Entire contents of Glasgow's Centre for Contemporary Arts put up for auction

The entire contents of Glasgow’s troubled Centre for Contemporary Arts has been put up for auction.

The centre on Sauchiehall Street – which opened in 1992 – shut for good earlier this year after entering liquidation and making all staff redundant.

It came after it secured three years of funding, worth £3.4m, from arts body Creative Scotland in January 2025.

Creative Scotland announced in July that it was looking to sell the centre.

On Wednesday, the entire contents of the former arts venue were put up for auction online, with furniture, books, and film projectors among the items for sale.

The auction, on the website Bid Spotter, ends on Thursday.

In a statement on social media, the campaign group Save Our CCA said it was “devastating” to see pieces of former equipment on sale for as little as £1.

A statement read: “The entire contents of the CCA building have also been quietly put up for auction by the liquidator. For as little as £1, with an end date of Thursday 30 July, anyone can bid on entire roomfuls of furniture, books, tech, even digital and 35mm film projectors.

“All are up for sale to the highest bidder on a commercial website specialising in food processing and vehicles.

“It is devastating to see the objects and equipment used by so many of us, to produce so many events, festivals and exhibtions, carelessly parcelled up and disposed of.

“We urge you to sign and share our petition at the link in our bio to hold Creative Scotland to account for the failure to secure the building’s future as a multi-arts venue, archive and the loss of these invaluable items to Glasgow’s artists and communities.

“We also invite everyone to participate in our next protest – details coming later today.”

Responding to reports on the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow, Culture Secretary Màiri McAllan said: “I have been given concrete assurances by Creative Scotland today that the archive is not being sold as part of the auction process concluding this week.

“I have been crystal clear that the archive of the Third Eye Centre and Centre for Contemporary Arts should be retained in whole and available to the public, given its incredible cultural significance to Glasgow and Scotland. I am pleased that Creative Scotland has been working with local partners and is in contact with the liquidators to ensure a secure future for the archive in Glasgow.

“I completely understand the importance placed on the archives by many artists, creatives and by the public. They are very important to me too. I have been in regular contact on this matter with Creative Scotland and I will continue to closely monitor this situation.”