A new public artwork by Turner Prize winning artist Jasleen Kaur has been unveiled along the North bank of the River Clyde.
The work is one of the signature commissions of Glasgow 2026 Festival, a 10-week celebration of Glasgow’s renowned culture, creativity and people which runs from May 23 to August 9, 2026 alongside the Commonwealth Games, funded by Commonwealth Sport.
The commission features a series of eight weathervane-like sculptures installed at key sites along the River Clyde connected to its history of trade, industry and empire.
The work is conceived to be encountered casually and repeatedly, changing with light, weather and perspective. Each sculpture bears a word or phrase that turns in the wind, pointing across the city, simultaneously to its past and future. As the sculptures rotate, their texts shift orientation and meaning, acting as roving signals to the material residue of the Commonwealth; systems of judiciary, taxation and defence, infrastructure still present on the river today.
Born in Glasgow with longstanding family ties to Govan and the Clyde, Kaur has a deep personal connection to the river. Her background and practice, which consistently engages with questions of social justice, migration and power, shape the work’s exploration of what the Commonwealth has meant and continues to mean in a city built on global trade routes.
The project marks a return to Glasgow for the artist, who is now based in London and whose career has developed rapidly following her Turner Prize win in 2024, with recent and forthcoming institutional presentations work for institutions including If the word we, 59th Carnegie International, Carnegie, Pittsburgh; British Art Show 10: A Chorus of Strangers, and the inaugural Art Explora Art Commission at V&A East, launching in autumn 2026.
Kaur has made the work with research support from Glasgow-based Jude Barber of Collective Architecture, who specialise in conversation, public realm and cultural projects, and writer Louise Welsh who work together as The Empire Cafe (with their podcast Who Owns the Clyde) encouraging conversations about history, land, ownership, ecology and the ongoing effects of Empire.
Other Glasgow-based collaborators include Narro Associates, engineers with expertise in working with artists in historic settings; Scott Associates Sculpture and Design, experienced in the manufacturing for many highly regarded artists; and Helen Nisbet, Director of Glasgow International in a curatorial role.
Superstructure has been installed on the banks of the River Clyde from Thursday, June 25, to Monday, August 10, before moving to new homes within the city.
READ MORE:
Jasleen Kaur on her Turner Prize, education and the 'shock' of a mural in her honour
Jasleen Kaur wins Turner Prize for work showcasing Scottish Sikh community
Who is Jasleen Kaur, Glasgow's Turner Prize-winning artist?
Turner Prize-winning artist Jasleen Kaur said: “The geographer Doreen Massey says that ‘maps are not the only way to depict a place’. I see Superstructure as a kind of alternative mapping to read the city differently. They signal to the connections between infrastructure, governance and Empire. At times the roving texts will align with buildings and spaces I intended, like the Sheriff Court or an arms factory and at other times it’s up to chance. I hope they invite a curiosity and many interpretations.”
Phil Batty OBE, CEO of Glasgow 2026 said: “This is exactly what Glasgow 2026 Festival is about - bringing world-class artists into the fabric of the city and creating work that people encounter as part of their everyday lives.
"Jasleen’s ‘Superstructure’ sits right on the River Clyde, asking us to look again at a place we think we know - and to reflect on the histories and connections that have shaped Glasgow.
“Investing in public art available for all, and rooted in this city, is an important opportunity, and it’s a perfect example of how the Glasgow 2026 Festival complements the global stage of the Games with something thoughtful and distinctly Glasgow.”
Bailie Annette Christie, Chair of Glasgow Life and City Convener for Culture, Sport and International Relations said: “Jasleen Kaur is delivering a spectacular public artwork that manages the seemingly impossible task of tying Glasgow, the River Clyde, and the Commonwealth together in a way that reflects their shared history and the present.
“As part of the Glasgow 2026 Festival, this commission also celebrates the creativity of the city that has a global international reputation for nurturing and developing artists. The new City Development Plan 2 includes proposals for a Public Art Strategy that would embed cultural policy into the city’s architecture, planning, and development frameworks.
“I am thrilled that Jasleen has chosen to gift this artwork to the city as a legacy from the Glasgow 2026 Festival, and I know that her work will inspire even more people in Glasgow this summer and delight residents and visitors alike.”
