Orkney Between Islands exhibition launched

An online exhibition – 'Orkney: Between Islands' – has just been launched as part of the Between Islands project.

Devised by An Lanntair, a multi-arts venue in Stornoway, the Between Islands project aims to promote the heritage and culture of Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides. This has been undertaken through the development of specific projects encouraging inter-island collaboration and, with financial assistance through the LEADER 2014-2020 regional cooperation scheme, a series of larger scale initiatives during 2019 and 2020.

Films and resources exploring aspects of island life, history and traditions, and showcasing island musicians and writers, are available on the website https://www.betweenislands.com/ and YouTube channel. Special exhibitions examining themes that connect and emphasise differences between islands at museums run by Orkney Islands Council, Shetland Amenity Trust and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar were scheduled to take place this summer, but have been reconfigured as online exhibitions as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Curator, Rachel Boak, said, “Re-working Orkney: Between Islands as an online exhibition has enabled us to draw on collections all over Scotland in ways that wouldn’t have been possible in a museum gallery, and it will reach new audiences as a result.

“The exhibition explores the inspiration and legacy of islands in the arts, crafts and literature of Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides. Material includes books and prints documenting island journeys and scenery, paintings by island artists, portraits of island writers and their publications, and examples of island crafts, in particular straw-work, Harris Tweed and Fair Isle knitting. The less-famous tweed industries of Orkney and Shetland are also examined, and the promotion of contemporary makers by The New Craftsmen.

“Featured objects are drawn from the permanent collections of Orkney Museum, Orkney Library and Archive, Shetland Museum and Archives, and Museum agus Tasglann nan Eilean. They are complemented by historic photographs, archive recordings, interviews with contemporary artists and craftspeople, and links to makers and collections across Scotland which further illuminate the stories behind objects, places and personalities. We are grateful to all our funders and partners for making the Between Islands project possible.”

'Orkney: Between Islands' has been produced by Rebecca Marr and Mark Jenkins of cultural heritage and arts creative partnership Kolekto.

The exhibition can be viewed on the Orkney: Between Islands website.

Online exhibitions by Museum agus Tasglann nan Eilean and Shetland Museum will be launched shortly and include material from Orkney Museum and Orkney Library and Archive.

In addition, a temporary Between Islands exhibition at Orkney Museum features artists Stanley Cursiter, William Daniell, Alexander Moffat, Nancy Ramsay and Sylvia Wishart, with some works rarely or never-before displayed.

Orkney LEADER Officer, Alison Barclay, said: “The Between Islands project has brought a focus on the similarities and unique traditions, culture, literature, crafts and music of the Islands of Orkney, Shetland and Outer Hebrides and has opened these wonderful museum and archive collections up to a new digital audience. It has captured the close links made through hundreds of years of sailors, fisher-folk, craftsmen, tradesmen, painters, knitters, musicians, and writers in the communities, being shaped and inspired by the islands they lived in, as well as inspiring new material by the younger generations.

“An Lanntair have successfully managed, commissioned, and coordinated people in all the islands to pull together and reinvent the delivery of the project during the coronavirus pandemic. Our thanks, as funders, to all who have contributed to the project and pulled together in difficult circumstances to produce such inspirational, enduring, and joyful work, capturing the spirit of the Islands so beautifully.”

The Orkney LEADER 2014-2020 fund is currently closed to new expressions of interest. It’s hoped that a new programme will emerge in 2021. For more information, visit the Orkney LEADER programme website.

To find out more about the wider Between Islands project, contact Alex MacDonald, Between Islands Project Coordinator, by email or visit the main project website.