Exhibitions

Light is crucial to life on Earth. Heat is transferred from the sun, in the form of infrared radiation, to warm the planet and to drive the climate system, whilst photosynthesis, the process which makes atmospheric oxygen and from which plants make sugars, relies on visible light to work.

The exhibitors range from recent graduates to long-established artists and include painters, sculptors, photographers, illustrators and weavers. The exhibition base is Northlight Studio where a large tapestry, the work of a group of weavers based at Northlight, will be on display.

Items on display will include some of the photographs in the Ernest Marwick Collection, and you can also hear some of the sound recordings that he made. The exhibition will also offer a glimpse into his personal diaries. Ernest Marwick left school at just 10 years old after being diagnosed with scoliosis, but he did not let this hinder his education. Instead, he put the period of his illness to good use to read as much as he could.

Imagine you are gazing at a 300 foot high wind turbine being raised from its horizontal position at Nigg Bay, Rosshire, up into the sky, to become a mammoth perpendicular structure, with the aid of giant robotic cranes on either side, men in steel helmets beetling around like ants overseeing the whole operation and keeping it safe from disaster.

The exhibition of paintings by Sheena Fraser McGoogan and Jane Glue, From Orkney to Canada, with images of some of the places John Rae loved, on both sides of the Atlantic, will be at the Jane Glue Gallery in Finstown from 7 September to 5 October, Monday to Saturday, 10.30 am to 4.30 pm.

Orkney Wireless Museum is a treasure chest of history. It tells the story of radio from its very beginnings through times of war and on to today, and many insights into our ways of life as well as technical ingenuity. You can also see one of the crystals that were used and some of the tins in which they were purchased.