First Minister Donald Dewar is scheduled to carry out his first official engagement since undergoing major heart surgery.

He will open The Homecoming exhibition at Kirkcudbright Town Hall on Friday evening.

Mr Dewar left Glasgow Royal Infirmary on 17 May, 10 days after a three-and-a-half hour operation.

Surgeons replaced a badly leaking aortic valve with a mechanical substitute.

The exhibition runs until the end of August

During his stay in hospital and recuperation at home, Mr Dewar missed some important events in Scottish politics, including the crucial Section 28 vote.

He has promised to be back behind his desk by the end of the summer.

Mr Dewar's first official engagement in Dumfries & Galloway is expected to show the public he is on the road to recovery.

The exhibition will include work from artists who made Kirkcudbright famous as an artists' town.

Private collectors, leading galleries and public collections from throughout the UK have loaned paintings.

Admission for the exhibition, which runs from 29 July to 29 August, is free.

Lord Macfarlane of Bearsden, who is patron of the event, said: "Our theme from the beginning has been to bring the Kirkcudbright artists home and I do not believe that such a comprehensive collection of works of this quality has ever been seen in the town.

"I am sure that thousands of people will come to meet and greet these visitors. They will not be disappointed."