The V&A Museum of Design will open in Dundee on September 15, officials have confirmed.
Construction on the exterior has been completed with work fitting-out the interior commencing in February. The £80.1 million museum was designed by architect Kengo Kuma and is the only V&A museum located outside of London.
The V&A Museum of Design will feature permanent galleries of Scottish design, as well as an international programme of changing exhibitions showcasing design from around the world.
The first travelling exhibition will be Ocean Liners: Speed & Style, which will examine the golden-age of sea travel. More than 250 objects will be on display in the museum’s temporary exhibition gallery.
At the heart of the museum will be the Scottish Design Galleries, which will tell the story of Scotland’s design heritage. Curated in collaboration with the V&A in London, the galleries will be free to enter and feature around 300 covering architecture, ceramics, engineering, fashion, furniture, healthcare, jewellery, textiles, videogame design and more.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Oak Room will be displayed prominently, with the 13.5-metre long panelled room fully restored. Originally designed for Miss Cranston’s Ingram Street tearooms in Glasgow in 1907, it was placed in storage in hundreds of pieces nearly 50 years ago.
The Michelin Design Gallery will showcase contemporary design, starting with an exhibition of the museum’s pre-opening national project, the Scottish Design Relay. It will display design prototypes created by young people in communities across Scotland.
The museum will also include dynamic learning spaces, a design residency studio, a multi-purpose auditorium and a restaurant.
Philip Long, Director of V&A Dundee, said: “V&A Dundee brings something new to Scotland. It is the country’s first museum dedicated to design, which visitors will be able to experience and get involved with in very many ways.
“Particularly important is that the new museum enables major V&A exhibitions to be seen more widely by more people across the UK. So I am especially excited that part of V&A Dundee’s opening programme will be the breath-taking exhibition Ocean Liners: Speed & Style, the first of many ambitious exhibitions at V&A Dundee that will show how our lives have been – and always will be – shaped by design.”
Images: V&A Dundee Museum of Design
