Maths Week Scotland 2022 

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Maths Week Scotland 2022 

Maths Week Scotland is a dedicated week of events and activity, with special events throughout the year. Events take place all across Scotland for families, adults and schools hosted by science centres, museums, organisations, schools and more! This year, Maths Week Scotland will take place 26 September – 2 October 2022. (featured image copyright Abermedia)

Maths Week Scotland 2022 will have the theme ‘The Beauty of Maths’’ with a focus on creativity and beauty in maths, as well as the maths in such as art and music.

Maths is all around us in our everyday lives and that is reflected in the broad programme of activity. Maths Week Scotland shines a light on maths in unexpected places and gives people the opportunity to engage with it in new fun ways.

Across Maths Week Scotland, we want people of all ages and backgrounds to:
Be curious, enthusiastic, confident and engaged in numeracy and mathematics
Understand the relevance of maths learning and skills to their lives, now and in the future
Have access to a diverse range of events and activities promoting and demonstrating the joy and value of maths

We had seven museums take part in Maths Week Scotland from the Highlands to the Borders. You can see what museums got up to for Maths Week Scotland 2021 here. If you are interested in taking part in Maths Week Scotland please contact mathsweekscot@nms.ac.uk to find out what support is available. We can offer support from maths education and museum specialists to help you get started or work through your ideas.

NMS Maths Week – Thu 24 March 2022 – Low Parks Museum, Hamilton (© photographer Andy Catlin www.andycatlin.com)

Large Grant Funding

The Large Grant Fund is offering grants of between £2,000 – £7,000 to support organisations, partnerships and charities to develop exciting new strands of Maths Week Scotland 2022.

If your project is smaller than this amount there will also be a Small Grants Fund for applications of up to £2,000. For more information on the Small Grants Fund find out more here.

The final deadline for submission is 17:00 on Monday 16 May 2022.

Applications received will be reviewed and advised of outcome by Monday 30 May 2022.

The guidance document and application form is at https://www.mathsweek.scot/resources/funding. More information on Maths Week Scotland can be found at www.mathsweek.scot

Promoting Events and Resources

Once you have your plans in place you can add your events directly to the Maths Week Scotland website https://www.mathsweek.scot/events or email mathsweekscot@nms.ac.uk with relevant resources.

Digital Learning Hub – opportunity to work with us!

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Digital Learning Hub – opportunity to work with us!

We are seeking a Digital Learning and Interpretation Specialist to work with us on creating content for a Digital Learning Hub for schools and families. This opportunity is supported by the Art Fund and Museums and Galleries Scotland.

Over the next year we are working with museums across the Highlands to create a dynamic digital learning hub enabling children, young people and teachers to discover and engage with museum collections from across the Highlands in new and exciting ways. The project brings together 17 museums from across the Highlands to collaborate in bringing objects from their collections together to create a digital portal into the rich history and culture of the Highlands. Users will be able to move through historical time, place or subject matter to explore objects in different museum collections using immersive imagery, video and audio and bringing them together to create their own ‘journeys’. The learning hub will allow users to access museum collections and learning resources related to objects and topic for use at home or in the classroom, with the functionality to contact museums directly to set up virtual or in person learning visits. 

The Digital Learning and Interpretation Specialist will be a creative leader in this project, focused on providing digital learning and interpretation experiences for all ages. This position is responsible for supporting participating museums in creating online and remote digital learning resources for a variety of audiences, most specifically targeting, teachers, families and young people currently in primary and secondary education. It may suit one person or a team and are happy to discuss different approaches with you before applying.

For full details on the position and on how to apply, please download the job pack below.

