Art & Culture

Dr Stacey Hunter, Creative Director Dundee Design Festival with some of the exhibition materials donated by V&A Dundee photo by Grant Anderson

- Festival Creative Director Dr Stacey Hunter reveals how every festival action and decision is assessed on a festival sustainability matrix as new partnerships are developed for renewable energy, transport and exhibition staging
- V&A Dundee and Bard donate materials from exhibitions Tartan and The Grit and the Glamour to help Dundee Design Festival meet target of no more than 30% of new materials
in the festival build
- Festival venue Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc (MSIP) powered by green, and sustainable energy sources and electric bus company Ember will provide emissions free public transport to the festival

Dundee Design Festival have revealed their commitment to creating one of the world’s most sustainable design festivals ahead of the 5th edition of the festival which takes place from 23 - 29
September.
Partnerships with V&A Dundee and Bard to repurpose exhibition materials, Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc to power the festival site with a mix of green and sustainable energy sources , and Ember to provide electric public transport, are the first stages for the festival which also has a commitment to using no more than 30% of new materials in the festival build.
Dundee Design Festival 2024 (DDF 24) will celebrate the city's 10th anniversary as a UNESCO City of Design by working with local and international partners to present an ambitious and optimistic programme of design-centred exhibitions, events and projects. Dundee was the first and remains the UK’s only UNESCO City of Design, one of a global network of 49 cities around the world. This status recognises the city’s diverse contributions to design in fields including comics, textiles, medical innovation and video games. In addition to hosting public facing design events like the biennial festival, Dundee is the only city in Scotland to have its own dedicated design museum; V&A Dundee as well as two leading art and design universities and Dundee & Angus College who co-founded the UK’s first Service Design Academy with Open Change. The city has a thriving Creative Industries sector with a variety of design related businesses.
Speaking ahead of the festival Annie Marrs, Lead Officer at UNESCO City of Design Dundee said:
“We are surrounded by a strong and successful design community here in Dundee. One of the reasons Dundee was designated a UNESCO City of Design is the city’s commitment to design and
innovation driving our commitment to sustainable development. It’s natural for us to want to create one of the world’s most sustainable design festivals and ensure that the best in design is
showcased to as many people as possible.
Our festival’s Creative Director, Dr Stacey Hunter is committed to applying a design process to every element of decision making around what we do and don’t include in the festival. By creating a matrix for decisions around sustainability Stacey has helped us to centre our core values and work towards achieving our sustainability goals.
There is lots of great work being done in this field, but the impact of temporary festivals can be significantly negative on our environment. I believe that DDF 24 can be a case study in how cultural organisations and businesses can collaborate to lower their collective carbon footprint.
Everything we do is shaped by the values of the UNESCO Creative Cities mission statement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Whenever we embark on a project, we ask ourselves
‘What difference will this make?’ and we consider how what we do locally helps to achieve a global impact.”

Amy McKenzie and Isabelle Bakam of Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc sort some of the exhibition materials donated by V&A Dundee photo by Grant Anderson

