Materialise

Four of Scotland’s leading design studios were invited to embrace the space and ambition inherent in the festival site at MSIP. The result is a series of large scale installations inviting festival visitors to see Scottish design up close, get hands-on with materials, learn about new approaches to interior design, play with colour and fabric and even enjoy design-inspired performance.

Provocative design studio Timorous Beasties will create an immersive maze-like space framed by their iconic wallpaper design as well as hosting screenprinting sessions so that drop-in visitors can make over their own bags, fabrics or clothes.

Alicia Storie of ADesignStorie will lead a programme of workshops on sustainable interior design from a climate conscious tiny house installation that encourages the exploration of healthy materials. Visitors to The House of Wellbeing installation will also have an opportunity to discover the latest sustainable materials available to designers and makers.

Donna Wilson will welcome explorers of all ages to discover the enchanted knitted forest which is home to a host of her beloved woolly creatures. Festival goers will also have the opportunity to make their own beasties with the guidance of Donna’s Dundee based Knit Shop team as waste wool becomes transformed into creatures of wonder.

Finally Gabriella Marcella’s installation Challenging Uniformity merges play and performance with her colourful exploration of uniform design. With input from festival visitors, Challenging Uniformity will demonstrate creative expression, improvisation, activism, and customisation.

Bookends

Festival Creative Director Dr Stacey Hunter invited 20 Scotland based designers to respond to the collected writings of Bessie Maxwell and Marie Imandt, two of the first female correspondents to circumnavigate the globe in 1894 and report back to eager readers of The Courier and Weekly News. The selected designers took inspiration for their designs from the landscapes they encountered, the cultural differences the writers discovered, the impact of their writing and more.

Framework

Over 70 designs have been selected for this exhibition from an open call capturing a snapshot of Scottish contemporary design today. From Fair Isle to Dumfries and Galloway this exhibition features exhibits as diverse as aircraft seating design to insect inspired jewellery. Ceramics, sculpture, glass, furniture, sustainable fashion, jewellery and graphic design all feature, giving visitors an opportunity to see how design interacts with other creative disciplines.

Hyper-Local

2024 marks the 10th anniversary of Dundee’s status as a UNESCO City of Design recognising the city’s diverse contributions to design in fields including comics, textiles, medical innovation and videogames.

One of a global network of 49 cities around the world, the HYPER-LOCAL exhibition celebrates those international connections with a display of over 50 design objects linked to their host cities. The participating cities are; Bilbao (Spain), Dundee (Scotland), Detroit (USA), Graz (Austria), Kortrijk (Belgium), Nagoya (Japan), Queretaro (Mexico), and Wuhan (China). Designs on show include Japanese eyewear from Nagoya, Mexican craft from Queretaro, sustainably pressed vinyl records from Detroit, lighting from Bilbao, Kortrijk, and Graz, traditional masks from Wuhan and patterned furniture, stone and knitwear from Dundee.

Dundee Design Festival takes place Monday 23–Sunday 29 September 2024 at Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc, Dundee. Free entry. Visit the website for the full programme of workshops, talks and events.