Digtal learning specialist JobPackDownload

GLENCOE FOLK MUSEUM GIVES SNEAK PREVIEW OF NEW EXHIBITIONS 

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<strong>GLENCOE FOLK MUSEUM GIVES SNEAK PREVIEW OF NEW EXHIBITIONS </strong>

Design work is rapidly advancing on Glencoe Folk Museum’s £1.3m lottery-funded redevelopment, scheduled to open in 2023. Peter Drummond architects and Mather & Co. exhibition designers are working with staff and the local community to create a vibrant attraction, fit for the 21st century whilst retaining the traditional look and much-loved charm of the original.

Founded in the 1960s by members of the community, the Museum holds over 6,000 artefacts and chronicles daily life in the Glencoe area between the 17th and 21st centuries, telling stories relating to themes such as industry, conflict, childhood and sport, as well as Jacobite uprisings, Clan history and of course the Massacre of Glencoe. The redevelopment plans include the erection of a new building at the back of the Museum’s historic listed cottages, creating a new reception area, gift shop and exhibition space. Improving visitor access is a key priority, as is improving the display conditions of the more vulnerable objects in the collection.

A highlight of the new displays will be an immersive, state-of-the-art projection and audio feature placing visitors in a MacDonald cottage on the night of the infamous 1692 Massacre of Glencoe. This emotive exhibition will bring to life the personal stories of the Massacre and give a clear understanding of the religious, political and cultural environment that allowed such an atrocity to take place.

Project Director, David Rounce, said;
 ‘There’s a lot of work ahead, including fundraising and shortly seeking planning permission, but we’re well on-track to make a museum that will be a real hub for local heritage – bringing Glencoe’s unique history to life for the community and our visitors from around the globe’.

The redevelopment will also restore the Museum’s listed 18th century cottages, the only surviving genuine heather-thatched structures in the area. Funding from the Pilgrim Trust has been secured to renew the thatch and help the Museum ensure its long-term preservation. It is planned to complement this traditional natural roof with a new “ living” roof on the extension.

Catriona Davidson, Curator, added;
 ‘We’ve been talking about this project since I started working here over 5 years ago,  so it’s really exciting to finally be able to share our plans  as everything comes together! Behind the scenes we’re busy researching, choosing artefacts and gathering stories. We’ve also been running community consultation sessions – we really want our museum to reflect the community that created it so it’s important to us that we are sharing as many local voices as possible”

Highlights of the Museum’s collection include a “coffin boat” once used to transport bodies to the Clan burial island of Eilean Munde, a beautiful 1740s silk dress, woven at Spitalfields and passed down the generations of a local family, a replica of the mysterious bronze-age Ballachulish Goddess and a large genealogical chart depicting the branches of Clan Donald. 

The Museum will open for the 2022 season on Saturday 2nd April. 

Interior and Exterior Views of the redevelopment

The Spirit of the Highlands and Islands – what is it?

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<em>The Spirit of the Highlands and Islands – what is it?</em>

Is it the landscape? The community? A favourite memory? How would you interpret it?

The Spirit of the Highlands and Islands project is being delivered by High Life Highland, on behalf of The Highland Council, and aims to create and promote compelling and sustainable visitor experiences that celebrate the Spirit of the Highlands and Islands, past, present and future.

Through the Spirit of the Highlands and Islands project, we will create assets including an interactive map and story archive to inspire greater exploration of the region. These will also establish authentic connections to local communities through their stories, engaging people with our rich natural and cultural heritage.

We asked people to contribute their story responding to the prompt, ‘What story sums up the Spirit of the Highlands for you?’ In doing this, the aim is to create a legacy of engaged communities and co-curated content which will showcase the natural and cultural heritage of the region. This is an opportunity for the people of the Highlands and Islands – those who live, work and travel here – to represent their area. Community stories will also inspire and inform the new visitor attraction currently being developed for the transformed Inverness Castle site. 

The Spirit of the Highlands and Islands project will be delivered in partnership with VisitScotland. It is supported by a grant from the Natural and Cultural Heritage Fund (NCHF) led by NatureScot and part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Reflecting the Spirit of the Highlands theme, it will encourage people to visit all parts of the Highlands in a sustainable way.

