Orkney Museum closed for January for vital housekeeping

The Orkney Museum will close to the public in January to allow the team to carry out a programme of vital behind-the-scenes work.

This includes deep cleaning the galleries, and time off-site tending to the Museum’s reserve collection (stored at the former Powerbowl site) which holds internationally significant archaeological and social history artefacts.

The team also hopes to use this time to create a new display – watch this space for updates!

Nick Hewitt is the Council’s Team Leader for Culture:

“After a really busy period getting our fabulous Scapa Flow Museum redevelopment completed, we’ll be using this time in January to ensure our back of house is ready to support another year of activity.

“A large chunk of our time will be spent at the Museum stores. We have a duty of care to the collection and to Orkney’s heritage to ensure our reserve collection is well organised and fully catalogued so that today’s researchers and future generations can benefit.

“A Museum never stands still – we are constantly taking in new items on behalf of the community, and these all need to be properly assessed and recorded.

“In a time when resources right across the Council are tight we had to look at ways to resource this important work, and diverting our experienced team from the Orkney Museum for a concerted month-long blitz of the stores is the best solution.

“We know some folk will miss the Museum being open in January, but we have tried to make sure we programme this work at what has typically been the quietest period in terms of visitors.

“Going forward, with the importance of our reserve collection, it’s likely we will close for a time each January to concentrate on ensuring our stores are in good order.

“It’s also an opportunity for the team to review each year some of the unique items in the store and how we might put them on display in future for folk to enjoy.”

The Orkney Museum will close for the year at 3pm on Friday 23 December, and reopen 1 February 2023.

The public are also reminded Scapa Flow Museum closes 3pm on Friday 23 December, reopening 2 March 2023.