Creative Director and festival curator Dr Stacey Hunter said:
“We are developing partnerships with a variety of organisations who share our values around sustainability and the value of design. It's been a really exciting phase for us as we, as a team, push ourselves to minimise waste and maximise opportunities.
As details have emerged about our amazing site at MSIP and our sustainability goals, design-centred organisations like V&A Dundee and Bard reached out to us with generous offers of
materials and infrastructure. For me as a designer and a curator this is a natural way of doing things in Scotland. We are a tight-knit community and Scotland has always been known around the world for its capacity for frugality! Any kind of waste is something that most people working in design are always keen to eliminate and the partnerships we are developing are symbolic of that urge to be efficient.
One of the biggest insights I have taken away from working with designers who are tackling sustainability through all sorts of lenses - from toxicity to circularity - is that sustainability is a
journey. Eco-shaming is holding people back from trying to improve and taking risks. It's important to think about a project holistically and stay flexible. Our decision to hold the festival all under one roof at Scotland's biggest innovation parc was the first step; underpinning all activities at MSIP is a collaborative approach to achieve the goal of net zero so it's the perfect environment for us to learn and grow. We are working with designers who are pushing the boundaries of their own practice and through conversations with them about their work we're able to strengthen our knowledge.
Specifically for DDF, I have been mapping potential materials and manufacturers in Dundee to determine the most viable materials, in terms of availability, infrastructure, and the lowest carbon options for constructing our festival infrastructure. Transforming low value available materials into something beautiful sometimes takes longer but thanks to MSIP I have the longest install period for a show I've ever had! Material choices and production will be as sustainable and non-polluting as possible – including designing for deconstruction and onward reuse. That means we will be designing in a way that maximises the possibility for us to reuse our displays at future festivals.”
As well as a drive to re-use as much material as possible, Stacey has developed a materials palette guiding the festival’s overall aesthetic from items which can be borrowed or reused such as breeze-blocks, Heras fencing, scrap timber and bricks. All of which will help Dundee Design Festival achieve their sustainability goals of using less than 30% virgin materials.
Speaking in more detail about the collaborations and process involved in developing one of the world’s most sustainable design festival, Creative Director Dr Stacey Hunter also said:
"The beauty and the challenge at MSIP is the scale of the spaces. We need to use all of the available infrastructure and lighting conditions to our advantage whilst ensuring we have a
harmonious and exciting balance of dark and light, height, density, volume, massing and porosity.
We are working with renowned lighting designer Emma Jones to use lighting to demarcate vantage points, cluster areas and quiet zones which will enhance visitor experience and encourage a sense of anticipation, hospitality and conviviality. These are all techniques that are regularly employed by interior designers and for me, they demonstrate how you can design a space with far less consumables like paint, mdf or acrylic.
When I received the Tartan exhibition infrastructure from V&A Dundee, I had to reimagine it in a completely new configuration for our festival so that it feels fresh and original. I'm working with an excellent designer and fabricator Louise Forbes - she is great at devising the minimum amount of framework required to add to the structures we have.
Festivals are the ideal platform to experiment with more sustainable approaches. I feel confident that our visitors will fully support the decisions we are making as a team and will hopefully feel
empowered to make more sustainable choices for themselves whether it's DIY at home or a gardening project.”
Caroline Grewar, Director of Programme, V&A Dundee said: “It was extremely important to us from the outset that the Tartan exhibition infrastructure was designed and built to have a life beyond its initial 9-month run at V&A Dundee. We are delighted that the exhibition materials will now have a second home at this year’s Dundee Design Festival less than 5 miles away from the museum, and we can support the festival team in achieving their sustainability goals of using less than 30% new materials.”

Exhibition materials from V&A Dundee’s Tartan exhibition which will be repurposed for Dundee Design Festival 2024 photo by Grant Anderson

Harvey Morgan Founders Associate with Ember said:
"We are looking forward to working closely with the festival to promote sustainable travel to the venue at the Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc. Using Ember's all-electric public bus services will be the most convenient way to reach the festival from all across Scotland, with services running direct to MSIP from Dundee City Centre, as well as from cites across the Central Belt including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, and more."
Dundee Design Festival is Scotland’s largest design event. Curated by Local Heroes founder Dr Stacey Hunter, the 5th Festival embraces Multiplicity as its theme. This year’s ambitious
programme will take over 10,000sqm of space at Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc hosting a week of free exhibitions, activities and immersive installations.
The former factory will be home to work by over 100 designers, each celebrating local, national and international design talent. Showcasing the diversity of design, the festival will recognise the
multiplicity of ways that designers and makers contribute to our world. Powered by clean and renewable energy, the festival’s ambition is to be one of the world’s most sustainable design
events.

Listings Information:  Dundee Design Festival 2024, 23 - 29 September
Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc, Baldovie Rd, Dundee DD4 8UQ

Full programme of free events and exhibitions announced in July 2024. dundeedesignfestival.com
For further information and updates about the festival go to dundeedesignfestival.com   @dnd_designfest
 

 Europe’s first major exhibition on kimono opens to the public on Saturday 4 May at V&A Dundee.
 
Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk presents the kimono as an iconic garment and a dynamic, ever-evolving icon of fashion, tracing the influence of the kimono from 17th century Japan to present-day cutting-edge couture and street fashion across the world.
 
In the exhibition, rare 17th and 18th century kimono are displayed alongside modern designs from Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, and Alexander McQueen. The kimono’s recent reinvention on the streets of Japan is also explored through work by a new wave of contemporary designers and stylists.
 
Arguably the ultimate symbol of Japan, the kimono is revered within the country as the embodiment of national culture and internationally regarded with fascination. This symbolic status, and the fact that its basic form has remained consistent over the centuries, means that that the kimono is often viewed as a simple, timeless garment. Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk counters that conception, revealing how the kimono has always been a dynamic item of fashionable dress that has been restyled consistently throughout its history, influencing modern fashion and popular culture, from evening wear and festival fashion, to rock stars and Star Wars.
 
Highlights of the exhibition include a kimono created by Living National Treasure Kunihiko Moriguchi, contemporary designs from L’Wren Scott’s 2014 collection, and a kimono owned by Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury worn whilst at home. Designs by Yves Saint Laurent, Rei Kawakubo and John Galliano reveal the kimono’s role as a constant source of inspiration for fashion designers. Paintings, prints, film, dress accessories and other objects feature throughout the exhibition, providing additional context to the fascinating story of the style, appeal and influence of the kimono.
 
