Art and Archaeology

Ness to Ness Workshop 2019, Orkney

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The University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute have once again teamed up with Orkney College UHI Art Department to offer the popular summer Art & Archaeology workshop for 2019.

  • Dates: 2nd – 5th July 2019
  • Time: 9.00-5.00 each day
  • Cost £250 per person (limited number of concessions at £225)
  • Accommodation and food is not included
  • Material and transport to and from Kirkwall during the workshop is included

Join us for a four-day workshop exploring the synergies between Art & Archaeology through an exciting combination of field visits and studio time. Accompanied by artists and archaeologists, you will explore the themes of mark-making, materiality and the landscape in the beautiful setting of Orkney’s West Mainland and the island of Hoy.

There will be exclusive tours of the Ness of Brodgar, Pier Arts Centre and the Ness Battery as well as expert printmaking tuition in Orkney College’s Art Studio from Charles Shearer

Tuesday 2nd July 2019 Field Day Ness of Brodgar and Ness Battery

The Ness of Brodgar excavation

After an introduction to the workshop, we will visit the excavations at the Ness of Brodgar. You will have the opportunity to enjoy a bespoke tour with Site Director Nick Card and see its unique art with Neolithic art researcher Dr Antonia Thomas. In the afternoon we will have a tour of the remarkable buildings at the Ness Battery and its unique WW2 painted murals with archaeologist Andrew Hollinrake.

The Ness Battery looking across to the Island of Hoy

Wednesday 3rd July 2019 Pier Arts Centre and Hoy

For today’s session, we will study the internationally significant collection of modern and contemporary art through an exclusive tour of the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness. We will then travel by the MV Graemsay ferry to the island of Hoy and then onwards to the beautiful beach at Rackwick via the Dwarfie Stane….a Neolithic rock cut tomb made famous by Sir Walter Scott in The Pirate. Following a day on the island we then travel back to Stromness on the ferry.

The Dwarfie Stane

Thursday 4th July Studio Day One

You will develop your sketches and ideas from the previous two days into collagraph prints, guided by the internationally renowned printmaker and artist Charles Shearer. A lunchtime lecture will discuss art and artefacts from Neolithic sites in Orkney. You will also have an opportunity to handle finds from recent excavations.

Friday 5th July Studio Day Two

You will be able to develop your ideas from the previous three days further, and continue to work on collagraph printmaking with Charles Shearer. A lunchtime lecture will explore overlaps between archaeology and art as disciplines and processes.

Formal qualifications are not required for this course.

Cost: £250 for 4 days. Limited number of concessions available at 10% discount (£225) Cost includes teaching, transport and materials, but not accommodation or food.To book, contact orkney.college@uhi.ac.uk or telephone 01856 569000

Archaeology Meets Design: Creating The Wander Collection

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IMG_0403Archaeology meets design in an innovative new collaboration pushing the boundaries of the archaeological map.

Designer Kirsteen Stewart launched The Wander Collection earlier this year in collaboration with Archaeologist Dan Lee at the Archaeology Institute at the University of the Highlands & Islands.

Finding connections in their approaches, Dan and Kirsteen decided to develop a new creative process which combined aspects of archaeological landscape survey and walking, with their references to place, material and time. These were transformed into new forms of digital maps which formed the design basis for a new range of clothing and accessories. Dan has recently been exploring the potential for experimental mappings in archaeology and has developed new innovative ways of combining walks, performance and landscape using handheld GPS (Global Positioning System) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Together, they decided to push the archaeological map and design process in new directions.

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Kirsteen carried a small GPS receiver in her handbag whilst going about her daily routine throughout Orkney’s coasts and islands; from going to work in the studio and doing the daily post office run to dropping the car at the garage or running an errand for the farm at the local Auction Mart.  In this way Kirsteen’s journey through her day was recorded with the GPS receiver – a small device that is used in archaeology to locate the locations of  sites and features in the landscape. At the same time, other places were referenced with additional GPS receiver creating multiple sets of data.

Experimental map made by combining GPS data from a walk

Dan took the all data from these walks and performances and transformed them into experimental digital maps, in the form of line drawings. Whilst the original walks and movements are recognisable in the resulting map, combining the data often resulted in unexpected outcomes and patterns; all embraced by the creative process.

Kirsteen took these maps and combined the simple linear shapes with elemental colours, both inspired by the island landscape the daily paths we take throughout Orkney. This process came together to form The Wander Collection.

Check out the finished designs on Wander Collection look book website.

Their collaboration is still developing, exploring innovative creative processes using design and archaeology. The UHI Archaeology Institute continues to develop strong links with the business sector in Orkney with collaborations with Ola Gorie and Ortak Jewellery.