Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters

Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters is giving us the opportunity to develop a range of new events, among them an opportunity to experience the sights and sounds of Swona, with its seals and flowers and feral cattle. 360-degree photospheres and the voices of people past and present give a vivid picture of the uninhabited island, lying at the edge of the Pentland Firth’s tidal stream.

The deep influences of the sea on us all are brought out in a short performance film, with accompanying abstract sound and music, costume and actions responding to the dialogue between ebb and flow. Our bodies follow the tidal movement of ebb and flow, hope and despair, joy and sorrow, it says – are we carried in a deeper flow?

And the old sea-routes that came to the fore in Norse times are featured in a concert of music titled Sagas and Seascapes. There is much from Icelandic on an Icelandic theme, and music from Orkney and Faroe.

Elsewhere in the programme there are talks on new marine research in Orkney and on the trans-Atlantic links that developed in the old days of the Hudson’s Bay Company. We look at the shaping of the sea-cliffs and the life of the shore. There is insight into the ways in which the tall ships could use the power of the wind to sail several hundred miles in a day, and news of developments in offshore wind to open up new energy opportunities. And through it all runs the theme of the sea which has shaped the coasts and lives of the islands.

TO TAKE THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE TO THE SEA

September 2, 2021 → 1:00 pm1:45 pm

Long thought a fable, the Arctic route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans had its final link identified by Dr John Rae. Half a century later, Roald Amundsen made the journey in a fishing vessel, although only after several years of voyaging and overwintering. ...

THE WIND ON THE SEA AND THE ENERGY FUTURE

September 2, 2021 → 3:00 pm3:45 pm

Blocks of seabed leased for offshore wind represent a massive proportion of the UK’s future electricity demand, with some 19 GW (around one-fifth of current demand) within 100 kilometres of Orkney harbours. Could Orkney become a service base for the new offshore wind ...

TURNING THE TIDE

September 2, 2021 → 5:00 pm5:20 pm

The world’s most powerful, most technologically advanced tidal turbine is currently generating energy in Orkney waters. Several of those who developed it join us on film to tell the story. And how does it to feel to be working on the forefront of technology in an island setting?

FLIGHTS AND FERRIES TO THE FUTURE

September 2, 2021 → 7:00 pm8:00 pm

Speakers bring the latest news from pioneering projects that are opening possible ways to decarbonise Orkney’s ferries and planes. We’ll hear how Kirkwall airport is being used as a testbed for low-carbon flight alternatives, and on the progress of plans to trial hydrogen technology on MV Shapinsay.

SEEING THE VALLEY OF LIGHT

September 3, 2021 → 6:15 pm7:00 pm

Filmmaker Mark Jenkins brings together images of Rackwick with voices past and present, using a slow cinema approach to focus on the aural experience. The film was created in response to ‘The Hidden Valley of Light’, one of the ‘Tales o Hoy’ podcast episodes developed for the Hoy Heritage ...

SAGAS AND SEASCAPES

September 3, 2021 → 9:00 pm10:00 pm

Norse stories and landscape around the northern sea-routes form the inspiration for this concert by Nordic Viola. Irish composer Linda Buckley’s Aud draws on the settlement of Iceland, while Lillie Harris’ sextet Elsewhen seeks to capture the atmosphere of Orkney’s ancient sites. In Carry His Relics for flute and viola, Orkney composer Gemma McGregor describes the journey of the remains of St Magnus from Birsay to Kirkwall, along the present-day ...

OUT ACROSS THE HARBOUR

September 4, 2021 → 9:45 am10:45 am

Research students from three universities – Heriot-Watt, Robert Gordon, and UHI – share news of the progress of their work, hosted by Dr Mike Bell of Heriot-Watt University’s International Centre for Island Technology in the Stromness campus with its views out across the harbour to Graemsay, Hoy and Scapa Flow. ...

CONFLICT ON THE COAST

September 4, 2021 → 11:30 am12:15 pm

Rising sea levels with coastal flooding and population movements inland, over-exploitation of resources like water and biomass, increasing pollution and sediment discharge … How do we cope? Look for nature-based solutions, says Roger Crofts, see the coast as part of a bigger system and plan holistically ...

WORKSHOP: NAVIGATING WITH THE STARS

September 4, 2021 → 3:00 pm4:00 pm

Join Vassilios Spathopoulos of Glasgow International College on a journey around the world and into the past, to learn the secrets of celestial navigation used by ancient travellers. The Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Vikings and the Polynesians will teach you how to use the stars, sun and moon to find your way across the sea. ...

TRADERS IN THE NOR’ WAST

September 4, 2021 → 3:30 pm4:15 pm

Formed just over 350 years ago, the Hudson’s Bay Company had a trading monopoly over a vast area of North-West Canada, rich in Arctic furs. Its ships regularly called in to Stromness for supplies and workers, and the resulting income gave a huge boost to Orkney’s ...

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