Discover the Kaleidoscopic World of Chris Ofili

After a month of eager anticipation, the world-renowned Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh is poised to reopen its doors with an exhibition that promises to ignite the senses and stir the soul. From 28th June to 5th October, "The Caged Bird’s Song," Dovecot’s major tapestry with Chris Ofili, will return to Scotland this summer as part of the Edinburgh Festival.

"The Caged Bird’s Song" is a triptych tapestry designed by Chris Ofili and created by Dovecot over a period of three years. The tapestry was commissioned from Dovecot by The Clothworkers’ Company in 2014 to support the work of Britain’s oldest tapestry studio and was the subject of both an exhibition at the National Gallery, London, and a BBC documentary in 2017. The exhibition will bring to life the process by which Dovecot’s master weavers transformed the colours, myths, and magic of Ofili’s watercolour design.

For the first time, audiences in Scotland will have the opportunity to see the tapestry, which will form the centrepiece of the exhibition in the studios where it was woven. Visitors will be able to immerse themselves in the medium, gaining a fascinating insight into the weavers’ work and seeing their original colour experiments, learning the process of creating a cartoon, and discovering the skills required to interpret an artist’s design.

Measuring over seven metres wide, "The Caged Bird’s Song" took five weavers three years to create, requiring 35 kilos of wool and over 6,000 hours in total. The weavers increased Ofili’s original design, a watercolour, by over 800% to draw the cartoon that guided their work. Like many artists before him who have engaged with this medium, Chris Ofili worked closely with master weavers to see his design translated into a tapestry.

Chris Ofili grew up in Manchester and currently lives and works in Trinidad. He is one of the most acclaimed British painters of his generation, having built an international reputation for the visually, intellectually, and spiritually rich nature of his work. His bold experimentation with resin, beads, oil paint, glitter, and even elephant dung has defied convention and challenged perceptions of contemporary art. In 1998, he became the youngest artist to win the Turner Prize, and he went on to represent Britain at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003. The imagery in the tapestry reflects Ofili’s long-held interest in classical mythology and contemporary ‘demigods’, together with the stories, magic, and colour of the Trinidadian landscape.

"Chris Ofili: The Caged Bird’s Song" will open at Dovecot Studios on 28th June 2024. Tickets can be purchased in advance at dovecotstudios.com.