We teamed up with Dundee City Council and V&A Dundee to invite Dundee based designers to create contemporary Christmas Tree-inspired window displays, bringing city centre windows to life.
In High Streets all around the world, festive window displays are a highlight of the season. Beautiful and inspiring windows are created by designers who combine festive traditions and contemporary design for some of the biggest names in retail.
During the summer of 2020, Dundee City Council launched the first instalment of Dundee Windows which our lead officer, Annie Marrs, was on the judging panel of. It was designed to re-animate the city centre following a national lockdown through utilising empty shop windows.
Following its success, we collaborated with Dundee City Council and V&A Dundee on Dundee Festive Windows and launched a call for designers in October 2020. Six Dundee based artists and designers were selected to produce their contemporary festive designs. Read more about each of the festive window displays and the selected artists and designers below:
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, How Tacky Are Thy Ornaments!
Jacqueline Briggs
Location: Corner of High Street and Commercial Street
“For me Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without decorating the tree and I have fond childhood memories of some of the gaudy, kitschy vintage baubles my parents have.
I hope for this display to be a peek into wonderland, engaging the viewers imagination and sense of nostalgia around Christmas.”
Jacqueline Briggs is an illustrator who loves all things bold and combines traditional and digital techniques. Since graduating in 2016 from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design with a BDesHons in Illustration, Jacqueline has been working from her studio in the Highlands in Wasps Creative Academy Inverness.
In 2015, Jacqueline was a resident artist in ‘D.I.S.C The Art’s’ 6 week residency in Odisha, India. As part of this, she travelled with other artists from around the world learning ancient crafts such as basket weaving, stone carving and pottery from local artisans showcasing work in a group exhibition in the state’s capital of Bhubaneshwar.
Jacqueline has also taken part in The Scottish Black Lives Matter Mural Trail, with an installation Mural in Eden Court, Inverness (July/August 2020) and Oor Wullie’s Big Bucket Trail in Inverness (June/August 2019). From March 2020-October 2020, Jacqueline worked on ‘The Sea Inside’ Cromarty Community Art Project with Nature Scot, researching local knowledge, stories and folklore surrounding the area. Artwork created by the community and the three artists involved was exhibited in The Cromarty Courthouse Museum representing this research and local personal connections with the coast.
Dundee’s Christmas Story
Laura Darling
Location: 80 High Street
In 1952, Dundee had its first public Christmas tree, and the city held ten days of festive celebrations in the City Square. The tree brought communities together – the celebrations raised money for local charities, and a new tradition was born. That same year, reindeer were reintroduced to the Cairngorms, tea rationing ended, the UK music singles chart began, and Elizabeth II became queen.
Inspired by this rich imagery Laura has designed an open book that tells this story, with a bright, bold pop-up tree at its centre. Influenced by 1950s surface design, the paper tree is illustrated with playful characters and icons, creating a unique contemporary pattern. A limited colour palette anchored by blues – from rich velvety navy through to icy pale – is lit up with pops of bright yellow, neon orange and dazzling pink.
Laura is an illustrator from the Scottish Borders. She studied at Edinburgh College of Art and has lived in Dundee since 2007, where she works from a shed at the bottom of her garden. Laura finds inspiration everywhere, noticing her surroundings and drawing them, and has worked on many projects for museums, galleries and charities. Types of work include printed brochures, booklets and guides as well as murals and public art trails. Laura has worked extensively with community groups on creative learning workshops and is part of the Creative Learning team at McManus Galleries and V&A Dundee.
From May 2019 – April 2020, Laura was artist-in-residence at Hospitalfield where she ran Year Two of the Free Drawing School. She is currently completing a graphic novel inspired by this residency, which illustrates the history of the garden from the thirteenth century to the present day. Laura’s illustrations are playful, engaging and often educational, and her main ambition in life is to make people smile.
Lindabee’s Christmas Dundee
Linda Brownlee
Location: 42-44 Reform Street
Linda’s Christmas Tree celebrates Dundee’s iconic and well-loved buildings. Each drawing is framed in a different frame built in the shape of a 3D Christmas Tree by robotic figures wearing ballet tutus! Gold letters spelling out “DUNDEE” are hanging as charms on gold chains held in place by more figures.
Linda has drawn over 40 different views of the older well-known buildings in Dundee, including some local businesses in the city centre and Westend, from Malmaison to Wee Mexico, Mennies pub to Groucho’s Music store, The Queen’s Hotel to the Perth Road.
Linda is an artist who loves drawing city landscapes and creating atmosphere in her pieces. Linda achieved a BA Hons from Glasgow School of art in Textile Design 1980. Since that time, she worked as a nurse and service manager in the NHS and retired in 2017 to resume her art career.
Linda has attended short courses at Central St Martins over the years to refresh her artistic skills. Since retirement, Linda has utilised her project management experience to create a presence as an artist in Dundee and is delighted with the direction her work is heading.
Solstice
Zoë Gibson
Location: 7-9 Reform Street
Zoë’s aim was to create a rich and vibrant winter scene with lots to look at and explore. She said:
“As an artist who does a lot of murals, it means many of my works have been public pieces. I love this aspect of my work as I am a staunch believer that art should be easily accessible for everyone. This is why public works are so important as it gives access to those who might not be able to visit galleries or who might not know about what things are going on in the “art world”. If a work is public it gives people the opportunity to stumble across it and discover it for themselves.”
Zoë is a drawer, maker and mural painter based in Dundee. After graduating with a First Class BA Hons in Fine Art at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in 2017, Zoë has continued making art ever since.
Zoë’s work ranges from murals, to clothing designs, to painting, woodwork, decoration for club nights, parties and festivals, to illustration and sign painting and much more!
Festive Peace, Hope and Love
Billy Hutchison
Location: Ground Floor, Wellgate Shopping Centre
Billy drew inspiration from Japanese traditions around Christmas and peacemaking. He said:
“For many people in Japan, Christmas is mostly a secular holiday devoted to the love of their children. Traditionally in Japan, Christmas trees are decorated with small toys, dolls, paper ornaments, gold paper fans and lanterns, and wind chimes. The most popular ornaments are origami swans and cranes. Japanese children exchange thousands of folded paper “birds of peace” with young people all over the world as a pledge that war must not happen again.”
Since graduating from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in 2001, Billy has been working on private commissions and public art trails throughout the UK. in 2019, Billy took part in the Oor Wullie BIG Bucket Trail, designing a “Thistle Do Nicely” sculpture, set in Edinburgh.
Say hello
Ahmad Deeni
Location: Malmaison Hotel and Murraygate
Ahmad Deeni is a Dundee-born creative practitioner, leading a public arts collective called Chequered Corridor, alongside an independent art & design practice. Ahmad likes to create works that invoke action and transform atmosphere. It’s not about whether the piece shouts the loudest or looks the flashiest, Ahmad would rather that it seamlessly moulds into its surrounding as if it has always been there but enhances the overall feel and function of those very surroundings.
Ahmad hopes for what he makes to benefit, entertain and involve people from all walks of life, nothing marred in complicated metaphor and meaning – but even if so – is not a cause of frustration or marginalisation. He said:
“I want my work to always be something that everyone can involve in, that is – in its function and intention. Of course, all this requires a lot of thinking, consideration and procrastination on my part but the aim is to put out and communicate something of relevance and importance to those that is intended for.”
