ACT UP day of events

From giant condoms and political funerals to die-ins and blockbuster campaigns for PrEP and affordable HIV prevention, AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) has transformed healthcare through fearless direct action, including the work of ACT UP in Glasgow and Edinburgh. This day of events shines a light on that work. 

All events are free but ticketed, and recommended for ages 16+

Beautiful Trouble - Build your Art-Activism Treasure Chest with Dan Glass
11am - 1pm
Free but ticketed  

ACT UP activist, author and Beautiful Trouble trainer Dan Glass will lead this dynamic workshop exploring the creative tactics of the legendary ACT UP AIDS activist movement. Through the United in Anger study guide, Beautiful Trouble toolbox and an international network of social movements, discover tactics and techniques of game-changing creative activism. 

ACT UP Changed Everything - Talk by Dan Glass
2 - 3.15pm
Free but ticketed  

In this inspiring talk, activist Dan Glass shares the movement's creative strategies, hard-won victories, and urgent fight for global access to lifesaving medicines, showing how bold, joyful activism can help end the HIV pandemic and build healthcare justice for all. 

Double Bill screening:
Beautiful Trouble (2023) /United in Anger: A History of ACT UP (2012)
3.30 - 6pm 
Free but ticketed 

A double bill introduced by Dan Glass from ACT UP Edinburgh

Beautiful Trouble (2023) - “Art activism is in many ways the defining form of protest of the modern era. Stepping into the void left by the terminal decline of the trade union movement, and the continuous erosion of the right to assemble mass protests, figures like Dan Glass – the subject of Christopher T. McGill’s short documentary, Beautiful Trouble – have weaponised viral irony to strike a blow against the creeping totalitarianism of late capitalism.” IndyFilm Library. Director: Christopher T McGill. Producer: Siobhan Fahey

United in Anger: A History of ACT Up (2012) - this feature-length documentary combines startling archival footage with insightful interviews from the ACT UP Oral History Project, exploring ACT UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) from a grassroots perspective: how a small group of people came together to change the world and save each other's lives. It reveals the group's complex culture, where meetings, affinity groups and civil disobedience mingle with grief, sexiness and incredible energy. Directed by Jim Hubbard and produced by Hubbard and Sarah Schulman.

These events are part of a public programme curated by Steven Grainger to accompany the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt exhibition at Tramway.

Recommended for ages 16+

Audience notes
Audiences may find the content deeply moving, emotional, or distressing, as it deals with themes of illness, bereavement, social stigma, and historical marginalisation.

Beautiful Trouble contains strong language throughout, includes frank descriptions of sex and sexual health; and accounts of a physical confrontation, depictions of direct action and civil disobedience.

United in Anger contains archival footage of AIDS related illness, death, and grief; scenes of civil disobedience and direct action including confrontations with religious and government institutions; and strong language.

ACCESS
Tramway is fully wheelchair accessible.
See more information about venue access on our Access page 

Header image - still from United in Anger: A History of ACT Up