The granite piece from acclaimed sculptor Jake Harvey — dubbed Chieftain — is to be unveiled on Saturday.

It will be positioned along the Poet's Path beside well known artwork Monument to a Mouse.

Also being launched is a new installation by mixed media artist, Laura Graham, at the Auld Alloway Kirk - made famous by Burns’s epic poem, Tam o’ Shanter.

And films from well-known environmental artists, Dalziel and Scullion, will be shown in the temporary exhibition space.

Programme curator and manager Sheilagh Tennant says: “For our next exhibition, as it’s over the summer, we have taken the opportunity to take the art outside in Burns’s native Alloway.

"Visitors will be intrigued by Laura Graham’s thought-provoking installation at the Auld Kirk. Also we feel that, as a National Trust for Scotland property, the Museum is a perfect venue for Dalziel and Scullion’s work. Their films ‘Speaking the Land’ and ‘Wolf’ will be shown throughout the day in the exhibition space in the museum”.

Museum Director David Hopes says: “As a son of the soil, Burns sought inspiration from the natural world in his poems, songs, and letters. This exhibition will use sights and sounds to take visitors on a journey with Burns among the ‘banks an’ braes’ that inspired him so much” There will be a public opening for the exhibition at the museume on Saturday June 4, from 11am to 1pm.