Date Published: 21st May 2018

Every panel stitched for The Great Tapestry of Scotland is currently on display in a new exhibition in New Lanark Visitor Centre. For the first time, the panels are exhibited alongside the story of the making of the tapestry—Andrew Crummy’s sketches and artwork, photographs of the stitchers during the stitching process, the guidance from head stitcher Dorie Wilkie, detailed information on the linens and wools, the volunteers, the stitching, the equipment used, the building of the project, the fundraising and project management, the touring and temporary exhibitions—and throughout it all,  the extraordinary roles of Alexander McCall Smith and Alistair Moffat.

And on display for the very first time is a panel stitched to celebrate the history of midwives in Scotland.

All of this is beautifully displayed at New Lanark until 1 July where the exhibition is carefully curated by Evelyn Whitelaw and the exhibition team. This is likely to be the final full exhibition before The Great Tapestry of Scotland moves to its new, purpose built permanent home in Galashiels in 2020.

Alexander McCall Smith came up with the idea for The Great Tapestry of Scotland when he saw The Prestonpans Tapestry on display in 2010. He approached artist Andrew Crummy and historian Alistair Moffat with the suggestion that they could use embroidered tapestry as a platform to tell the story of Scotland from the ice age to the present day. Alistair wrote the narrative and worked with Andrew as he created the artwork, panel by panel, figure by figure. More than 100 stitchers then translated the artwork into hand-stitched panels making it the longest tapestry in the world.

For opening times and ticket price visit the New Lanark Visitor Centre website.