Free images to use

The Dundee Tapestry is celebrating its ongoing popularity with visitors from near and far by adding three new panels and a move to a larger exhibition space at V&A Dundee from Saturday 15 February.

To mark the occasion, folk singer Sheena Wellington, who features in the Dundee Music and Dundee Women panel will sing a series of traditional Dundee songs along with Aileen Carr, Barbara Dymock, Chris Marra and Lynne Campbell at a free celebration event on Saturday 15 February from 14.00 at V&A Dundee. This event is free to attend and open to everyone.

The three new panels, stitched by Sandra Allstaff, Jean Davidson, Christine Don, Cath Gardiner, Ervin Mackie and Lynne Potts tell the story of Shipbuilding, Factory Life and Doon the Toon and celebrate more of Dundee’s unique stories.

The finished Dundee Tapestry was revealed for the first time in January 2024 with 86,000 people coming to V&A Dundee whilst the tapestry was on display between January and April last year. A further 63,000 people have visited the museum since the tapestry opened for a second time in November 2024. The updated tapestry exhibition will remain on display until 6 April 2025.

Dr Frances Stevenson, senior lecturer at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, said, “We're thrilled to add three new panels to the original 35. Thanks to the valuable feedback we received from the public earlier this year, suggesting new topics, we knew we had to include them! The stitchers were excited about the idea and quickly created three more fantastic panels."

The three new Dundee Tapestry panels, stitched by Ervin Mackie, Lynne Potts, Christine Don, Jean Davidson, Cath Gardiner and Sandra Allstaff tell the story of Shipbuilding, Factory Life and Doon the Toon. The new additions celebrate more of Dundee’s unique stories.

Illustrating Dundee in the 20th century, the Factory Life panel explores the different factories in Dundee from Timex and Valentine’s to NCR and Levi’s. These factories provided thousands of locals with jobs and recalls daily life on the production line. Doon the Toon is a nostalgic look at shopping in the city-centre when people dressed up to visit iconic department stores, where the city centre was bustling with iconic shopfronts. This panel spotlights landmarks in the city centre from the 1870s to the 1980s including some that still exist today such as the Pillars Clock.

The Shipbuilding panel highlights the city’s industry that produced a variety of vessels from small fishing boats to three-masted sailing ships. The panel depicts the expansion and evolution of the city’s docks. It details life below deck, women’s roles in the shipyards and the industry’s reliance on other local trades.

John Fyffe MBE , Joint Lead and Project Manager, said. “ When this project started out our aim was to produce 5-10 panels depicting Dundee and its contemporary history created and stitched through the eyes of Dundonians. It soon became apparent that this number was inadequate to capture the richness, history and heritage of this great city and so we expanded the number to 35. We are really looking forward to presenting the updated tapestry to the people of Dundee from Saturday 15 February.

Pip Mitchell, Programme Assistant at V&A Dundee said “V&A Dundee is delighted to celebrate the power of embroidery and local spirit through this remarkable project.The updated display also includes an interactive stitch table inviting visitors to try out their own embroidery skills. There are Tapestry colouring-in sheets available for families to pick up and visitors can add their own stitch to an embroidery canvas within the display.”

A limited-edition V&A Dundee Tapestry kit, with everything needed to complete your own finished embroidery is now available from the V&A Dundee shop.

The Dundee Tapestry is free to visit and on display at V&A Dundee until Sunday 6 April. Further information about Sheena Wellington’s event can be found here: https://www.vam.ac.uk/dundee/whatson/events/sing-the-tapestry-with-sheena-wellington-and-friends