Making V&A Dundee: A creative inspiration
We're celebrating everyone involved in making V&A Dundee possible. A while before we opened, the emerging building reminded Gary Gowans of a certain space opera, leading to his inspired video that went viral across the universe.
I live directly across the river from Kengo Kuma’s beautiful V&A building. I was excited to watch this exotic apparition as it appeared to grow slowly out of the river over recent years.
As the superstructure took on its iconic shape, before the distinctive cladding was applied, the smooth charcoal grey form created an imposing and ominously beautiful presence at the heart of the waterfront. It looked like something that might be imagined ‘in a galaxy far, far away’.
I made my V&A Wars video in the hope of amusing a few friends with my first Facebook post. It quickly garnered over 300,000 views and I soon found myself conducting interviews with the BBC, Radio Tay and national newspapers.
I’m extremely proud of the recent civic and cultural developments in my home city. I’m equally proud to play this very small part in the story of V&A Dundee.
Gary M Gowans is Programme Director in Graphic Design at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee.
To celebrate our nomination for Art Fund Museum of the Year 2019, we want to thank everyone involved in making V&A Dundee possible. From the initial idea, to the first visitor, to how we're working to make the museum the very best it can be.
