Giant Mackintosh-inspired artwork unveiled on Finnieston Crane

Sun, July 26, 2026 at 1:36 PM UTC

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Hannah Rozenberg (left) and Emer Tumilty collaborated on the new sculpture

A large sculpture inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh's famous roses has been hoisted onto Glasgow's iconic Finnieston Crane to mark the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Games organisers said the artwork - which has a diameter of 10m - would serve as a tribute to Glasgow's artistic heritage, and to the crane's status as a landmark in the city.

Local artist Emer Tumilty was tasked with creating a "reimagining" of the roses motif created by 19th Century architect and designer Mackintosh, that could then be suspended from the crane and provide an addition to the Clydeside.

It was unveiled just prior to the opening ceremony of the Games at the OVO Hydro.

Tumilty told BBC Scotland News the commission had been quite a challenge initially, due to the fame of the roses design, created by Mackintosh and his wife Margaret McDonald Mackintosh.

She said: "It was quite daunting at first, because the rose is an iconic symbol of Scottish culture, but I just started to enjoy the process and then be quite playful with it. Hopefully if they were around today they would appreciate it.

"It's really a reimagined rose for the Games."

The sculpture was a collaboration between Tumilty - who studied at the School of Art in Glasgow and has lived in the city ever since - and the creative studio Newsubstance.

The studio's Hannah Rozenberg said: "We were thinking what would be a good sculpture for the Games, and the crane is such a symbol of the city.

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"We did not want to simply directly recreate something that is already existing, like the Mackintosh rose, but instead find a reinterpretation of it, done in a contemporary way.

"So it is a great pairing of two symbols, with the rose and the crane."

The commission came about through the Glasgow 2026 Festival - a 10-week celebration of the city's creativity, culture and communities that is running alongside the Games.

Both Rozenberg and Tumilty work digitally, which meant that when the sculpture actually began to be constructed they were taken aback by the scale of it.

Tumilty said: "I can't believe how big it is and I'm in awe of all the work and labour that has gone into making it.

"It feels like a lovely moment to showcase Glasgow, across all its culture and art. Hopefully the Games can help it come to life and share the best of what it has to offer. It's really a celebration of the city and its people."

Rozenberg added that one of the biggest challenges was making sure the artwork would be suitable for whatever varied weather conditions Glasgow throws at it in the next several days.

She laughed: "The crane is an amazing site, but it also gets quite windy there. So we needed to create something that feels quite lightweight and visually very elegant but also robust for all kinds of weather."

The Games began earlier, with the first set of bowls fixtures held prior to the opening ceremony itself.

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