To spot Dundee Contemporary Arts, look for the modern white and glass building with huge windows and large “DCA” lettering near the entrance as you walk along Nethergate.
Now, let me paint you a picture-well, not literally-I’ll leave that to the pros inside! You’re standing in front of what is sometimes called the beating heart of Dundee’s modern art scene: Dundee Contemporary Arts, or DCA. This futuristic-looking building almost shouts creativity, but oh, its story began with a bit less sparkle than you see today. Believe it or not, in the 1980s, this site was nothing more than a tired, semi-derelict garage-hardly a place anyone came for inspiration, unless you found rusty car parts exciting.
Back then, Dundee was bubbling with ideas. People were dreaming big, asking, “Why shouldn’t we have a place to nurture our artists?” At the time, talented folks from nearby Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design needed somewhere beyond the walls of their school to experiment, connect, and showcase their work. Local artists and the city council, backed by determined groups like the Dundee Printmakers Workshop, started hatching plans for a creative hub. Imagine the meetings: artists with wild ideas, council members with serious faces, everyone scribbling, arguing, hoping.
The project grew, like a doodle that refuses to stay inside the lines. They wanted to do more than just flop some artwork on the walls. Here, artists could try traditional printmaking-think the satisfying squish of ink on paper-or cutting-edge digital wizardry. They’d run two full-time screens for cinema lovers, rescuing film buffs after the old Steps Theatre closed its doors.
In 1995, the council bought this old garage-you can almost hear the ghostly cough of its last car-and then in 1996, after a tense international design competition, Richard Murphy Architects won with a truly innovative plan. The result? A sweeping, light-filled space that cost a cool £9 million to build. But it was worth every penny-this place has won architectural awards and was named one of Scotland’s top 10 buildings of the 20th century. Quite the glow-up, don’t you think?
Inside, it’s always buzzing. There’s a double art gallery showing off Scottish, British, and international talent-past exhibitions have hosted everyone from Mark Wallinger to Johanna Basford. The print studio’s alive with whirring printers, clinking tools, and the laughter of artists at work. The cinema screens everything from the latest blockbusters to world cinema treasures, with film festivals that send waves of excitement through Dundee every year.
And if you’re not here just for the art, well, there’s always the DCA shop full of quirky indie finds, or the Jute Café Bar-lively, aromatic, and humming with the day’s gossip. So many visitors come through these doors, the floor tiles probably know more secrets about Dundee than any historian! Oh, and as of 2024, the DCA’s been nominated for the prestigious Art Fund Museum of the Year. Not bad for a place that used to fix cars-these days, you could say it fixes spirits instead.
So, whether you’re after cutting-edge exhibitions, a cozy film night, or just a good slice of cake, the DCA is always ready for you. Step inside and let your imagination run wild.
