Image: Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh
Dovecot Studios will present a full-size print of the Bayeux Tapestry across its Balcony Gallery in Edinburgh from 21 November 2026 to 9 April 2027. Titled ‘Bayeux on the Balcony’, the exhibition will mark the historic loan of the Bayeux Tapestry to the UK while examining the medieval work’s continuing influence on contemporary artists, designers and makers.
The presentation will allow visitors to experience the immense scale of the tapestry through a print unrolled across the length and breadth of Dovecot’s Tapestry Balcony. The display is described as the first time a full-size print of the Bayeux Tapestry will be shown across the gallery. The exhibition will focus on the legacy of the work rather than presenting the original textile itself.
Interpretation from the British Museum will be combined with perspectives from Dovecot’s weavers and community embroiderers. Their contributions will compare medieval textile storytelling with modern fine-art tapestry and embroidery, placing the Bayeux Tapestry in dialogue with practices that continue to develop through workshop, studio and community settings.
Dovecot Studios, based at 10 Infirmary Street in Edinburgh, is home to a tapestry studio described by the institution as the UK’s longest-running. Its programme encompasses exhibitions, studio projects, tours and practical workshops, while the Dovecot Foundation supports work advancing visual art, craft and design in Scotland. The organisation’s current programme also includes displays and activities centred on textile production and material processes.
The Bayeux presentation will be accompanied by a related talk, ‘Bayeux Tapestry Talks: When is a Tapestry not a Tapestry?’, scheduled for 17 September 2026 from 11am to noon in Dovecot’s Ladies Baths/Conference Room. The session will address the distinction between tapestry weaving and embroidery, noting that the Bayeux Tapestry is technically an embroidery. Dovecot’s apprentices and volunteers have created one woven and one embroidered detail inspired by the famous work; both will be exhibited as part of ‘Bayeux on the Balcony’.
The talk will feature members of the Dovecot team discussing how textile skills are transferred between generations. Tickets are listed at £15 and include entry to ‘Costume Couture: Sixty Years of Cosprop’, another Dovecot exhibition. The exhibition ‘Bayeux on the Balcony’ itself runs in the Tapestry Balcony from 21 November 2026 through 9 April 2027.