Overall, almost 300 works are featured, including kimono especially made for the show, with three-quarters drawn from the V&A’s collections and the rest generously lent by museums and private collections in Britain, Europe, America and Japan.

This is the final opportunity to see these rare works together on the last stop of the Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk international tour running at V&A Dundee from 4 May until 5 January 2025.

The exhibition is split into three parts, beginning in the mid-17th century when a vibrant fashion culture emerged in Japan. The increasingly wealthy merchant classes demanded the latest styles to express their affluence, confidence and taste, while leading actors and famous courtesans were the trend-setters of the day. The simple structure of the kimono focused attention on the surface, allowing for the creation of sumptuous patterns using sophisticated techniques.

The first section of the exhibition, ‘Kimono In Japan’, explores these designs and shines a light on a fashion-conscious society not dissimilar to today’s, in which desire for the latest look was fed by a cult of celebrity and encouraged by makers, sellers and publishers. Kimono were first exported to Europe in the mid-17th century, where they had an immediate impact on clothing styles. Foreign fabrics were also brought to Japan and incorporated into kimono. Rare survivors from this early period of cultural exchange, including garments made in Japan for the Dutch and kimono tailored from French brocade and Indian chintz, are on display to reveal the fluid fashion relationship between East and West that resulted from the global trade network.
 
‘Kimono In The World’ reflects the worldwide craze for Japanese art and design in the late 19th century. Kimono bought from department stores such as Liberty & Co. in London were worn by those wishing to express their artistic flair. Japan responded by making boldly embroidered ‘kimono for foreigners’, while the domestic market was transformed by the use of European textile technology and chemical dyes. The kimono’s biggest impact on western fashion came in the early 20th century, when designers such as Paul Poiret, Mariano Fortuny and Madeleine Vionnet abandoned tightly-corseted styles in favour of loose layers of fabric that draped the body. This was part of a broader fascination with East Asia which can be discerned in jewellery and dress accessories of the period.
 
‘Kimono Transformed’ shows how the kimono has continued to inspire fashion designers around the world. The potential of the garment to be translated and transformed is seen in designs by Thom Browne, Duro Olowu and Yohji Yamamoto. The kimono’s timeless, universal quality has also made it the ideal costume for film and performance. The display includes the outfit worn by actor Toshirō Mifune in Sanjūrō, the film that George Lucas acknowledges as the inspiration for the costumes worn in Star Wars and Oscar-winning costumes from Memoirs of a Geisha. Japan is also witnessing a resurgence of interest in kimono. Jōtarō Saitō designs kimono couture for the catwalk, Hiroko Takahashi seeks to bridge the divide between art and fashion, and more casual styles are created by small, independent studios such as Rumi Rock and Modern Antenna.
 
Anna Jackson, curator of Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk, said, “Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk explores the aesthetic, social and sartorial importance of the kimono. This iconic garment is generally viewed as a timeless and traditional costume. We counter that conception by showing that kimono have always been highly dynamic garments, at the heart of a fashion culture that has thrived in Japan since the 1660s. The exhibition reveals how kimono fashion has been translated across cultural and geographic boundaries and has had a major impact on global dress styles for nearly 400 years.”
 
Kirsty Hassard, V&A Dundee curator, said, “A lot of the clothes we wear today are indirectly inspired by kimono in the way that it changed the silhouettes designers were crafting, particularly in the 20th century. We hope visitors will enjoy gaining insight into the importance the kimono has had on global fashion, and the unique experience of seeing the Kimono exhibition within the Japanese-Scottish inspired architecture of V&A Dundee on the final stop of its international tour.”
 
Leonie Bell, Director of V&A Dundee, said, “V&A Dundee by the banks of the Tay is a Scottish-Japanese building and it sets the stage perfectly for Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk. Architect Kengo Kuma took inspiration for the V&A Dundee building from the rocky cliffs of eastern Scotland’s coastline, the maritime heritage of Dundee, and places of worship in ancient Japan. “Opening Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk at V&A Dundee celebrates kimono’s enduring place in fashion design history and contemporary culture, whilst also offering us an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate Scottish-Japanese cultural bonds, spanning hundreds of years and influencing art, design, fashion and architecture to engineering, food, gardens, film, animation, music and more.”
 
V&A Dundee have a range of activities inspired by the exhibition running throughout the year, including a free Educators Preview on 16 May; Kimono Unwrapped: Curators Talk on 7 June, and 30 days of free family workshops inspired by Japanese pop culture and play with comics, origami, toys and videogames running daily during the school holidays from 6 July to 4 August.
 
A Japanese-inspired Afternoon Tea will also launch on Saturday 4 May to complement the exhibition. Tatha Bar & Kitchen at V&A Dundee have paired the traditional afternoon tea offer with Japanese inspired flavours, including miso caramel and white chocolate tart, matcha and vanilla cake, and a selection of savoury treats delights including miso soup and crispy fried kataifi prawns.
 
