Dundee to host Scotland’s biggest print festival

The Dandy, which ceased being printed in December last year, is published by Dundee-based DC Thomson. Picture: Getty

• Inaugural Print Festival Scotland to be held in Dundee and satellite venues across Scotland later this month

• 40 exhibitions, workshops and performers will take place from 23 August to 1 September

The inaugural Print Festival Scotland (PFS) will take place in the city and at satellite venues across the country from 23 August to 1 September and will coincide with the 8th biennial International Multidisciplinary Printmaking Conference (IMPACT 8) which is also being staged in Dundee.

A wide range of some 40 exhibitions, workshops and performances have been co-ordinated to celebrate the IMPACT 8 conference and the inaugural festival. Venues range from internationally recognised contemporary art galleries to local artist-run initiatives in alternative public spaces.

Venues include Dundee Contemporary Arts, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Dundee and Abertay universities, the McManus Art Gallery and Museum, Edinburgh Printmakers, Stirling Old Town Jail, Glasgow Print Studio and Peacock Visual Arts in Aberdeen.

One of the organisers, Professor Elaine Shemilt of Dundee University, said: “This is the first time that the IMPACT conference is to be held in Scotland, and we are very excited to be hosting this and the Print Festival in Dundee. World class practitioners from the field of printmaking will be attending the conference and taking part in the thrilling programme of events lined up.

“We wanted to make this a truly national celebration of printmaking in all its many forms so we have been working with arts organisations around Scotland. The events will cover commercial and digital printing, historical aspects of printmaking, avant garde print practices and contemporary research. We will also explore how new technology will bring new ideas, opportunities and challenges.”

The exhibitions include “Modern Masters in Print’ at The McManus, featuring prints by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, and Andy Warhol, and “DC Thomson & Co Dundee: Press, Print, Production” at Dundee University’s Lamb Gallery.