Collins & Goto Studio

Environmental Art, Deep Mapping & Ecological Instruments

Horse | Tree | Earth

Art · Heritage · Biodiversity. A performance, a tree planting and an exhibition by Reiko Goto Collins, Glasgow, 2026

Reiko Goto Collins smiling beside a four-wheeled carriage with wooden-spoked wheels, loaded with potted young trees
Reiko Goto Collins with the carriage and some of the trees, 2026.

Year2026

PerformanceSunday 18 October and Sunday 15 November

ExhibitionClay Café, 22 October – 20 November

WhereGlasgow: the Whisky Bond to Hamiltonhill Claypits

On this page

The project

Horse | Tree | Earth explores the image and history of equine labour in Glasgow, while asking questions about nature, culture, and what it means to work the land and restore nature within the city.

Silhouette of a horse led by a figure, pulling a cart that carries a large tree, its roots and branches spread behind

Over two days, a working horse and cart will haul trees, tools, and soil alongside an artist moving between the Whisky Bond, the canal, Applecross, and Hamiltonhill Claypits Local Nature Reserve. At the reserve, the trees will be planted with the help of friends, collaborators, and members of the community: large native trees, including pine, rowan, oak, ash, hawthorn, birch, hazel, and aspen.

The project is concerned with the forces of restoration and renewal. It brings together human and more-than-human labour, ecological restoration, and multispecies relationships, drawing attention to the ways that people, animals, plants, soil, and the city are interconnected.

Horse | Tree | Earth is an invitation to think about what we inherit from the past, what we are asked to care for in the present, and what forms of life and labour we might make possible for the future.

Come along

  • Sunday 18 October 2026 and Sunday 15 November 2026
  • 11am – 1pm: starts at the Whisky Bond, 2 Dawson Road, Glasgow G4 9SS
  • Then moves into the Claypits for tree planting. Enter from the greenspace at the corner of Firhill and Garscube Street, or from Applecross way, and walk to the pond area.

Exhibition

The project culminates in an exhibition bringing together documentation of the performance with archival images of working horses in Glasgow and beyond, spanning 1850–1950. It also features reflections from artists, performers, participants, and members of the wider community, offering different perspectives on labour, land, memory, and ecological change.

  • Clay Café, 206 Bardowie Street, Glasgow G22 5AB
  • 22 October – 20 November 2026
  • Open Thursdays 10:30am – 3pm and Fridays 10am – 4pm
  • Opening: Friday 23 October, 5 – 7pm
Three sheets of named horse silhouettes, a hanging horse tail and the Horse | Tree | Earth graphic on a white wall, above a table with two albums and a laptop showing a horse and carriage
Prints of named horses, a horse tail, the Horse | Tree | Earth graphic, the album Anonymous Horses in the City, Glasgow, Scotland, and a film.
Horse | Tree | Earth poster with dates and places
The poster.

In the making

A four-wheeled carriage with wooden-spoked wheels, loaded with young trees in pots, in front of a roller door
The carriage loaded with young trees.
Front view of the harness and bridle on the wooden frame, with a knitted ear bonnet
The harness from the front.
A long black horse tail hanging on a white wall
A horse tail.
Three sheets of black horse silhouettes pinned to a wall, each horse with a handwritten name
Horse silhouettes, each with its name.
A driving harness and bridle hung on a wooden sawhorse frame in the studio
Harness and bridle on a wooden frame in the studio.

Thanks

  • Willy Maley shared his collection of historical photographs and stories.
  • Clay Café allowed us to transform their space into an exhibition venue.
  • Easterton Farm Park encouraged and enabled all work with Darkness.
  • Lee Valentine Carriage Driving provided horse training, and support.
  • Glasgow Sculpture Studios for its support of artists and environment.
  • Hamiltonhill Claypits Local Nature Reserve for its wild nature place and extraordinary community.
  • Glasgow Women’s Library donated trees from their garden.
  • Scottish Canals provided site support and archival objects.

Lottery funded through Creative Scotland, with Glasgow Sculpture Studios and Hamiltonhill Claypits Local Nature Reserve.

Reiko Goto Collins has written about working with a horse in “Horse, Empathy and Sign” (2022) and “Listening to The Web of Life” (2023); see Publications.