Quendale Mill highlights community art project

The Quendale Mill is to display a series of photographs taken in 2006 during a community art project. ‘Hands on the Past’ was part of the Shetland Museum and Archives Public Art Project and involved pupils from Anderson High School’s and Bells Brae Primary’s Additional Support Needs (ASN) Departments.

During the project staff from Quendale Mill and the Crofthouse Museum visited the schools to lead lively classroom workshops and activities based on how people used to live. The pupils then visited both the visitor attractions on a number of occasions, where they carried out traditional activities, such as grinding oats and making butter and bannocks, in traditional costumes.

The visits were documented by Mark Sinclair of PhatSheep Photography, who amassed hundreds of photos over the visits. Copies of some of these photos are already displayed in each ASN department and a selection was on show in the Public Art Exhibition held when SMAA opened. Now a further ten are to be displayed in Quendale Mill throughout the summer.

Kirsty Kennedy, Shetland Museum and Archives Lifelong Learning Officer, commented on how much fun the project was for all involved: “This was a really enjoyable project, we all had lots of fun and so did the children. It was great to be able to offer the additional support departments alternative educational opportunities while the Museum and Archives were being constructed, and with the success for all involved it is hopefully something we could repeat in the future.”

The photos will be on displayed at Quendale Mill throughout its 2008 season: Monday 14th April to Sunday 12th October inclusive, during which the opening hours are 10am - 5pm daily.

For more heritage news visit the Heritage North website.