Orkney Museum to Host Exhibition on Renewable Energy

Thursday September 4 sees the opening of an exhibition of drawings at the Orkney Museum, Tankerness House, which chart the development of a wind farm in the Moray Firth.

‘Beatrice Works’ by Sue Jane Taylor, follows the creation of a major new development in the offshore renewables sector. The exhibition takes its name from the oilfield where two deep water offshore wind turbine prototypes are located, off the Caithness coast.

Sue Jane was given access to all aspects of the building and erecting of the wind turbines, as well as creating portraits of some of the people involved and drawing the landscape in which the turbines will sit.

The exhibition is timed to coincide with the start of the Orkney Science Festival, which is working in partnership with the museum to bring these artworks to Orkney.

Accompanying the Beatrice Works exhibition will be the Aberdeen Art Gallery publication 2013 of the same name, with introduction essay by Dr James Hunter, Emeritus Professor of History at University of the Highlands and Islands.

There will be a special ‘Meet the Artist’ event at the Orkney Museum from 10.30am – 12.00 midday on Thursday September 4, which will give the public the opportunity of chatting informally to the artist about her work and her experiences in both the oil and renewables sectors during her artistic career.

The exhibition runs from September 4 to October 4. The Orkney Museum is open Monday – Saturday from 10.30am – 12.30pm, 1.30pm – 5.00pm, admission is free.

The prototype project in the Beatrice oilfield was a first in the world at that time, and it has led the way for two proposed massive deep water offshore wind farms nearby in the Moray Firth.

This exhibition shows selected work from this prototype project, its construction to installation and importantly the people involved in this project.