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The bi-polar bogeyman

Preview of Histrionics, an exhibition on sectarianism by Roddy Buchanan which runs at Glasgow's Gallery of Modern Art from April 5 until October 28.

"It's inflammatory material," he says, "and we've deliberately not shied away from the elephant in the room.

"This is something we all live with and all have an opinion about and an art gallery is a useful place to have the debate. Much better than Sauchiehall Street on a Friday night with a chib."

For the show, Buchanan has researched his family tree and that of his wife and fellow artist, Jacqueline Donachie. One family is Catholic, the other Protestant, but in every other respect, their stories turned out to be virtually identical. "Over six generations, 80% of our families came from Ireland and yet they both see themselves as absolutely Scottish," says Buchanan. "They pitched up in Glasgow at the same time, settled in the same neighbourhoods, took up the same trades and had a similar economic journey up unto the point when they were both able to send a child to art college.

"Our stories are mirror-images of each other and that's what is so damnable about the fact there is this alienation based on creed."

Full story at Scotland on Sunday.