firing in the kiln which made sure they were safe to eat and drink from, ready for the big event! 

The big day 

Some of the students’ finished pieces

On a sunny afternoon on National Clean Air Day, we gathered at the Glasgow City Chambers to display the Smogware sets with tea and cakes. Excitement was building as people filed into the chambers, and everyone was eager to talk about the inspiring project. 

Ruth’s finished set

The students were joined by members of the local community, including several local politicians. There were talks about the project being a real eye-opener to air pollution and its impact on health. We talked about the urgent need to tackle toxic air, and throughout the afternoon the students and their teachers chatted to political decision-makers about what should be done.  

This unique event was thought-provoking for all involved. At Asthma + Lung UK we were blown away by the students’ creativity and concern about pollution in their community. 

Campaigning through craft 

An important element of Asthma + Lung UK’s work is to empower local people to campaign for change. Glasgow Smogware was the ideal opportunity, bringing together creative young people from the city with local politicians who have the power to clean the air. Over the course of the project, the students were briefed on Glasgow’s air pollution problem, and this shone through in their finished pieces.  

Robyn, one of the students, told us: ‘What I really enjoyed about this project is how tangible it makes our knowledge of air pollution. We can’t really see air pollution, but with this project we’re eating and drinking out of things that have been coloured with air pollution we collected at train stations, so it’s a physical object of air pollution and how disgusting and unpleasant to look at and think about what it is. It makes you think about air pollution and how we should be doing a lot to stop it.’ 

The students showing their Smogware to the Lord Provost of Glasgow

What’s next for Glasgow’s fight against air pollution? 

Glasgow Smogware was an amazing event, showing how craft and creativity can facilitate meaningful discussion and inspire people to make a change. Glasgow has recently made ambitious steps to tackle the worst polluted areas of the city through the introduction of the Low Emission Zone. But the work doesn’t stop there. 

Much more needs to be done to tackle toxic air in Glasgow. We’re calling on local politicians to tackle engine idling and improve the city’s air quality monitoring. And to make the public transport system more integrated and affordable to help people leave their cars at home. Everybody in our community has the right to breathe clean air with healthy lungs.

Are you with us? Sign our petition today.