V&A Dundee to represent UK at Milan Triennale

The new V&A Museum of Design Dundee is to be the official UK representative at the XXI Milan Design Triennale, which opens in April and is expected to attract up to 500,000 visitors.

V&A Dundee will present “Adventures in Design,” a specially commissioned comic strip created by Will Morris and David MacKenzie which tells the story of some of the UK’s most exciting design innovations.

Now under construction, V&A Dundee will be the first V&A museum built outside of London and it has a declared mission “to enrich lives through inspiring people and promoting their understanding of design.”

V&A Dundee is at the heart of Dundee’s £1 billion waterfront regeneration.

The new museum is the first in the UK by Kengo Kuma, the architect responsible for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic stadium, and it will open in 2018.

The Milan show will also showcase the global success of Harris Tweed, the indigenous Scottish fabric that has enjoyed an international resurgence and now features in couture collections from major fashion houses.

Also on display will be Genes in Space, a mobile game designed in a partnership between Guerilla Tea and Cancer Research UK to help gamers process complex genetic data and help beat cancer sooner by harnessing the power of game players around the world.

V&A Dundee is representing the UK at the XXI Triennale di Milano with the support of the British Council and the Scottish Government.

The move is part of the Scottish Government’s Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design 2016.

“V&A Dundee is already very active, well before we open our extraordinary new museum to the public,” said Philip Long, Director of V&A Dundee.

“We’re taking design into schools and communities, showing people of all ages the impressive power of design to help us understand and solve problems — and improve lives.

“We’re particularly proud of the work we have already done in inspiring school pupils to become designers, and promoting the careers of emerging design talent such as Will Morris and David MacKenzie who created our fabulous Adventures in Design comic strip.”

Dundee has a long history of design innovations — including in aspirin, biomedical research, comics including The Beano and The Dandy, orange marmalade, and video games including Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto — which resulted in it becoming the UK’s first UNESCO City of Design in 2014.