The Oor Wullie Bucket Trail is a huge public art event running from 27 June to 27 August across Dundee. Fifty Five sculptures of Oor Wullie sitting on his bucket have been located around the city of the public to view, share and adore.
Trail maps and a digital app are available to enable locals and visitors to go out into the city and find all 55 sculptures striking them off their ‘bucket’ list! At the end of the summer on the 13thSeptember the statues will all be auctioned off with proceeds going to the Archie Foundation’s appeal for a new pediatric surgical suite for Tayside Children’s Hospital.
UNESCO City of Design Dundee is delighted to be part of the Oor Wullie Bucket Trail, with not one but two sculptures. Keep an eye out for the Oor Wullie Creeper! Designed by the Minecraft studio 4J Studios here in Dundee, he’s going on tour with nine of his friends to cities across Scotland.
Back in the city you will come across Oor Ink under the Tay Road Bridge. Oor Ink was created by the many hands which visited the first Dundee Design Festival in May 2016. The festival was held in former DC Thomson print works – West Ward, where their famous annuals were printed.
Oor Ink reflects the design heritage of the building echoing the ink marks and stains, still visible today, that were made by the very people who brought these characters into the homes of millions. In the ink room at West Ward, workers would clean excess ink from the machines with rags and then throw them into the bin, bouncing them off the wall behind and leaving an ink mark as the rag dropped into the bin! Judging by the height of some of the ink marks we think there must have been an element of competition involved!
At the Dundee Design Festival, young and old were encouraged to get a rag or sponge covered in ink of their choice and create their own ink marks on Oor Wullie with the guidance of artist Kirsty Whitten.
You can see from the video that most people fully embraced the idea of throwing an inky rag at Oor Wullie or wiping their hands clean on him! If you are out and about on Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail make sure you take a selfie and tag yourself with #LoveDesignDundee #OorWullieBucketTrail we can’t wait to see your photos!
