TARTAN at the V&A Dundee, is the first major exhibition in Scotland in 30 years to focus solely on the iconic textile and pattern, with more than 300 objects illustrating tartan’s universal and enduring appeal with examples of fashion, architecture, graphic and product design, photography, furniture, glass and ceramic, film, performance and art.
As a reminder of home , tartan is also a pattern of the diaspora, connecting people across the world through shared ethnicity, heritage, sentimentality and clanship. Beyond borders it is a pattern adopted by communities who do not define themselves by privilege, inheritance, geography or nationality. As an expression of resistance to the status quo, tartan has been embraced by nonconformists, outsiders and by movements seeking to oppose unjust and exclusionary systems, categories and labels.
Thomas' installation commissioned for this exhibition, explore tartan and the romantic imagination, and its ability to liberate and transport its wearers. The intersectional family are dressed in green and white tartan, a colour scheme shared by the Nigerian Flag and Glasgow’s Celtic Football Club, reflecting Thomas' cross cultural identity.