Verdant Works announces special 30th anniversary exhibition - and visitors can help shape it
- Andrew Batchelor
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Verdant Works Museum is preparing to celebrate its 30th anniversary with a major new exhibition - and visitors are being invited to help create it.
Dundee Heritage Trust has announced The Fabric of Dundee, a special year-long exhibition opening on 16 September to mark three decades since Verdant Works officially opened as a museum.
The exhibition will showcase jute-related artefacts and historic images from the Trust’s nationally significant collections, telling the story of Dundee’s world-famous textile industry and the people behind it.
But before the exhibition opens, the public will have the chance to directly influence what appears in it through a new project called Weaving Our Story.
From 19 May until 6 September, visitors to Verdant Works Museum will be able to vote on which artefacts, photographs and objects should be included in the anniversary exhibition.
Items selected by Dundee Heritage Trust’s curatorial team include images of jute workers, mills decorated for celebrations, machinery in operation, spinning award certificates and even a dress made from jute sacks.
The project will also give visitors a rare glimpse into parts of the Trust’s extensive jute collection that have never been publicly displayed before.
Alongside the exhibition project, Dundee Heritage Trust is also encouraging people to share personal memories and oral histories connected to Dundee’s jute industry.
Anyone with stories about life in Dundee’s mills or memories linked to the city’s textile past is being invited to contact the Trust’s curator David Reid.
Sophie Hinde, Heritage Manager at Dundee Heritage Trust, said: “We are thrilled to be opening ’Weaving Our Story’ and inviting our wonderful visitors and supporters to help us create our upcoming 30th Anniversary exhibition.
“We hope to gather a better understanding of the impact of the jute mills on Dundee and its inhabitants and boost our collection of personal insights into the industry.
“The museum was opened 30 years ago with the aim to preserve the memory of the jute industry, and we are proud to be continuing this work today.”
The anniversary celebrations will also include the launch of Threads of Dundee, a new dedication gallery opening on 16 September.
The space is being created as a place of remembrance and reflection for people connected to Dundee’s textile and weaving heritage, while also supporting the continued preservation of Verdant Works and its collections.
Visitors will be able to leave tributes, memories and messages connected to Dundee’s jute story while also contributing donations towards the upkeep of the A-listed mill building.
Catriona Yates, Development Manager at Dundee Heritage Trust, said: “This new gallery which is to be opened on 16 September and named Threads of Dundee represents all that our local and global community love about Verdant Works.
“It offers a space for anyone who feels a connection to the mills, or the textile and weaving heritage of Dundee to make their mark in a lasting, tangible way.”
Verdant Works first opened as a museum in 1996 after Dundee Heritage Trust transformed the former mill from a derelict scrap metal yard into an interactive attraction dedicated to Dundee’s industrial and jute history.
Today the museum attracts more than 11,000 visitors annually from around the world and has repeatedly received Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards.
By visiting Verdant Works during the Weaving Our Story project, members of the public will be able to help shape this landmark exhibition while contributing their own memories to Dundee’s ongoing story.
