Pop-up V&A Dundee launched at Edinburgh International Book Festival
25 August 2016
A pop-up museum in a book was launched today (Thursday 25 August) at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
The pop-up version of V&A Museum of Design Dundee was created by designers Tessa Asquith-Lamb and Martin Baillie along with smaller kits for children to build their own pop-up museum.
Both the large pop-up book and the design kits feature inspiring items of Scottish design, ranging from the Falkirk Wheel, the world’s only rotating boat lift, to a Jaguar sports car and a traditional Orkney chair.
Today’s event in Edinburgh was the first in series of free family activities where the pop-up book and kits will be used to spark young people’s interest in design, ahead of V&A Dundee opening in 2018.
Julie Muir, Young People and Families Producer at V&A Dundee, said: “Design might seem like something abstract for children and young people, but we’ve found huge levels of engagement and excitement in the workshops we’ve run to date.
“Design is about creativity and improving the world around you, and our pop-up museum in a book is a great way to introduce children to inspiring examples of Scottish design that can help them think about their own interests and creativity.
“The pop-up museum includes beautiful paper-cut versions of everything from Dennis the Menace to catwalk fashion, showing how diverse Scottish design is and the wide range of ways design creativity can be expressed.”
The project was supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery and the William Grant Foundation and is part of Scotland’s Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design 2016.
Clara Govier, Head of Charities at People’s Postcode Lottery, said: “Players of People’s Postcode Lottery support both V&A Dundee and the Edinburgh International Book Festival so we are absolutely delighted that two of our player supported charities are working together to launch this fantastic new book.”
Nick Addington, Chief Executive of the William Grant Foundation, said: "Our Foundation is interested in helping people discover Scotland’s cultural heritage in ways that inspire them to help shape its future. We’re delighted to be supporting this playful way of bringing the concept of a museum of design to life and engaging young people and families around the country in understanding design and its place in our world."
V&A Dundee has been delivering community activities since 2014, working across Scotland.
Over 12,000 people visited V&A Dundee’s first national project, the Design in Motion touring exhibition, which took the work of seven of Scotland’s most exciting contemporary designers to 85 locations across Scotland and to the V&A in London.
The first Schools Design Challenge encouraged senior school pupils to use design thinking to become ‘agents of change’ within their schools with over 7,000 people engaged in the project.
Photo Credit: Robert Perry
