‘Pole Tay Pole’ – new exhibition at University

Published On Mon 8 Feb 2016 by Grant Hill

A new exhibition featuring artworks inspired by Dundee's historic connection with polar exploration and whaling will open at the University of Dundee’s D’Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum this Friday.

As the city was a major centre of the European whaling industry, Dundee men sailed regularly to the Arctic seas, bringing back not just whale product but specimens for museums and Inuit artefacts traded with the native people they met.

The city’s expertise in building whaling ships led the Discovery and many other Antarctic exploration vessels to be built in the city, while former Dundee student Alister Forbes Mackay was a member of the first party to reach the South Magnetic Pole in 1909.

These stories and others have inspired third-year Illustration students at the University’s Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design to create artworks inspired by these polar adventures. Their work will be showcased in the special exhibition, alongside specimens brought back from the Arctic and Antarctic for D’Arcy Thompson’s collection.

The students’ tutor, Natalie Russell, said, “This is a really exciting project.  The students have created a diverse range of imaginative works inspired by the amazing resources on offer at the D’Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum, Discovery Point, and whaling collections in the McManus and the University Archives. 

“The work will be displayed in the wonderful setting of the Zoology Museum and will include drawings, prints, paintings, books, sculptural objects, assemblages and research journals that map the students’ creative journeys.” 

The exhibition, entitled ‘Pole Tay Pole’, opens with an evening preview on Friday, 12th February from 5.30-7pm, and will then be open for one day only on Sunday, 14th February at 11am-4pm.

For further information contact museum curator Matthew Jarron on 01382 384310 or m.h.jarron@dundee.ac.uk or Natalie Russell on 01382 388320 or n.russell@dundee.ac.uk.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
Tel: +44 (0)1382 384768
Mobile: 07854 953277
Email: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk