V&A Dundee has announced an exciting lineup of exhibitions set to captivate visitors over the coming year.
Among these is a UK-first exhibition exploring the history of modern garden design, highlighting the significant role gardens play in our lives and their potential to shape a greener future.
Garden Futures: Designing with Nature will open on 17 May 2025. This ticketed exhibition will delve into the evolution of gardens globally, examining how they have influenced contemporary garden design and how these outdoor spaces can inspire a more sustainable and imaginative future. The exhibition will showcase pioneering gardens and the work of international designers, landscape architects, and artists who view gardens as spaces to experiment with ideas for a better world.
Leonie Bell, Director of V&A Dundee, described the exhibition as one that “unearths our deep relationship to, and delight, from gardening and gardens as places of creativity, of production and labour, of pleasure, solitude and community, as well as being places full of promise and hope for the future.”
Visitors can expect a vibrant and colourful journey through the history and future of gardens, featuring works from visionaries like Piet Oudolf, Mien Ruys, Derek Jarman, and Eelco Hooftman. The exhibition will also highlight the enduring allure of gardens, showcasing how they have inspired artists, writers, and designers such as Jamaica Kincaid, Duncan Grant, and William Morris.
In addition to the global perspective, Garden Futures will feature community-led projects in Scotland, including Maxwell Community Garden in Dundee and Oban’s Seaweed Gardens, alongside the work of renowned figures like Charles Jencks and Arabella Lennox-Boyd.
Another major exhibition, A Fragile Correspondence, will open on 22 November 2024. This free exhibition offers a journey through three Scottish landscapes, exploring the complex relationship between land, architecture, and language. Originally representing Scotland at the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2023, this will be the first time the full exhibition is displayed in Scotland.
Commissioned by the Scotland + Venice partnership, A Fragile Correspondence was curated by a creative team including the Architecture Fringe, -ism magazine, and /other. The exhibition seeks to find new ways of working in harmony with the land, rather than imposing upon it.
The Dundee Tapestry returns in November
Lastly, the Dundee Tapestry will return to the Michelin Design Gallery at V&A Dundee on 1 November 2024. The tapestry, which first went on display earlier this year, attracted over 86,000 visitors.
It tells the story of Dundee’s industrial heritage, creative achievements, biodiversity, and people through 35 intricately hand-stitched panels, created by a community of over 140 volunteer stitchers.
Leonie Bell expressed her excitement at the return of the tapestry, stating,
“We’re absolutely delighted that the Dundee Tapestry will return in November, bringing a new opportunity to celebrate the work of the 140-strong community of stitchers who created each of the 35 beautifully made panels. Stitch by stitch, the Dundee Tapestry tells the stories of the people, places and moments that made and changed Dundee, and brings so much joy to all those who see it.”
These exhibitions promise to offer visitors a rich and diverse experience, celebrating the ways in which design shapes our lives and environments.
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