Two of Dundee’s leading arts organisations have cause for celebration as Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) and Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre celebrate an impressive four award nominations.   

Earlier this month, Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) was shortlisted for the prestigious Art Fund Museum of the Year 2024.  

Art Fund annually shortlists five outstanding museums for Museum of the Year, the world’s largest museum prize. The 2024 edition recognises inspiring projects from autumn 2022 through to winter 2023, with audiences and communities at their heart – with a particular focus on community engagement, sustainable ways of working, and demonstration of ambition by reinventing what it means to be ‘the best’ museum for the audiences of today and tomorrow. The winner will be announced at a ceremony at the National Gallery in London on Wed 10 July. 

Beth Bate, Director of DCA, said: “We couldn’t be more thrilled to be nominated for this prestigious award in DCA’s 25th birthday year: this recognition of our work with audiences, artists and communities means so much to us. It’s wonderful that this has coincided with our friends and colleagues at Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre being nominated for their own high profile national awards, confirming that Dundee’s vibrant cultural offer is amongst the very best in the UK.” 

Scottish Dance Theatre have been nominated for Best Midscale Company at the National Dance Awards, marking the third nomination for the company since 2021. One of the few full-time companies in the UK, Scottish Dance Theatre started as a grassroots community company in 1986 and continues to keep community at the core of their work. 

Joan Clevillé, Artistic Director of Scottish Dance Theatre said:“Scottish Dance Theatre has been part of the cultural fabric of Dundee since 1986 and a creative ambassador of the city to the rest of the Scotland, the UK and internationally. We are thrilled that the company’s commitment to artistic innovation and community engagement has been recognised with this nomination as Best Mid-Scale Company at the UK’s National Dance Awards. It is no coincidence that the work of Dundee Contemporary Arts has also been recognised with a national nomination this year. This recognition is a testimony to the richness and vibrancy of the city’s cultural landscape and its significance for the people of Dundee.” 

Also, this month it was announced that Sunset Song, a co-production between Dundee Rep Theatre and the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, had scored two nominations from the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland for Best Ensemble and Best Music & Sound. The radically reimagined production brought together an award-winning Scottish creative team including writer Morna Young, director Finn den Hertog and composer Finn Anderson, opening to critical and audience acclaim at Dundee Rep in April. The production is currently touring, having just completed runs in Aberdeen and Inverness, and is on its final leg at the Lyceum until 8 June. 

Liam Sinclair, Executive Director & Joint CEO of Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre said:“Being nominated for these prestigious awards is a wonderful acknowledgment of the artistic excellence and innovation that our organisation strives for. It is also fantastic to see our friends, DCA, shortlisted for Museum of the Year, and to have two of Dundee’s artistic institutions recognised on a national level is a great example of the value of creative spaces in our local community and beyond.”