Sophie Gartshore, Digital Project Officer for Spirit of the Highlands and Islands, said: “This is a great opportunity for people who love the Highlands to make their mark on the content for Spirit of the Highlands and Islands online and within the transformed Inverness Castle building in future! We are really looking forward to working with other projects and heritage sites to promote the natural and cultural heritage of the Highlands and Islands in unique ways.”

Stories submitted to the Spirit of the Highlands and Islands project will be used to inspire people to visit areas across the region and develop authentic connections with local communities. They are inspiring the creation of a Tapestry of the Highlands and Islands and Spirit:360, an artist commissioning programme supported by Creative Scotland, giving local artists an opportunity to showcase their work capturing the ‘spirit’ of the region. 

We would love you to get involved! Do you have a story you want to share about what the Spirit of the Highlands and Islands means to you? Tell us at https://www.spiritofthehighlands.com/get-involved/.

There are many opportunities for museums to be involved with the Spirit of the Highlands and Islands project! We are looking for local people to be involved in the stitching of the Tapestry of the Highlands and Islands, as well as events and craft workshops surrounding this to showcase community stories and collections. We are excited to involve local museums and organisations at these events to highlight important aspects of regional culture and heritage.

We also want to support museum events and projects, especially during Scotland’s Year of Stories. If you would like to be featured on our story map or promote your event/project through our social channels please email info@spiritofthehighlands.com.

Brora Heritage Centre

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Brora Heritage Centre

Brora Heritage Centre, in Brora on the East coast of Sutherland, hosts a small community museum packed with displays and objects relating to its fascinating and unique Highland History.  

Home to Britain’s most northerly occurrence of coal, it was worked intermittently from 1529 to 1777 to fuel a salt-making industry on the shore.  From 1810 a 240’ deep shaft was sunk to exploit the coal and, for this phase in the industrial history of the village, the coal fuelled a further salt-works, a whisky distillery, a brickworks and, later, a woollen tweed mill.  

Sadly, the distillery is the only industry which has survived, but the stories live on in the museum, alongside many other incredible local stories from a village which has always punched above its weight.  

The centre is operated by Clyne Heritage Society on behalf of Highlife Highland and is open daily, 10.30-4.30, from Good Friday to the end of October.  The Society is pursuing plans to open its own heritage centre and museum in the redeveloped, currently semi-derelict, Old Clyne School on the main A9 on the north side of the village. 

Clyne Heritage

Brora Heritage Centre – Facebook

Community Curators at The Highlanders’ Museum

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Community Curators at The Highlanders’ Museum

The Highlanders’ Museum, Fort George has recently launched a brand-new project and they are looking for participants! Freya Samuels, Community and Digital Engagement Graduate,  talks to us about their new Community Curators programme.

The concept of Community Curators encourages members of the local community to contribute their opinions and ideas to their local museum – we call this, ‘have your say in our display’.

Over the last few years, it has become increasingly important for museums to take another look at how they talk about colonial histories. We are keen to make sure that our museum interpretation not only represents the views of the modernising museums sector, but also the views of our community. By bringing together a group of Community Curators who are keen to have their voice heard, we will run projects throughout the year looking at object interpretation, contextual narratives, and temporary exhibitions.

This project is taking a wide approach to the term ‘community’. In one sense, community is the people right on our doorstep, around Ardersier, Nairn, and Inverness, but we are all part of a global community – this is why our sessions will be hybrid, allowing participants to attend in-person and online.

Our first project, starting on 2nd March 2022, is called ‘Re-thinking the Indian Rebellion’. The Rebellion is a key event in our regimental history, as all of the historic regiments represented at the museum played a part in the conflict. The project will involve writing alternative object labels and narratives to go alongside the existing interpretation, offering an alternative perspective of the war. We have an exciting line up of speakers, including Dr Jim MacPherson of the University of the Highlands & Islands, Dr Nicole Hartwell of Cambridge University, and a label writing masterclass led by PhD student Chris Berriman.

