Welcome to the second article in our series aiming at igniting or re-igniting your love of textiles. Textiles are fundamental to people; they keep us warm, cool, and protected. Textiles decorate our homes and us, they express our identity and reflect cultural aspects of the time. Textiles are multi-faceted wonders! Textiles can also be rebellious, which is part of the story of tartan, the focus of an ongoing exhibition at the V&A Dundee.
“From Scotland’s oldest-known piece of tartan to a tartan-clad Xbox controller, V&A Dundee presents a radical look at a revolutionary textile” V&A Dundee website
Fig 1. Tartan at V&A Dundee 2022: X-Box controller in a tartan pattern.
Running until January 2024, the exhibition shines light on an easily recognisable textile, which is heavily focused on Scotland but reaches beyond to other parts of the world too. A contemporary part of the exhibition Fig 1. shows a games controller developed by X-box in 2022. This was to celebrate their 20th anniversary in Scotland. The tartan pattern was developed with Gordon Nicolson Kiltmakers, and weavers Lochcarron of Scotland. Using only single threads of green, black and white threads which translated into digital form for printing.
Contrast this with another exhibit showing the oldest known physical piece of tartan in Scotland, preserved in peat for centuries, see Fig 2. This fabric was found in Glen Affric, Scotland in the 20th century and is thought to be from circa 1500-1600 AD.
Fig 2. Tartan at V&A Dundee: The oldest known physical piece of tartan in Scotland circa 1500-1600, found in Glen Affric.
With its distinctive interlocking grids all based on horizontal and vertical lines tartan is one of the most categorised and recorded textiles. There are more than 11 thousand examples noted. According to the Scottish Museum of Tartan, the earliest Scottish tartan are thought to be from 3rd or 4th century AD, but in other parts of the world tartan has been found dating back to 3,000 BC. Today, as we saw in the X-box example it’s still inspiring and relevant.
Fig 3 shows a brand-new tartan created by Olubiyi Thomas as part of an installation called ‘Intersectional Family’. Olubiyi drew on a colour scheme of green and white, common to the Nigerian flag and Celtic football club which reflect the designer’s cultural heritage. The tartan was developed with Glasgow-based micro-mill VEVAR and weaver Kirsty McDougall.
Fig 3 Tartan at V&A Dundee ‘Intersectional Family’ by Olubiyi Thomas
We can’t talk about tartan without mentioning Vivienne Westwood (Fig. 4), the V&A exhibition features her work along with other fashion designers like Alexander McQueen. It also features iconic Scottish legends like Jackie Stewarts racing helmet and a portrait of rugby hero Doddie Weir (Fig 15). There is a wonderful mix of other items on display like a tartan worn by Bonnie Prince Charlie, some infamous Bay City Rollers trousers and indigenous textiles of Indian Madras. Figs 5-15 show a selection of the V&A Dundee exhibits on display, illustrating the varied applications and revolutionary ways tartan has been used.
Fig 4. Vivienne Westwood designs using tartan 2023. Courteousy of Vivienne Westwood website.
Fig 6. Tartan at V&A Dundee: Staffordshire Jacobite Teapot. 1750 - Tulloch Collection
Fig 5. Tartan at V&A Dundee: Yogi Finlay Wilson
Fig 7. Tartan at V&A Dundee: Cheddar Gorgeous in a suit designed by
Liquorice Black, 2017
Fig 8. Tartan at V&A Dundee: Charles Jeffrey ‘loverboy’ 2022.
Photo by Louie Banks
Fig 10. Tartan VA Dundee: Tartan and Power exhibit.
Fig 10 shows an outfit by Dior designed by the first female head of house Maria Grazia Chiuri in 2019. The full oversize skirt of tartan is paired with a T Shirt printed with “Sisterhood is Powerful”.
Fig 11. Tartan VA Dundee: Tartan and Power exhibit.
Fig 12. Tartan VA Dundee: Tartan Identity exhibit
Fig 14. Tartan VA Dundee: Tartan & The Grid exhibit
Fig 15. Doddie Weir, OBE b. 1970 - 2022. Rugby Player. Gerard M Burns. National Galleries of Scotland
This striking portrait of rugby legend Doddie Weir features the Doddie’5 Tartan, which Doddie used to help raise funds for motor neurone disease research.
We hope you are inspired by these words and images about tartan, if you would like to search for a particular tartan or even learn more about how you can register your own new tartan, check out the Scottish Register of Tartans. Let us know your tartan memories & stories!