A bit of culture
It seems like all days here begin in the same way - a busy stretch of the A90 and today was no exception.
Maybe the bridge in the photograph above is a clue about where we were headed? The Tay Bridge has a bit of history associated with it and it was the first thing we caught sight of as we reached the outskirts of Dundee.
Actually, our main destination was right in front of us as we began to look for a car park. We’d got tickets for the V&A museum here and its distinctive shape loomed large amongst the other visitor attractions nearby.
The bright sunshine made taking photographs tricky and the whole building seemed to be a big black shadow, losing so much of the finer detail in the dark shadow.
We sat on a bench for a while and enjoyed the fine view of the Discovery which is there, adjacent to the V&A. Though the V&A were offering 30 minutes leeway either side of the timed entry, we were still a bit early and anyway, the fresh air felt good.
The design of the building is interesting in that the entrance is tucked away down a bit of a chasm - no worry about spoiling that sleek black ribbed building with anything so distracting as a door!
Inside is remarkably spacious with a wide staircase, large open walkways and what seemed like the majority of the ground floor taken up with cloakrooms, cafe and shop.
We headed upstairs towards the recommended starting point: The Scottish Design Galleries. The young man on the door suggested that this would be a great place to begin and, having got a feel for the place, we could spend the rest of our time flitting wherever we might like. How could we do better than follow his recommendation?
Stepping inside the gallery, we spotted a video introduction and stopped to watch for a few minutes. But once again, it was a woke justification for such a museum, emphasising the need to overcome the “dominant narrative” by highlighting the “violence and dispossession” that had brought us to this point. Sorry, but I was here to appreciate the best design and craftsmanship and to celebrate a wealth of skills and learn more about those who put their talents to such remarkable use and didn’t really need to be made to feel guilty once again. So I turned right around and looked at the display cabinet behind me - who knew the kaleidoscope was a Scottish invention?
This was a great exhibition with a huge variety of interesting and quirky things on display. There didn’t seem to be any order to the things on show, so a pair of Hunter wellies were there next to a stunning paisley shawl with a video game playing overhead. There were the obvious things that we’d expect to see here such as some finely woven tartan fabric and a few pieces of Caithness glass, though the emphasis here wasn’t on the commercial but on the personal connection.
I took many photos but will share just a couple of favourites, the first one being a design for a paisley shawl. Shown flat in a glass cabinet this exquisitely coloured sample proved impossible to photograph without a shadow or a reflection. A couple of the real things were hanging close by and though I took pictures of each, the reflections are dreadful!
It was only after I’d taken a photograph of my other favourite that I spotted the “no photos” sign beneath it. To be fair, I think that really applied to the framed print and associated item alongside it rather than this artwork, but suffice to say that I “confessed” my sin to the nearby docent who smiled behind her mask (I think!) and said that yes, it was one of her favourites too. I really loved the way the drawing of the otter had been translated into a design incorporating a woven pattern and how the associated poem was shown alongside. Why was photography forbidden around this piece? Well, it’s the design for the Scottish ten pound note and I guess that photography of banknotes is, for perfectly logical reasons, forbidden! So, I’ll just share the lovely drawing.
There were many other exhibits which caught my eye such as the fair isle jumper, the Shetland Hap shawl and the cartoon film of The Illusionist, so beautifully drawn and one for our must watch list when we get home. But rather than make this a slide show, let’s just say we had other things to see, another place to go and so we exited through the gift shop (as you do) where we caught sight of this cute plaything for the modern day child - no play kitchens or dolls houses here!
One more observation - two sightings in the gallery of a word which I can’t ever remember being used in a positive way: defiant. Perhaps that says more about me than the approach to the curation of this collection?
After a brief look around the rest of the building, most of which seems to be the large central space, it was time to go.
I think the walkway leading to the entrance works incredibly well on the way out though, don’t you?
Sister in law Mandy had recommended we visit the Discovery whilst we were here, but looking at the number of people waiting there, we decided to pass on that one in favour of our other “must see”.
We didn’t really know what to expect of Verdant Works except that my friend Penny had a piece of her work hanging there in the form of a panel in the Scottish Diaspora Tapestry. We parked the car and walked down a narrow street in this industrial area of the city.
Verdant Works is a former jute factory and there, inside, was the most fascinating exhibition about the jute processing which was key to the prosperity of this city - we didn’t know anything about this, nor that Dundee has been known as Juteopolis.
The offices were styled with the figures of the day; the factory manager in his glass screened office and the clerks and typists next door. The story was so well told, we were already captivated even though this wasn’t what we had come to see.
There followed a brief introduction about the cultivation and import of the raw material from the Indian sub continent before a great explanation of the process of creating a usable fibre for sacking, rope and string.
I always love the specialist vocabulary that goes with a process such as this: batching, softening, carding, drawing, roving, spinning, winding, beaming, weaving, finishing. There was one other term not shown on this panel which I’d heard but not understood: Calendering - all of this an a new word learned as well!
Feeling though we’d learned all there was to know about jute by now, it was time to find the tapestry!
The panels were all hanging in a two storey open beamed former factory workshop and the very helpful volunteers were happy to point us in the direction of the South African panels.
There in the middle of the bottom row we found Penny’s exquisite embroidery.
It was well worth the visit and made for a grand finish to our time in Dundee.
For once, we didn’t have to exit through the gift shop but for once, I chose to - because I had my eye on a couple of balls of that jute twine for a pattern I’d seen and fancied having a go at.
I offer the last (blurry…sorry) photo from the gift shop without comment….
