Invitation to Tender
Freelance Museum Curator
Dundee Museum of Transport

Introduction

Dundee Museum of Transport is seeking an experienced freelance museum curator to assist in reviewing its current collection, advising on strategic deaccessioning and purchasing, and supporting the development of a detailed exhibition plan for the new museum. This initiative supports the museum’s planned relocation to the Maryfield Tram Depot in 2026. Additionally, the curator will provide guidance for reaccreditation with the Museums Galleries Scotland Accreditation Scheme and facilitate a handover to a future curator role.  

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About the Organisation

Dundee Museum of Transport is dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting and displaying transportation-related artifacts and information to educate and inspire the public about the history and evolution of transportation in Dundee and beyond. The museum aims to foster an appreciation for the region’s transport heritage by engaging visitors with its collection, interactive exhibits, educational programmes and community events. It strives to be a cultural and educational resource that highlights the significant role transportation has played in shaping the city. As we prepare for our move to a new location, we aim to enhance our collection’s relevance and alignment with our strategic goals.

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Dundee Museum of Transport was established in 2010 by a group of volunteers dedicated to preserving Dundee’s rich transport heritage. Since opening to the public in 2014 at a temporary location on an industrial estate, the museum has become an important cultural attraction in Dundee, achieving full Accreditation from Museums Galleries Scotland in 2018. The museum is ranked among the top attractions in Dundee on TripAdvisor, welcoming around 18,000 visitors annually. Supported by a team of two full time and one part time member of sta􀀁 plus over 45 volunteers, the museum is guided by a board of twelve trustees who bring a diverse range of professional expertise to the organisation.  

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In a strategic move to secure a permanent home, the museum bought the historic Maryfield Tram Depot in 2015. The renovation and restoration of Maryfield Tram Depot is scheduled to commence in the spring of 2025 and will not only conserve and restore the historic building to its former glory but will transform it into a vibrant community-focused museum. The project will also create new public facilities, storage and archive space for the museum’s expanding collection, staff offices, and wider community-use areas.  

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Interpretation and display of the museum’s collection, and interpretation of the Maryfield Tram Depot building.

The current collection contains over 6,000 objects including over 50 vehicles (buses, cars, lorries and motorcycles) along with related archival materials such as photographs and documents.

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The new museum will be significantly larger allowing for more of the collection to be on display and to be better interpreted, and the collection itself will be better stored, cared for and catalogued. There will be interpretation of the building itself and its important role in Dundee’s transport heritage. The galleries and displays will also be designed to maximise accessibility and inclusivity for all audiences.

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Gallery space will be specifically designed and constructed for the display and interpretation of the museum’s collection: the layout of the galleries will be based around the vehicles and other large collection objects to maximise impact and visibility, as well as creating enhanced visitor engagement with other objects, photographs and archival material.

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Inclusive gallery design will make the collection more physically and intellectually accessible: the design of the galleries of the new museum will prioritise access and inclusion for all visitors, with a wider variety of interpretation methods including audio-visual, signed and braille to make the collection accessible to a more diverse audience.

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The collection will be displayed in appropriate museum-standard environments: the new galleries will be better for conservation of the vehicles, with appropriate control of the environment in terms of heating, humidity and lighting, which cannot be achieved at the current temporary premises. Smaller items will be housed in proper museum-grade display cases, under suitable environmental conditions.

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Larger space will allow more of the museum’s collection to be displayed: Photographs and other archival material will be scanned with digitised images made available to visitors through interactive units, increasing the amount of material available within the museum galleries.  

The Tram Depot building and its surviving features will be interpretated: the restored building itself will become a focal point, with interpretation of its design and construction as well as its history as one of Dundee’s main tram depots. The original external and internal features of the building will be highlighted, with some, such as the surviving tram rails and wooden office structure, being incorporated into the design and presentation of the exhibition galleries.

The museum engaged a museum designer and interpretive consultant in July 2024. The new museum will focus on celebrating Dundee’s transport heritage in such a way as to showcase items from the collection within the interpretive narrative. We are therefore working with a museum designer to identify a range of appropriate themes including innovation and technology, exploration and adventure, cars made famous by Dundee’s gaming sector, Dundee’s transport network, supply and demand, Dundee journeys and the future of transport, along with temporary exhibition space which will allow us to display items from the collection not included in the permanent galleries as well as vehicles on loan from other museums, transport clubs and private collectors. These themed areas will be refined during the next stage of design development. Within the new museum, we plan to develop a new social history for the city, one that has the heritage and future of transport at its heart.