Art and Archaeology in Orkney: Past, Present and Future

The archaeological imagination looms large in Orkney, and the islands’ ancient landscapes, monuments and artefacts have inspired artists since the 18th century. But Orkney is a place as much aware of its contemporary identity, and its future direction, as it is of its ancient history. It is a world leader in renewable energy innovation, and the islands’ hills and seas are home to large wind turbines and marine renewable devices, contemporary archaeological monuments which are inspiring a new generation of interdisciplinary art-archaeology practitioners.

This rich setting provides the ideal environment for UHI Orkney’s MA Contemporary Art and Archaeology, a unique postgraduate degree which encourages the blurring of distinctions between artistic and archaeological practice. Developed and directed by archaeologists and visual artists based in Orkney, it is the only course of its kind in the world. Students are encouraged to take a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to research-led creative practice, informed by critical engagements with archaeology. Uniquely this teaching is delivered largely online and through video conference, challenging traditional pedagogic models for such ‘hands-on’ subject areas, and allowing participatory and conceptual art-archaeology practice in the digital realm.

In this talk, Antonia will discuss how the past, present, and future of art and archaeology in Orkney have influenced creative research-led teaching at UHI. Antonia will then use the MA in Contemporary Art and Archaeology as a case study for examining the wider challenges and opportunities of integrating art and archaeology, in teaching, research, and practice.

About the Speaker

Dr Antonia Thomas is the Programme Leader for the MA Contemporary Art and Archaeology, and Lecturer in Archaeology, based at the University of the Highlands and Islands. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on the relationship between Art and Archaeology, using these as reference points from which to explore wider creative engagements - across and beyond a range of different disciplines.

Her work explores experimental and creative approaches to archaeology, and she has undertaken a number of trans-disciplinary art / archaeology collaborations and residencies. Recent projects and publications have examined subjects such as prehistoric rock art, graffiti and mark-making, plastics, and photography.

Her current research is focussed on TRANSECTS, a major inter-disciplinary and multi-institutional project focussed on marine energy transitions – whale oil, fossil fuels, and offshore renewables - in the three case study areas of Orkney, North-East Scotland and the Humber. Antonia’s contribution to TRANSECTS is exploring how approaches drawn from contemporary archaeology and creative practice can help coastal communities to explore their roles and responses to energy transitions, in the past, present and future

The online talk is free and open to all. To register please use the link above.

The Archaeology-Heritage-Art Research Network examines the varied ways in which archaeology, heritage and art converge across a broad range of concepts and practices, from artistic interventions in the museum space to archaeological interpretations which deploy and take inspiration from contemporary art.

Image credit: ‘Brodgar Turbines’ (Antonia Thomas)

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