THE Dundee festival is to honour Black History Month and showcase hit TV show costume design amongst its varied programme.
The University of Dundee run Festival of the Future will see 29 events taking place in venues across the City of Discovery, from October 9 to 13.
The festival has centred the events around a theme of ‘connections’ and hopes to explore the links that bring together art, design and other disciplines studied across the university.
One event on the programme, In Conversation: Costume Design and Film is a showcase of the work of costume designer Jane Petrie who has worked on hit TV shows and films such as The Crown.
Petrie is to open up her Dundee-based warehouse to visitors and is set to give an insight into costume design for TV and film during a public talk.
The designer, who grew up in Newport, will engage in discussions with Anita Taylor, artist and Dean of the University’s Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (DJCAD).
Her career spans many different genres of films and TV, including working on Foundation and The Essex Serpent and movies Suffragette and Outlaw King.
Petrie said: “I’ve collected thousands of costumes over my 35-year career from 1820s outfits to contemporary.
“I want to open up my doors and create an opportunity for people to come in and see the costumes up close, touch the textiles and learn about costume design in a real working warehouse.”
It’s the sixth year the festival has taken place, which aims to showcase research and work taking place at the University through hands-on events for the wider community.
Other events include workshops on DNA and Parkinson’s as well as exhibitions of old Dundee photographs from the University’s archives.
There are also to be talks on political and environmental issues as well as family workshops on science, mini-beasts and messy play.
Artist Graeme Mortimer Evelyn will exhibit his film, The Two Coins: Mediations on Trade and lead a discussion around transatlantic slavery and its legacy.
Using historical context and research, the multimedia artist has created a character narrative around European and African slave traders and slaves.
The film was initially produced in silent and shown over the encased statue of Edward Colston, a slave trader in the 1600s in Bristol.
It then went on to be screened at various Heritage and UNESCO sites of across the world.
Evelyn has now created an audio score inspired by 18th century Caribbean music created during the height of the slave trade, which informed much of his filmmaking during production.
The music will be played for the first time alongside the film during this event, run in collaboration with the University’s Black History Month celebrations.
Evelyn said: “All the scenes were informed by this music but I wasn’t able to put musical scores onto the film because of the restrictions in place where it was originally shown, so Dundee is the first time it will be shown in the UK with sound.”
Another film by artist and DJCAD alum Katherine Fay Allan exploring gut health through a character narrative, song and dance, will also be premiered within an immersive gallery experience.
The film, Gastromancy, was inspired by the Edinburgh artist’s personal experiences of chronic pain and gastrointestinal symptoms.
Allen said: “For so long all I had was my symptoms, but this project has allowed me to open up conversations, and to tell my story and the story of others.”
Several family events are also taking place as the festival runs over the school October holidays, and some of these sessions are being held at the University’s Botanic Garden.
Children can take part in garden trails, planting sessions, archaeology, a silent disco and a metal making workshop. There are events for adults to, including a forest bathing event.
The university also hope to put on a free interactive fun day will to be held at Marryat Hall, where visitors can take part in arts and crafts and learn about science through interactive activities.
Emma Preston, the University’s Cultural Projects Manager, said: “This year’s programme features a vast array of different types of events and hands-on activities exploring arts, culture and science, all linked together with the theme of connections.
“After talking with the schools and directorates within the University, the theme of connections and cross-collaboration came across in all aspects of current work – from connections with nature, communities, families, people, and health and wellbeing.”
