Rae-Yen Song Solo Exhibition
Tramway presents the most ambitious solo exhibition to date of Glasgow based artist Rae-Yen Song, as they transform Tramway's vast gallery space into a sub-aquatic world!
About Rae-Yen Song Solo Exhibition
| 15th Nov 2025 to 24th Aug 2026 | |
| As per opening hours | |
|
Tramway 25 Albert Drive, Glasgow South Side G41 2PE |
|
| This is a free event | |
| Visit the event website here |
Tramway presents the most ambitious solo exhibition to date of Glasgow based artist Rae-Yen Song 宋瑞渊 (b. Edinburgh,1993). Song is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice is an ever-evolving exercise in world-building, informed by personal ancestral mythologies, Daoism, diasporic-futurism, family ritual, more-than-human politics, and science fact-fiction.
Rae-Yen Song will transform Tramway’s vast gallery space into a sub-aquatic world shaped according to the ancestral logics of the Song family, which serves simultaneously as a spectacle, a memorial and a refuge. Weaving history, memory and imagination, the project will immerse visitors in a phantasmagoric watery abyss populated by ancestral characters. The exhibition includes an array of newly commissioned artworks in sculpture, textiles, printmaking, sound, light and moving image. These artworks are entangled in the architectural embrace of an immense, ethereal creature which stretches out across the gallery space, drawn from the artist’s own heritage and family mythology.
Central to the exhibition is the figure of tua mak 大眼 ( “big eyes” in the Teochew dialect), an ancestor - known only through Song’s familial memories and myths - who drowned at sea in Singapore at the age of thirteen. Rae-Yen imagines the watery decomposition of one body and its consumption by innumerable others, and conjures tua mak as a dispersed lifeform, cycling eternally in a process of continuous change and perpetual migration. The artist also draws on the origin tale of Pangu, the primordial being and creation figure in Chinese mythology and Daoism whose decomposing body became earthly features such as mountains, water, land, air, plants and creatures.
A series of large sculptures and built elements take a physical form which Rae-Yen sees as an embodiment of tua mak - a microbeast~pagoda, the enormous creature that fills the gallery space. Its tentacles become tunnel-like walkways for audiences to explore, and the central mantle is a sanctum to inhabit. Shifting light, and an ever-evolving soundscape created in collaboration with sound artist Flora Yin Wong, turn a physical installation into an immersive, theatrical environment, evoking a distant, dissonant world. These audio-visual elements are controlled by the microscopic lifeforms at the core of the installation - an aquatic culture transported from the Song family pond in Edinburgh. The pond itself occupies a tank within a sculptural shrine at the centre of the exhibition, nestled within the microbeast’s body - at its heart, or perhaps serving as its brain. Here, visitors will be able to dwell in communion with the living nucleus of the exhibition.
CREDITS
The exhibition by Rae Ye Song is co-commissioned by Tramway, Glasgow and FACT, Liverpool.
The film installation ≈qipond≈ [working title] is produced by Film and Video Umbrella and Tramway. Co-commissioned by FVU, Tramway, FACT, and Advanced Research Centre at the University of Glasgow, and supported by Thinking Culture, a cultural programme from the University of Glasgow’s School of Culture & Creative Arts.
The sculpture Song dynasty ○○○○, 2025 was commissioned by Creative Folkstone for the Folkstone Triennale, 25.
Tramway is supported by Glasgow Life and Creative Scotland. FVU and FACT are supported by Arts Council England. This exhibition is supported by Henry Moore Foundation Grants
Collaborators: Song family (human and pond), Michael Barr, Kiera Tucker (ASCUS Art and Science) and Flora Yin Wong
Image
Rae-Yen Song - song dynasty ○○○○ , 2025 (Folkestone Triennial, 2025) . Photo - Thierry Bal
Where possible we will update our listings to notify of cancelled, postponed and rescheduled events, however we STRONGLY ADVISE that you check with the venue/organiser in the first instance for updates.
All information (whether in text or photographs) is supplied in good faith but should not be relied upon as being a statement of representation or fact.GOT AN EVENT TO SHARE? It's free to post your events on What's On Glasgow, click here to find out more!
Want to be the first to hear about what's happening in Glasgow? Follow us on Facebook and join the What's On Scotland Group!Sponsored Links
Other Events at Tramway
Leap then Look: Play Interact Explore
Play Interact Explore is an exhibition of interactive artworks and resources created by Leap Then Look, which is artists Lucy Cran and Bill Leslie.
READ MORE
balletLORENT - Snow White
balletLORENT's family-friendly version of Snow White, for everyone aged 5+, is coming to Tramway on Friday 20th and Saturday 21st March!
READ MORE
Tim Key: Loganberry
The hugely popular poet, comedian and actor Tim Key brings his critically acclaimed show Loganberry to Tramway Glasgow in March as part of Glasgow International Comedy Festival!
READ MORE
moniqux ensemble presents Dictations - The Heart of the Sea
Through dance and live vocals, Dictations - The Heart of the Sea from moniqux ensemble explores how family and community are carried and remembered.
READ MORE
A Festival of Korean Dance 2026: Ryu and Friends - GRAVITY
Swept up by an invisible force, an eleven-strong company shakes, scatters and spins in a spectacular extra-terrestrial dance!
READ MORE
Breakin’ Convention
Breakin' Convention is coming to Glasgow in 2026! Prepare to be blown away by high-energy, world-class performances from celebrated poppers, lockers, b-boys and b-girls.
READ MORE
Gathered Together - Scotland’s International Inclusive Dance Festival
Join Indepen-dance at Tramway Glasgow for Gathered Together, a biennale festival bringing together a diverse array of leading local and international inclusive dance companies!
READ MORESponsored Links
Similar events you might like...
Studio Exhibition: Landscape Artist Of The Year Finalist
Step inside the studio of Landscape Artist of the Year finalist Libby Walker to explore her new Glasgow-inspired collection and get the inside scoop on painting for telly!
READ MORE
Monkland & Kirkintilloch - Scotland’s First Modern Railway
All aboard and celebrate 200 years of Scottish rail history with a brilliant, family-friendly exhibition telling the story of the Monkland & Kirkintilloch Railway at the Auld Kirk Museum!
READ MORE
Model Rail Scotland
Model Rail Scotland is the biggest model railway show held in Scotland and is a must for every railway enthusiast, don't miss it at the SEC Glasgow between the 27th and 29th March!
READ MORE
Night: International Photography Exhibition
For the month of April the Glasgow Gallery of Photography is showcasing the work of photographers from the UK and Internationally in an exhibition with the theme Night.
READ MORE
Texture: International Photography Exhibition
For the month of April the Glasgow Gallery of Photography is showcasing the work of photographers from the UK and Internationally in an exhibition with the theme Texture.
READ MORE
Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust Super Sundays
The Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust opens its Bridgeton Bus Garage to the public for their Super Sunday events throughout the year!
READ MORE
The Baby & Toddler Show
The UK's biggest baby and toddler show, the ultimate event for new and expectant parents, is returning to the SEC Glasgow between the Friday 17th and Sunday 19th April!
READ MORE
Glasgow Blythswood Festival
Glasgow Blythswood Festival, held between Friday 1st and Sunday 17th May, blends arts, music, performance, exhibitions, heritage and culinary delights in this celebrated area of Glasgow city centre!
READ MORE
Yardworks Festival
Yardworks Festival returns to SWG3 in Glasgow for another electrifying year on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd May, don't miss this annual celebration of graffiti, street art, culture, and community!
READ MOREFind other events in Glasgow
Sponsored Links