Twelve Years in the Public Gaze

Twelve years ago this month (September),  The Great Tapestry of Scotland went on display in the vaulted entrance to the Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood in Edinburgh. It was not the first time the public had seen it, various panels had been exhibited in a joyful exhibition at Cockenzie House a few weeks earlier but this was the first time with (nearly) every panel in place. Jan, Anna, Caleb, Andrew, Dorie and many other ‘helping-hands’ pulled a very late night to make sure that everything was in place. It was an emotional time – none of us had seen it displayed ‘au total‘ before.

The exhibition at the Parliament was surely the grandest of unveilings, with queues round the block of people from all over Scotland and well beyond, coming to see what had been created by one writer, one historian, one artist and 1000+ stitchers.

Then first minister of Scotland,  Alex Salmond, commented that he was overjoyed when he saw the queues for a speech he was due to give. Only to discover that those queueing in the rain were in fact there to see the great artistic telling of Scotland’s history. Thousands poured through the doors and the exhibition was such a success that we were invited back two years later.

All but two panels (of 160 in total) were complete on time for that first exhibition. These two were represented by full scale drawings which gave visitors an insight into the process of the creation of this, the longest tapestry in the world.

The exhibition was accompanied by a series of talks, workshops, choirs and high profile visitors. Media coverage was blanket throughout the UK with a great deal spreading out across the world. 

A tour of the tapestry panels over the following three years saw visitors flock into venues across Scotland and England.

But the goal was always to find a final home where this great work of community art could be housed. And now it has just that in a beautiful, purpose build gallery in Galashiels in the Scottish Borders. 

Take the chance to see your story, beautifully hand embroidered by women from the islands and mainland of Scotland, with a historical narrative by Alistair Moffat and design and artwork from Andrew Crummy – all the brainchild of writer Alexander McCall Smith.

For more information, follow this link to the Great Tapestry of Scotland Gallery.