Pre-loved kimono jackets are available from the Shop at V&A Dundee,  alongside new collaborations with Scottish designers, Hayley Scanlan and Claire McVinnie. Claire McVinnie has created an exclusive collection of laser cut wooden fan brooches using chiyogami silk screen traditional washi paper, and fashion designer Hayley Scanlan has re-made her best-selling shoulder bag using a Japanese inspired fabric. The official Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk book by Anna Jackson and Josephine Rout, featuring over 250 illustrations, is also available from the V&A Dundee shop.
Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk – V&A Dundee Shop (vandadundee.org)
 
Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk open from Saturday 4 May 2024 until 5 January 2025 at V&A Dundee.
Tickets £7 to £15. £2 discount when booking online. Members, and 18s and under, go free.
https://vam.ac.uk/dundee/whatson/exhibitions/kimono

1st April - 3rd September

Introducing Discover Dundee:  your official guide to the City of Discovery

Back for it's second year running, Dundee's only open-top sightseeing tour will run daily from 1st April until 3rd September 2023.  Climb up-top to enjoy the best views, feel the wind in your hair, and bask in the blue skies of Scotland's sunniest city.  There's so much to see and do as you travel around town - so join Discover Dundee and Xplore Dundee at your own pace.

Read more about the tour - here are the highlights:

• Journeys run every half-hour, seven days a week
• Hop on and off to visit must-see landmarks and attractions
• Enjoy the vista from Dundee Law and skyline views from the Tay Road Bridge
• Tickets last all day, and are available/valid on all Xplore Dundee buses
• Learn and laugh with a full audio commentary

The basics

Open-top buses run every half-hour during the day, seven days a week.  And the tour is seasonal, running from Saturday 1st April until Sunday 3rd September. 

Tickets last all day and can be bought on the bus from the driver (using cash or contactless), or as an mTicket in the app (just search 'Xplore' in your app store).  Prices can be found on Xplore website.   And don't forget: tickets aren't limited to the Discover Dundee tour - you can use them to travel further afield on all Xplore Dundee routes and network, such as services 5/5a to Broughty Ferry.

The main stop is at Discovery Point on Riverside Drive - handily located near both the Railway Station and V&A Dundee.  When the bus is resting there between journeys, one of their friendly, knowledgeable drivers will be on-hand to answer questions, sell tickets and help you find your way.

The buses are fully accessible, with a low-floor platform and space for a wheelchair, certified mobility scooter or up to two unfolded buggies.

The tour

The full journey lasts up to 50 minutes, but you can hop on and hop off along the way to Xplore Dundee at your own pace. Check out their highlights map downloadable from their webpage. You can join the tour at any designated bus stop along the way.

From the open top deck, you'll have a unique view of all the city's must-see landmarks and attractions.  And Dundee really is Scotland's sunniest city - averaging more than 1500 hours of bright sunshine every year.  Of course, we do recognise the reality of Scottish weather from time to time, which is why (on such rare occasions...) the front section of the top deck is enclosed:  so that you can escape the elements and still see the sights.

Make sure to grab a set of complimentary headphones (or feel free to plug in your own) so that you can learn and laugh with the audio commentary guide - complete with local voice-overs, quiz questions, fun sound effects and music to really immerse you in the experience.

Discover Dundee are excited to tell the story of our city, which includes lots for locals and visitors alike to enjoy.  Learn more about the history behind Dundee's famous "Three Js", find out why Dundee rubs shoulders with cities like Berlin, Istanbul and Singapore, and so much more.

 Welcome aboard!

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V&A Dundee to present the first major exhibition in Scotland in 30 years to focus solely on tartan

Tartan (1 April 2023 – 14 January 2024) at V&A Dundee takes a radical new look at an instantly recognisable textile and pattern.

Set to be a major event in 2023’s cultural calendar, Tartan marks the 5^th anniversary of Scotland’s design museum.

Celebrating tartan and its global impact, the exhibition explores how tartan has connected and divided communities worldwide, how it has embraced tradition, expressed revolt, and inspired great works of art as well as playful and provocative designs.

Tartan at V&A Dundee brings together a dazzling selection of more than 300 objects from over 80 lenders worldwide, illustrating tartan’s universal and enduring appeal through iconic and everyday examples of fashion, architecture, graphic and product design, photography, furniture, glass and ceramics, film, performance and art.

The exhibition features loans from across Scotland and around the world, including Chanel, Dior, Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, Tate, V&A, National Museums of Scotland, National Trust for Scotland, National Theatre of Scotland, The Royal Collection, Fashion Museum Bath, the Highland Folk Museum and more, many of which are being shown together in Scotland for the first time.

