You’ll be walking in the air with this special event

V&A Dundee will launch a festive Winter Nights season with a special talk from Robin Shaw, the award-winning animator and illustrator of the Irn-Bru Snowman advert.

As well as directing Irn-Bru’s original Christmas campaign in 2006, Shaw and a team of animators at Lupus Films’ London animation studio have just completed the sequel which will air for the first time on Saturday night.

Shaw, who was also part of the directing team on the Channel 4 TV special The Snowman and The Snowdog, will join V&A Dundee Curator Kirsty Hassard at 6pm on Friday 7 December to discuss his most recent work and reflect on his 15-year-long career as an illustrator and animator.

The talk will mark the beginning of V&A Dundee’s Winter Nights, a series of late-night openings, music performances, festive design workshops and short film screenings at the museum throughout December.

The Winter Nights season begins on Friday 7 December with music from St Andrews Brass and a special winter wonderland stage set design workshop.

It continues on Friday 14 December with a performance from the Scottish Police & Community Choir and a design grotto where visitors will get the opportunity to jazz up their jumpers with badges and embellishments.

The last Winter Nights event takes place on Friday 21 December and includes the chance to create a giant kaleidoscope window display and enjoy music from Dundee’s own Singing Cabbies who will perform Christmas classics.

Winter Nights activities at V&A Dundee are free and begin at 5pm with the museum remaining open until 7pm. During these evenings V&A Dundee will offer a 10% discount and gift-wrapping service for items bought in the shop, a special festive menu in the café and restaurant, and the chance to explore the galleries after-hours.

Robin Shaw_ animator and illustrator of the Irn-Bru Snowman advert

On each night, a series of short winter films from DCA’s Discovery Film Festival will be shown alongside a range of interactive design displays in the main hall. Visitors will also be invited to stop and enjoy festive stories in the Scottish Design Galleries and record their own Christmas message in the Picnic Room.

Robin Shaw said: ‘I’ve been lucky to have enjoyed a career in animation and illustration that’s so far been fantastically varied, challenging and, for the most part, a great deal of fun. It was such a thrill to direct the first Irn-Bru advert in 2006 in homage to The Snowman film. I’ve been amazed by the affection for it and the fact that it’s been shown every Christmas ever since!

‘Re-sparking the story for the sequel advert, re-assembling many of the crew members who worked on the first ad and animating on paper and pencil again have all been part of a wonderful process. It’s an honour to be asked to share this experience and to speak about other interesting projects at such a creatively inspiring place as V&A Dundee.’

Allan McIntyre, Creative Industries Producer at V&A Dundee, said: ‘Over three Friday evenings in December our Winter Nights season will see the museum opening hours extended to give everyone an opportunity to enjoy festive actives at V&A Dundee.

‘We are delighted that Robin Shaw, whose work will be instantly recognisable to so many people, will join us for a special talk to launch to start of our festive programme.

‘The evenings will include a wide range of things to enjoy and get involved in, from short film screenings in partnership with DCA to music performances, mince pies, late-night shopping and design workshops for all ages.’

Tickets for Creating a Christmas classic: In conversation with Robin Shaw at V&A Dundee on Friday 7 December at 6pm are free and available to book now via V&A Dundee’s website www.vam.ac.uk/dundee/ or in person at the museum Welcome Desk.

All other workshops and actives are open to everyone on a drop-in basis.