Work starts at V&A museum to build Dundee exhibitions

Potential exhibitions are being drawn up for the V&A museum's new space in Dundee.

Teams have started sifting through the 4.5m items in the Victoria and Albert museum's collections in London, including 17,000 relating to Scotland's design history.

The £45m project in Dundee is to focus on the country's past and future influence on design and innovation.

Bosses hope the museum could open in 2017.

Everything from furniture by architect Basil Spence to contemporary fashion by Jonathan Saunders is being considered for use in exhibitions at the V&A Dundee.

Many of the objects held by the museum have never been on display before

The Victoria and Albert museum holds more than 17,000 items relating to Scottish design history

Ghislaine Wood, senior curator at the V&A, said the museum has "very rich collections of Scottish design".

She said: "We have many thousands of Scottish objects many of them never seen by the pubic before and my job is to select the works and come up with the stories that will be told in the Scottish design gallery.

"It's a very exciting job."

Dundee City Council has opened talks with preferred contractor BAM Construction about getting building work under way on what is the centrepiece of a £1bn regeneration project of the city's waterfront.

Moira Gemmill, director of design, exhibitions and future planning at the V&A, said the project itself was proof of the impact of design.

Exhibits are being designed including historic objects and more contemporary items

"It's always our intention to engage with the widest possible audiences and to make sure our collections and our interpretation of those collections reaches the widest possible audience," she said.

"Another very important issue, I believe, is the power of design to change people's lives and to change their perceptions of a place.

"Establishing this project in Dundee will be a focal point for the wider regeneration of Dundee's waterfront, proving that design can make an enormous difference."

Plans for the museum include a permanent installation celebrating the history of Scottish design, alongside other international touring exhibitions.

The museum is the centrepiece of a £1bn regeneration of Dundee's waterfront

Philip Long, director of V&A Dundee, doesn't believe the story of Scotland's influence on design over the ages has been fully told.

He said: "How many people are aware that Ian Callum, who's from Dumfries and trained at the Glasgow School of Art, is head designer at Jaguar?

"His brother is the head of design for Ford.

"These are extraordinary success stories, and we want to create a place that celebrates that achievement and inspires others to get involved, who might think they have a creative future themselves if they have an understanding of how good we are at it."