Tartan’s importance and enduring appeal as a textile has been utilised by designers throughout history, with some of fashion’s most innovative and rebellious minds exercising their refined cutting skills on tartan as a fabric. This will be reflected with pieces by Chanel, Dior, Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood and Comme des Garçons, alongside the work of contemporary designers inspired by tartan including Grace Wales Bonner, Nicholas Daley, Louise Gray, Charles Jeffrey, Owen Snaith and Olubiyi Thomas.

The exhibition takes a radical new look at tartan, juxtaposing historical objects with the contemporary and is laid out in five sections where visitors can immerse themselves in the world of Tartan.

Tartan and the Grid looks at the basic structure of tartan, introduced through textiles from around the world and positioning Tartan as a set of rules to be disrupted by designers.

Innovating Tartan looks at how tartan has always been at the intersection of technical innovation. Tartan has been translated into a pattern manifested in an incredible variety of materials, from natural to the synthetic, and even glass. It covers every imaginable surface, securing its position at the forefront of art and design.

In Tartan and Identity, tartan’s global fascination including its importance to diasporic communities is examined. Also, the appeal tartan has always held for those who express themselves through their clothing, from the traditional to the radical.

Tartan and Power shows how it disrupts and conforms. A force of pride and might, used to push boundaries or maintain control in war and peacetime.

Transcendental Tartan transports visitors to new worlds and possibilities in fashion, media, performance and popular culture. The exhibition will look at tartan’s many narratives and how it is used by designers as a medium for myth and storytelling.  

In addition, V&A Dundee has asked the public to contribute to the exhibition. This will be The People’s Tartan, an eclectic selection of objects and memories that will spark recognition and nostalgia.

To commemorate this landmark exhibition, V&A Dundee has commissioned Kinloch Anderson to design a new tartan to be used as the museum's exclusive tartan and developed a range of merchandise in collaboration with designers in Scotland.

The spectrum of how tartan has been worn is covered in the exhibition, from an eighteenth-century tartan dress coat for the Ancient Caledonian Society, to a significant photograph from around 1908 of Scottish Suffragettes proudly wearing tartan sashes. From Sir Jackie Stewart’s racing helmet with its distinctive Royal Stewart tartan band, through to contemporary streetwear from Japan.

Tartan includes objects that illustrate the global translation, appropriation, reach and appeal of tartan across cultures and borders. The indigenous textiles of Indian Madras and East African Shuka cloth are explored in relation to tartan in the exhibition. Global, diasporic and even out of this world connections are represented too, with an ensemble made from Canadian Maple Leaf tartan and a fragment of MacBean tartan taken aboard Apollo 12 in November 1969 by American astronaut Alan Bean.

Paintings, including Donald Judd’s minimalist grids, Christian Hook’s oil painting of actor Alan Cumming and Gerard Burns’ portrait of the late former Scotland International rugby star Doddie Weir OBE, sit alongside the seventeenth-century image of Lord Mungo Murray by John Michael Wright.

There are items of devotion, from a fragment of tartan worn by Prince Charles Edward Stuart, now afforded relic status, to Bay City Rollers trousers, handmade by a lifelong fan.

From the sublime through to the everyday - even the humble but iconic tartan shortbread tin has been considered.

Leonie Bell, V&A Dundee Director, says:

"To mark our 5th birthday we are celebrating and challenging the history and contradictions within Scotland’s most iconic design.

“Everyone knows tartan, in Scotland and across the world, and it is linked to a hugely diverse range of identities. It is at once the pattern of Highland myth and legend, forever entwined with Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite uprising, as well as being the pattern of 1970s punks and contemporary Japanese fashion influencers.  

“Tartan lives in the worlds of high fashion and tourism souvenirs, military uniform and palaces, football stadiums and concerts. It is adored and derided, has inspired great works of art and design, and somehow can represent unity and dissent, tradition and rebellion, the past, the present and the future. 

Tartan – the instantly recognisable symbol of Scotland, a global textile of oppression, rebellion, and fashion, is major and must-see show for 2023.”

Consultant curator Professor Jonathan Faiers, says:

“The diversity that this exhibition encompasses is an indication of the significant position that tartan occupies as a visual representation of historical, political and economic shifts within society. Marked by wars and revolutions, modified by migrations and prohibitions, tartan is uniquely positioned to act as a reminder of the past whilst clothing the present.

“As tartan so richly demonstrates, textiles, from the smallest details of their pattern and construction to their global dissemination, provide rules to be disrupted with which we can understand historical transformations within society and developments in our own time.

“The intersections and spaces between warp and weft provide a textile template for the collisions, coincidences and ruptures that punctuate society.”

Mhairi Maxwell, Curator at V&A Dundee, says:

“Tartan is a design which offers a set of rules to be disrupted. The sett, warp, weft and pivot are what makes tartan’s grid instantly recognisable, even the smallest fragment. But these rules are open to infinite possibility, as experimented with by designers in fashion, technology, architecture, and many other disciplines.

