Relay ‘has potential to inspire’

V&A Dundee has launched the Scottish Design Relay — a national project inspired by a selection of objects visitors will see when the new museum opens.

The relay, which will start i n Dundee before travelling to five other parts of Scotland, aims to encourage and nurture a new generation of designers.

In each location, a group of young people will work alongside local designers and be introduced to an object with a link to their community.

These include museum exhibits such as a 100-year-old ‘ hooded’ Orkney chair, a model of the Dounreay Fast Reactor and a Fair I sle j umper once worn by the commander-in-chief of t he British Home Forces.

Taking these objects as their inspiration, the young people will then develop new designs and create prototypes that will also be displayed at V&A Dundee when it opens next year.

Director of V&A Dundee Philip Long said: “When V&A Dundee opens next year Scotland will, for the first time, have a museum exclusively dedicated to design.

“Our galleries will be home to a great array of objects that will tell the story of Scotland’s fantastic design heritage.

“The Scottish Design Relay highlights just how special and varied this collection will be and — even more excitingly — has the potential to inspire a new generation of designers.”