Sails in St Magnus - Exhibition
Thursday 18 - Sunday 28 June @ 10.00am - 5.00pm (12noon - 5.00pm Sundays)
Where: Shetland Museum and Archives, Hays Dock, Lerwick
Orkney's dramatic 'Sails in St Magnus' exhibition comes to the Shetland Museum and Archive to coincide with this year's Johnsmas Foy and its Viking theme.
Sails in St Magnus was designed as a visual arts installation for the 1993 St Magnus Festival in Orkney. The project, specifically designed to be hung in the arches nave of St Magnus Cathedral, was based on the paradox that the Vikings used the Cathedral as a sail loft to dry and store the sails of their longships.
The installation, comprising of 14 free hanging sails, was painted and screen printed to produce images that were inspired by a series of one line poems, specially written for the project by George MacKay Brown.
The theme of the exhibition is the pilgrimage from Orkney to Jerusalem in 1151 by Earl Rognvald the second of Orkney. Earl Rognvald dedicated this voyage to his uncle, St Magnus the Martyr from whom the Cathedral takes its name. The original account of the voyage appeared in the Orkneyinga Saga, being the history of the Norse Earls who ruled the islands in the middle ages. George Mackay Brown was enthusiastic about the project as the Norse Sagas were a source of inspiration within his own poems and stories.
The visual arts team were made up of Erlend Brown, Dave Jackson, Andrew Parkinson and Mary Scott. Each of the artists was responsible for the design and production of three of the sails, with the final two sails being a collaborative effort, shared out between the team. The Exhibition has toured extensively at home and abroad and after fifteen years shows no sign of declining in popularity.
Two of the 'Sails' artists - Dave Jackson and Erlend Brown - will be in Shetland to coincide with the opening of the exhibition and will be on hand to provide guided tours of the exhibition on Friday 19th June and Saturday 20th June at 10.30 and 14.30 each day. These tours are free of charge.
Note: Access to this exhibition may be restricted at certain times due to other events taking place in the venue auditorium.
The Sails in St Magnus exhibition will be officially opened on the 18th June, immediately after the official opening of the Johnsmas Foy itself. These opening ceremonies take place in the Shetland Museum and Archives at 6.30pm and members of the public are welcome to attend. Dave Jackson and Erlend Brown will also conduct guided tours of the exhibition at this time.
For further information, please contact: Shetland Musuem and Archives, Hays Dock, Lerwick, tel 01595 695057 or email info@shetlandmuseumandarchives.org.uk
