Long appointed director of Dundee museum
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art senior curator Philip Long has been announced as the director of a new Victoria and Albert museum to be developed on Dundee's waterfront.
Long, who also leads the National Galleries of Scotland's Artist Rooms project, will take on the responsibility for establishing the V&A at Dundee as an international centre for design. In addition to his role as senior curator at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art since 1998, Long has also served on the Scottish Arts Lottery Committee between 2003-10.
"V&A at Dundee will be international in ambition, and will rightly celebrate the vital part Scotland has played in design history," said Long. Japan-based architects Kengo Kuma and Associates will design V&A at Dundee, following an international design competition that saw six proposals shortlisted.
Design Dundee - comprising Dundee City Council (DCC); the University of Dundee; the V&A; and the University of Abertay Dundee - will deliver the scheme. Meanwhile, DCC has announced that councillors will be asked on 25 April to approve plans to bid for UNESCO Creative City Status in Media Arts.
Will Dawson, convener of the council's city development committee, said: "There would be many benefits for Dundee that would follow from the attainment of this prestigious status."