“Tartan has been misunderstood. Tartan has inspired designers, artists and its consumers a world away from parochial pastiche.

It is a global phenomenon, expressing diverse ideas of belonging, kinship, nationalism, unity and resistance.”

Kirsty Hassard, Curator at V&A Dundee, says:

“Tartan has been constantly reinvented and that is incredibly important to the narrative of the exhibition. It’s a pattern and textile that stretches back thousands of years, and some of the stories the exhibition tells are 300 years old or more, but Tartan isn’t a retrospective, it is absolutely a contemporary show.

“With in excess of 300 objects from more than 80 lenders around the globe, Tartan tells the story of how this pattern has travelled and explores the connection we all have to it.”

Entry to the exhibition is free for members and 18s and under.

Tickets are now on sale at www.vam.ac.uk/dundee/exhibtions/tartan

@VADundee #VADTartan

This morning on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, Greg James revealed that Lewis Capaldi, The 1975, Raye, Niall Horan, Anne-Marie and Arlo Parks are the first acts set to perform at Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2023 which will be held in Dundee from 26 – 28 May. 

Camperdown Park in Dundee, Scotland will play host to Radio 1’s flagship live music event with over 80,000 music fans expected to attend the three day festival, over the late May bank holiday weekend. 

The first artists to be announced are (in alphabetical order):

•    Anne-Marie 
•    Arlo Parks 
•    Lewis Capaldi 
•    Niall Horan 
•    Raye 
•    The 1975  

Radio 1’s Big Weekend kicks off the UK’s festival season by bringing some of the biggest UK and international artists to cities that may not otherwise host such a large scale event, shining a light on the local area and providing a major boost to the local economy. There is always a huge demand for tickets, with the festival selling out within minutes every year.

Radio 1’s Big Weekend was originally set to go to Dundee in 2020 but due to the Covid-19 Pandemic it was unable to go ahead. This year, the BBC is working closely with Dundee City Council to put on Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2023.

Lewis Capaldi says: “I’m very excited to be playing in Dundee for Big Weekend, I never managed to get tickets last time so I’m very excited to be able to come along and enjoy it as well as playing.” 

The 1975 say: “We are looking forward to seeing everyone in Dundee for our first outdoor show of the year!”

Niall Horan says: “I can’t wait to kick off festival season at Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2023 in Dundee. See you all there!”

Arlo Parks says: “Can’t wait to be at this year’s Big Weekend! What a joy to perform for you guys in Scotlandddd”

Greg James, Radio 1 Breakfast Show host, says: “We were gutted not to come to Dundee due to the pandemic so it’s massively exciting to finally fulfil our promise this year. I was on holiday close to Dundee in the summer and decided I wanted to move there so doing Big Weekend nearby is just the first part of my cunning plan to get out of London. I’m glad Radio 1 have fallen for it.”

John Alexander, Dundee City Council leader, says: “This is an incredible opportunity for Dundee and we are looking forward to hosting such an exciting event at Camperdown Park after the disappointment of 2020’s cancellation.

“Radio 1’s Big Weekend will showcase Dundee not only to the tens of thousands of people who attend, but also the millions who will watch and listen through the BBC. We expect a huge economic boost for the area as the event has been worth millions of pounds to previous host locations.” 

Aled Haydn Jones, Head of Radio 1, says: “Radio 1’s Big Weekend always delivers the biggest and hottest artists from around the World and what better place to bring them than Dundee! We’ve got some brilliant ideas for the event this year and a few special guests who we’ll be bringing along to celebrate with us!”

Further information about Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2023, including the full line-up and ticketing details will be announced on Radio 1 in the coming months.

BBC Radio 1 will broadcast live from the festival site across the weekend, with performances and tracks available live and on demand across Radio 1’s iPlayer channel and BBC Sounds.

For more information see this dedicated Big Weekend page.

Image by Matt Rowe, courtesy of Art Night - Zadie Xa, 'Child of Magohalmi and the Echos of Creation' (2019) at Walthamstow Library, co-commissioned by Art Night, Tramway, Yarat and De La Warr.

In 2023, internationally renowned contemporary art festival Art Night will deliver its first full iteration in a city outside London - in Dundee.  In June 2023, over one packed weekend, organisers will present ten major new commissions in civic spaces across the city by internationally significant and emerging artists.  The free festival will be brought to Dundee in partnership with Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA).  The scheduled date is the evening of the 24th of June 2023.  Art Night will also collaborate with V&A Dundee;  Creative Dundee;  NeoN Digital Arts;  Cooper Gallery, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (DJCAD) at the University of Dundee;  GENERATORprojects;  Dundee City Council;  Dundee Heritage Trust, and Hospitalfield, Arbroath.

