In Pictures: Tartan, the first major exhibition in Scotland in 30 years to focus on the textile and pattern

Tartan, the first major exhibition in Scotland in 30 years to focus solely on the iconic textile and pattern, is currently running at V&A Dundee until January 2024.

It highlights the ways tartan shapes identities, embraces tradition, expresses rebellion and conjures fantasy. From a checked cloth woven in multiple colours in the Highlands, tartan’s distinctive pattern can now be found upon every surface imaginable. No other textile pattern has been categorised to such a degree, with more than 11,000 known examples of tartan recorded worldwide.

The exhibition has, for the first time ever on display, the oldest-known piece of tartan found in Scotland. On loan from the Scottish Tartans Authority, recent scientific research revealed the tartan specimen found in a peat bog in Glen Affric can be dated to circa 1500-1600, making it the oldest known surviving specimen of true tartan in Scotland.

Inspired by Jonathan Faiers’ book Tartan, the exhibition gathers objects from more than 100 international lenders.

From the high fashion of Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen, to amateur footage from 1938 showing weaver Willie Meikle at work on his handloom at home in Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire. Meikle kept a sample of every tartan he wove on the 200-year-old handloom, which is still in use today in his cottage, now cared for by the National Trust for Scotland.Architectural drawings by Dutch Benedictine monk Hans van der Laan exhibit the amazing ways tartan can inspire across design disciplines.

Tartan’s enduring appeal for makers and designers is reflected through work on display from present-day fashion designers including Charles Jeffrey, Grace Wales Bonner, Nicholas Daley, Louise Gray, Siobhan Mackenzie, Owen Snaith and Olubiyi Thomas.

Tickets are on sale at V&A Dundee.