What's on at Stromness Museum

Stromness Museum and artist Jenny Pope will be overseeing a series of activities, talks and workshops at this year’s Orkney International Science Festival (OISF) to mark the raising of the Shoogly Holm floating sculpture and mooring, and reveal its findings about Orkney’s marine life.

Over the past 18 months, Stromness Museum has worked with Jenny in partnership with OISF and The Blide Trust on Shoogly Holm, exploring 'Resilience in Uncertain Times’ with the community and creating an underwater home for sea life topped with a colourful sculpture afloat in Stromness Harbour. Through collaborative working and creative workshops, ‘Shoogly Holm’ highlighted marine biodiversity loss and counteracted eco anxiety through citizen science, building an underwater habitat with regular surveys to collect ecological information. The sculpture will be retrieved and the data gathered will be shared and explored through OISF’s programme. Further details and tickets for all events are available online via the OISF website. 

IT’S ALWAYS OURSELVES WE FIND IN THE SEA  

Lecture at King Street Halls, Kirkwall on Thu 3 Sept at 3.30-4.30pm. Jenny Pope will be joined by project partners to tell the story of Shoogly Holm, illustrated by underwater images of the project. 

RESILIENCE IN UNCERTAIN TIMES 

Creative Workshop at The Old Library, Laing St., Kirkwall on Fri 4 Sept at 2.00-3.30pm. Led by Jenny Pope, participants will use recycled materials to create three-dimensional responses to an ever-changing world, in what promises to be an enjoyable and enlightening workshop. 

FAMILY DAY 

Event Kirkwall Grammar School (KGS) on Sat 5 Sept at 10am-4pm. A day of family-friendly activities including a session led by Dr Karen Boswarva (Seasearch Orkney and Shetland Coordinator) and Robbie Cant (Orkney Marine Environmental Unit Technician), about how and why species colonise and how we look at what is floating about in the seawater soup. 

THE RAISING OF SHOOGLY HOLM 

Event at Stromness Museum on Sun 6 Sept at 11am-1pm. Come along to see the work in progress on studying the marine life that has settled in into Shoogly Holm during its months in the harbour. Local marine scientists will help attendees examine sea life, using plastic trays and small microscopes to look at finds, including Dr Karen Boswarva (Seasearch Orkney and Shetland Coordinator), Dr Jenni Kakkonen (Orkney Marine Environmental Unit Team Manager) and Prof. Joanne Porter (Herriot-Watt University).  

SHOOGLY HOLM SHORELINE RAMBLE 

Ramble starting at Stromness Museum on Sun 6 Sept at 1.00pm. Our Museum Climate Change Exhibitions and Outreach Officer Katy Firth will lead a Shoreline Ramble inspired by Shoogly Holm, connecting local marine wildlife with the museum collections and searching for natural history curiosities along the Stromness shoreline. 

STUDYING SHOOGLY HOLM 

Three Marine Workshops at various Stromness locations on Tue 8 Sept at 11.30am-4.30pm: 

1. Life Colonisation Lab session at Heriot-Watt University’s Robert Rendall Building at 11.30am-12.30pm. Using microscopes and lab equipment, with local marine scientists on hand to assist.  
2. Plankton Dip at Pole Star Pier, Stromness, KW16 3DF at 3.30pm-4.30pm. Find out how plankton samples are collected and learn about plankton’s vital role in the life of the sea. Drop-in event led by Seasearch Coordinator Dr Karen Boswarva.  
3. Plankton Creative Workshop at Heriot-Watt University’s Robert Rendall Building at 2.00pm-3.00pm. Led by artist Jenny Pope and MSc student Elaina Rose Kelly, participants will take inspiration from samples gathered at Shoogly Holm to create their own sea creature using recycled materials.