The commissions will comprise ambitious live events, installations and performances and be presented in well-known Dundee locations, bringing to audiences and participants world-class cultural opportunities in the city.

Art Night has delivered four editions of the festival in London (2016-2019) in collaboration with major partners such as The Hayward Gallery and the ICA and showing work by globally significant artists such as Barbara Kruger;  Joan Jonas;  Zadie Xa;  Celia Hempton;  Mark Leckey;  Christine Sun Kim;  Frances Stark and Alberta Whittle.  One edition took place across the UK and online (2021) during the Pandemic, including an outdoor commission by the Guerrilla Girls in Dundee, which was also installed in further sites across Scotland, England and Wales alongside other works and projects.  The Dundee festival will be the first time a full festival has taken place in a city outside London.  Since 2019, Art Night has been curated by Artistic Director Helen Nisbet, a Shetland and London based curator and a team of curators and project workers based in Dundee.

Helen Nisbet, Artistic Director of Art Night

Art Night Dundee will take place primarily around the city centre of Dundee.  Many of the commissions will be developed in partnership with local communities and the majority will be developed as co-commissions with local, national and international partners.  Local artists and arts workers will be employed by the festival.  Some works will be installed longer than the ‘festival’ weekend for audiences to engage with across the summer of 2023, and one work will be gifted to a local collection after the project ends, creating further legacy of the festival in the city.  It can be announced now that one commission will be a new work by Turner Prize winning artist Tai Shani.

Joe Namy, 'The Eighth Automobile' (2019), Live performance at Sainsbury's Rooftop in Walthamstow, commissioned for Art Night 2019 and part of the London Borough of  Culture in Waltham Forest programme. Photo by Rama Knight, courtesy of Art Night

Artistic Director of Art Night, Helen Nisbet said, “We are beyond delighted to announce that our first full national festival will be in Dundee. Dundee is an excellent city which is very close to my heart due to formative experiences in the city and the people I’ve met here.  Dundee is a tremendous venue for Art Night, it has a vibrant cultural scene and strong social history and we will collaborate with inspiring partners to commission new work by globally important artists and work with local people to deepen our knowledge of the city. Art Night will bring a festival atmosphere to the city and wider area and kick off the summer of festivals in Scotland in 2023.  I look forward to telling you more plans soon, including the artists we will work with and more about the gorgeous and rich locations works will take place within”.  The programme will be free to attend, as with every edition of Art Night.  Since its inaugural edition, Art Night has also engaged with a wide range of audiences, exhibiting work in everyday places such as libraries, parks and squares, places of worship, shopping centres and car parks.

Beth Bate, Director, DCA, added, "We're thrilled to be partnering with Art Night to bring this exciting programme of new commissions to Dundee.  Our city, with its lively visual arts scene and world class galleries and museums, is a perfect location for Art Night's first full festival outside London, and we can't wait to share the full programme with our audiences."  Art Night Dundee is funded by The National Lottery through Creative Scotland.

Kirsteen Macdonald, Visual Arts Officer at Creative Scotland said:  “This is a hugely exciting development for Dundee and art lovers across the city and beyond. Art Night Dundee is the result of excellent partnership working across the region combined with the strong artistic vision of curator Helen Nisbet.  The festival will provide a unique opportunity to support an exciting group of artists to reach new audiences beyond traditional gallery spaces, reimagining the city and bringing people together in new experiences.”

Mark Flynn, convener of Dundee City Council’s city development committee said:-  “I am delighted that Dundee will be the first venue outside London to host the unveiling of so many ambitious live events, installations and performances developed in partnership with local communities.  The city’s reputation as a visitor attraction of choice for its heritage and culture can only be cemented with the announcement of such a prestigious and creative event happening here.”

The artist line up will be revealed later in 2023.

Young people from across the city and beyond are being encouraged to become Dundee detectives during the school holidays.

Participants will be encouraged to discover an article in the window of a participating city centre business, shop or café that doesn’t fit in there.

Mark Flynn convener of Dundee City Council’s city development committee, who helped launch the competition said: “We want young people to have a bit of fun, a little challenge and at the end a chance to top up their pocket money by winning either a £30, £20 or £10 gift card.

“Clearly though there is a serious point behind this initiative and we want to make coming into the city centre a positive experience for young people that becomes a part of their life going forward.”

The 20 businesses taking part in the inaugural Discover Window Trail competition will display a numbered Sunny Dundee window sticker which will correspond to the row number on the entry form.

Budding detectives have been given a helpful hint that the rogue item may relate to #SunnyDundee, have a historical Dundee connection or be something the city is famous for.

Fully completed forms must be subitted by 5pm on Sunday October 23 to the Overgate Customer Services Desk (upper floor beside New Look) for a chance to win one of the three prizes donated by Dundee Loves Local.

