Juteopolis is a floor sculpture created for the unique and award winning collaborative exhibition at the Vision Building in Dundee in 2009. Vision was a joint event held between The Society of Scottish Artists (SSA) and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee, Graduate Show. The SSA conceived and produced this highly unusual piece of work to mark their Annual Exhibition and its being held in Dundee for the first time. The sculpture represents the work of over 120 artists from all over the UK.

The original brief which was given to the SSA artists asked them to explore jute as a creative subject matter and produce a piece of work whIch was to be executed on a wooden block that echoed the jute bales. These pukka bales carried the jute between Scotland and India via ships, one of which was called Juteopolis. Once each artist had completed their block they were placed within the installation at Vision. The cubes were placed in the shape of the lade which was the channel that carried the water from The Scouring Burn to the mills. Artists were also encouraged to take a blank cube home to complete and bring back to place on 'The Lade'. The stone lade carried water and our wooden cube lade carried ideas and visual metaphors. This meant that the sculpture grew through the run of the exhibition and only came to its completion at the end.

The installation of Juteopolis at Verdant Works has allowed for a reinterpretation of the sculpture in a new context. This time, instead of following the shape of the lade; the cubes have been carefully placed in, around and on top of the machines to mimic the flow of jute twine and threads. The cubes inhabit the space and punctuate it at the same time. They mirror images from around the museum and explore the rich textures and colours of the jute in all its many stages. The cubes also highlight this most versatile of materials and allows for a contemporary and highly creative perspective on such an important aspect of Dundee`s rich history.

The SSA would like to thank Dundee Heritage, Verdant Works for all their support in allowing the installation of Juteopolis this year and also for supporting the Hidden Cube Trail Competition which accompanies this exhibition.

Louise Ritchie Vice President SSA

Hidden Cube Trail Competition

An interactive workshop for children aged 3 - 12

CHALLENGE 1: We have hidden 10 different coloured cubes in the ground floor of Verdant Works except for the Machine Room. Each cube has a different letter on it. Your challenge is to find all 10 cubes and to discover what they spell. Look out for the special golden cube which is even harder to find! You can tick them off in the box as you go. If you like, you can describe where you found them. Children aged 3 – 6 years complete challenge 1. Children aged 7 – 12 year should complete challenges 1 and 2. Prizes awarded for both challenges. Good luck!



You can write down each letter on the dotted line
here to spell out the word _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Congratulations, you have completed the first challenge!

CHALLENGE 2: Now see how many other words you can make using the same 10 letters. Have fun thinking of as many words as you can. Write these on the back of this sheet.

Download the worksheet here [click]