Govanhill Baths, Ours!
A Century of Community Activism and Renewal
Govanhill Baths, Ours! tells the story of a building that became much more than brick and stone. Opened in 1917 as a public bath and wash-house, the Baths were part of the everyday infrastructure of the neighbourhood for generations, where people washed, swam, worked, met, learned, gathered and built quiet forms of connection across difference. Through stories of workers, families and neighbours from different waves of migration, the exhibition traces how the Baths became woven into the social life of Govanhill.
Drawing on the Govanhill Baths Archive, the exhibition brings together original protest banners and pool artifacts alongside photographs, films, textiles and community voices, asking how ordinary acts of care become extraordinary acts of civic imagination.
Presented as part of Greater Govanhill’s Community Canvas space at Tramway.