Our picture shows: Eilidh Roberts of Voyager CBD, one of the participating shops, and Cllr Mark Flynn convener of Dundee City Council’s city development committee.

Dundee announces its newest arts festival - Opera Festival Scotland! 

The first festival of its kind in the country, this exciting new project, run entirely by local volunteers, is taking place at the Caird Hall in Dundee this September. Comprised of various performances from professionals and community musicians alike, masterclasses and educational workshops, there is something for everyone in the debut programme and the festival are eager for community members to both participate and enjoy. 

The largest and most unique event of the festival is the Young Artists Singing Competition. With the hopes of reaching the final to perform with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the competition received over one-hundred applications from around the UK. With four finalists selected and ready to perform in front of audiences and a high-profiling panel of judges, this certainly is an exciting opportunity coming from Dundee. 

CEO of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Alistair Mackie, says "We can’t wait to be back in the Caird Hall for the first ever Opera Festival Scotland. It’s an exciting opportunity for the RSNO to be accompanying the finalists performing in the Young Artists Singing Competition, and its brilliant to end the festival programme celebrating emerging talent". 

The festival is dedicated to promoting and encouraging talent from within the community, and are thrilled to be hosting a singing competition for non-professionals. Scotland has a rich tradition of community music, and it only appropriate to provide an opportunity for those who have great talent and enthusiasm, yet were not able to pursue music as a career. 

Verdi's grand opera Aida will be making a return to Dundee after almost twenty years! The ensemble is comprised of collaborations with Tayside Opera, National Youth Choir of Scotland Dundee and Stonehaven Chorus, along with other talented individuals from the community. This large mixture of professional, semi-professional and community singers take on the challenge of grand opera, while also celebrating the learning that comes from working with such a diverse group. The festival is incredibly proud to provide an opportunity for locals to perform a piece of music they love and in one of Scotland's most beautiful concert halls. 

What takes this Aida performance further is it is closely linked to festival education workshops, which focuses on the dramatic side of opera. High school students from across Dundee have been invited to take part in this workshop, which will focus on the various themes present in Aida, for example, love, war, feminism, slavery, which highlights how relevant opera can be in a modern-day context. The students will then have an opportunity to attend the opera itself. 

Learning and educational opportunities are also available for general members of the public. International Soprano and Chair of Voice at the Royal College of Music (and fellow Scot) Janis Kelly, will be giving a public masterclass during the festival programme. 

International organisation, Opera For Peace, are hosting a networking lecture in collaboration with Dundee University and will discuss important topics like equality and diversity while working in the arts, as well as vital career advice. 

Michael Jamieson, Festival Founder and Director, said: "A community project like this certainly takes a lot of time and work to put together, but the benefits will be seen. The festival aims to increase footfall and business to Dundee for the duration of that weekend".

"The festival will bring back a much-needed boost for the Opera community, especially as it links in with Tayside Opera, promoting this artform to youth and other community members where opera may not be easily accessed."

Please come and enjoy a weekend of entertainment and learning as Dundee premiers it's latest addition to a line-up that make the city the place to be! Box office now open and tickets available from www.operafestivalscotland.co.uk

Batman, Rupert the Bear and Minnie the Minx are just some of the much-loved characters to appear in a new University of Dundee exhibition exploring the production process underpinning the creation of comics.

Comics Stripped!  opened this week and will be on display at the University’s Tower Foyer Gallery throughout the summer.  A celebration of the world of comics, it explores how comics are made and how that process has changed over time.

The exhibition is one of several comics-themed activities taking place in Dundee as part of the Summer (Bash) Streets Festival. 

Matthew Jarron, Curator of Museum Services at the University, said, “Dundee is, of course, famous for producing comics and our students at the University have the opportunity of studying comics at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

“We were keen to explore the process of making comics, much of which has changed completely in recent years thanks to digital technology.  As well as some amazing artwork, the exhibition also features fascinating examples of scripts, printing plates, corrections, colour proofs and more.”

This exhibition has been guest-curated by Zu Dominiak, a comics creator and former PhD student at the University, who now teaches comics at De Montfort University in Leicester.  While in Dundee, Zu was an intern with the University’s Museum Services and the exhibition also features larger-than-life characters from Inside the Museum, an upcoming comic created by Zu based on the internship.

Zu added, “One of the most incredible things about being an intern at Museum Services was interacting with original comics artwork.  There are so many ways in which comics have been produced over the years, and I am very excited to share this insight with the public.”

All the artwork on show comes from the University of Dundee’s Museum Collections.  The University holds Scotland’s only public collection of original comics art, featuring both Scottish and international creators.

Comics Stripped! runs until 30 September and is open from 9.30am-6pm on weekdays. Admission is free.

More information about studying Comics at Dundee can be found here.