Orkney Camera Club respond each year to the Festival theme, and this year had an even bigger challenge – to do so online; and they have responded in splendid style. Their exhibition Orkney’s Coastal Waters is a delight, as you can see by going to it on the Artsteps site.
The exhibition ‘Ian Scott – a retrospective’ can be seen online at the Artsteps site. Online exhibitions use a lot of computer memory, so it is best to make sure first that all other applications are shut down, and it can take a little time to load. To start with, just clicking on an image is the simplest way around, moving from each one to its neighbour, and then furthermore possibilities can be found.
Katy Firth in association with Stromness Museum has put together an exhibition of 360 degree photospheres of a visit to the island. With each of the images, you can turn it round a full 360 degrees, to see the full range of views from your vantage point. You can go direct to the exhibition, and she is also going to provide online guidance as to how to make the best use of it.
Words, music and images from St Magnus Cathedral for a Sunday morning, with Rev. Fraser Macnaughton and the Cathedral Choir and organ.
There’s an opportunity to explore the island in 360-degree photospheres, and learn about its natural history and cultural heritage. Hidden within the photospheres you'll discover multimedia gems of all kinds for you to enjoy from home. Sail from Stromness with Katy Firth of Stromness Museum and enjoy the view of the harbour. On the island you will see Sandside Bay and the lighthouse, and views across Hoy Sound, and hear more of Graemsay's story.
Orkney’s waters can provide spectacular sightings of marine mammals, but research so far has been limited. Orkney Marine Mammal Research Initiative was launched this summer to undertake long-term studies of cetaceans in Orkney waters and gather information from public sightings. It plans to work alongside other UK organisations such as Seawatch Foundation. Emma Neave-Webb, with a wealth of experience in surveying marine mammals in Sanday and elsewhere, describes the life of cetaceans – whales, dolphins and porpoises – whales, dolphins and porpoises. She is joined for questions by Karen Hetherington and Imogen Sawyer.
Plan your own Orkney lunch in advance from our downloadable recipe brochure, with links to Orkney suppliers. Then at 1 o’clock tune in to the Science Festival YouTube channel to hear a One O’Clock Toast to two notable Orcadians of recent years – Albert Spence, vet and community renewables pioneer, and Sheila Spence, local heritage and natural history recorder. The Toast will be given by Prof. Tom Stevenson, and followed by music from Magnus Spence and friends from the Harray Traditional Music Group. We’ll also hear from Tristan Cameron-Harper on his journey north, and Eric Walker looks on the bright side about the night sky. They’ll round off at 1.20 pm and join us for lunch around one of our online tables.
Dr Tom Rendall takes a journey from his native Sanday, where the shore sweeps out in great sandy bays like Otterswick and Backaskaill, to the coast at Scapa and its views across the Flow, with Birsay and parts of the East Mainland as well. He looks at the impacts of the sea upon island communities, with readings from Orkney writers and a song from Dr Sarah Jane Gibbon.
We’re off to the shore, to Warebeth and Birsay, for a creative and informative family-friendly session of shore-inspired fun. It’s hosted by artists and foragers Katherine Diaper, Rebecca Marr and Fiona Sanderson, and marine ecologist Dr Andrew Want, and they say that all ages are welcome. They want you to make plant brushes, and paint with shore-sourced pigments. Forage along the coastline and feast on your finds. Get up close to shore creatures. Photograph the beauty of seaweed. And they’re going to round off with foraged food around a beach fire.
Emma Neave-Webb joins us from Sanday to show how to identify the various types of cetaceans – whales, dolphins and porpoises – found in Orkney waters.
It starts with a handful of stone artefacts from the Ness of Brodgar, in the heart of Neolithic Orkney … and Prof. Mark Edmonds of York University and UHI goes in search of their origins. Some are striking, others seem simple by comparison; all of them have stories to tell about how stone was caught up in people's lives over 5000 years ago.
The archaeological work at the Ness of Brodgar is being followed worldwide. Although excavations couldn’t proceed this summer, the study of the vast amount of data and finds from previous years has been continuing, as director Nick Card explains. Two other members of the UHI Archaeology Institute team at Orkney College describe ongoing scientific analysis of the finds. Dr Ingrid Mainland speaks on the animal teeth found over time and the clues to a possible marine diet, and Dr Scott Timpany describes plants, pollen and Brodgar’s Neolithic landscape. All the speakers are Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland who’re hosting and highlighting the session.
When Bishop George Graham started to build Skaill House 400 years ago, Orkney was settling down after the time of the Stewart Earls. But Europe was caught up in the Thirty Years War. It would affect the lives of Kepler and Galileo – and also many young Orcadians who would join the Swedish army to fight in Germany. There is music by David Griffith and a song by Owen Griffith, and Howie Firth tells the story of a conflict that brought men from Papay and Hoy alongside soldiers like Prince Rupert of the Rhine. There’s a welcome to Skaill House from Major Malcolm Macrae. To add to the experience, you could prepare your own afternoon tea, in a Skaill House style.
Music inspired by the sea, presented by its composer, Lochaber musician Ingrid Henderson, in conversation with the head of NatureScot’s marine unit, Katy Gillham. The music was created for a new music and audiovisual show for the Year of Coasts and Waters. Mixing newly crafted music and song with ancient Gaelic melodies and powerful imagery and animation, it explores themes of ocean currents, migration and environmental impact as well as celebrating the rich marine life around us and the deep cultural connection of coastal communities to the sea. Music by Ingrid Henderson (harp/fiddle/vocals), Anna Massie (guitar/fiddle), Megan Henderson (fiddle/vocals/piano) and Conal McDonagh (Irish pipes/whistle).
Round off the day with the atmosphere of The Reel, and the opportunity to take a break and join a table to meet up with old and new friends and exchange news, and some of the speakers from events as well.
A science festival has a radical role in developing a creative climate for a region. Here is the story of how it began, and how Orkney was involved from an early stage in the concept.