Sessions for ‘Re-thinking the Indian Rebellion’ will run every Wednesday evening from 2nd March at 18:30, for six weeks. Everyone is welcome to sign up to become a Community Curator, although places are limited – once we have reached capacity, participants will be placed onto a waiting list. Taking part is free, and we particularly encourage participants who are passionate about how museums address colonial histories. To find out more about the project and sign up, just head to our website: https://www.thehighlandersmuseum.com/?page_id=30512
If you would like to get involved in a Community Curators project as a museum, history, or heritage professional, get in touch with Freya at scotgrad@thehighlandersmuseum.com

Broch-t back to life!

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Broch-t back to life!

A millennia-old, ‘new-build’: first look at archaeological group’s ‘grand design’ for ancient monument.

Archaeological charity Caithness Broch Project (CBP) recently unveiled their impressive vision for the first broch to be built in Scotland in 2,000 years. Brochs – tall, double-walled, drystone towers found only in Scotland – were once common features in the Iron Age landscape across the Highlands and Islands, and Caithness can lay claim to have more brochs than anywhere else. CBP now want to recreate one as a thriving visitor attraction for the county.

The visuals, created by digital reconstruction artist Bob Marshall, showcase the ambitious aims of the charity, who seek to construct the monument using tools and techniques only available to their Iron Age counterparts.

The broch, designed by CBP co-founder Iain Maclean, reflects the wider architectural repertoire of brochs across Scotland, incorporates a number of flourishes such as triangular doorway lintels, cells built into the broch itself, and a series of outbuildings such as wags, wheelhouses and blockhouses.

“We wanted to capture a variety of features found in Broch construction from all over Scotland, so the design isn’t a carbon copy of any individual Broch but instead is a kind of chimaera of elements chosen for a number of reasons, ranging from structural robustness, health and safety, or purely because they were interesting. features.” said co-founder and director Iain Maclean.

Maclean also noted that there were “elements of the design such as the roof and the construction of the floors that had to be figured out with a degree of educated guesswork and speculation given that none of these survive in archaeological record”, remarking that their broch vision was “as honest an interpretation of what a Broch looked like as we may ever arrive at.”

It is hoped that the project will become an important visitor attraction for the region of Caithness, which has recently been projected to lose over 20% of its population over the next 20 years.

“This project will be a hugely important one for the county,” remarked CBP director Kenneth McElroy, “not only do we want this to become a sustainable and successful contribution to the economy of Caithness, but it could become an icon for the county too.”

Caithness Broch Project hope to acquire land for the construction of the broch within the next year, with funding sources from a variety of sources. By 2023 it is hoped they can begin their project in earnest, involving a wide range of skilled heritage craftspeople.

Digital reconstruction of an iron age broch – Caithness, Scotland. Image © Bob Marshall

For more on Caithness Broch Project, visit www.thebrochproject.co.uk
To view more of Bob Marshall’s work, please visit https://bobmarshall.co.uk/

Funding Success for Strathnaver Museum

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Funding Success for Strathnaver Museum

Bettyhill based Strathnaver Museum secures funding from Wolfson Foundation

Strathnaver Museum, a popular visitor attraction on the North Coast 500, has been awarded £75,000 from the Wolfson Foundation towards their important refurbishment project. The community run museum has secured more than £2m in capital funding to refurbish the existing museum, create exhibition and workshop space to the rear of the Clachan graveyard, install accessible interpretation across the site, and deliver community research projects.

The group’s vision is to safeguard the future of the regionally important B listed historic building and the collection it houses while securing its important place in the community. For almost 46 years Strathnaver Museum has played a vital part in the community gathering, interpreting, and sharing the story of northwest Sutherland.

The refurbished centre aims to reveal the depth of human activity in northwest Sutherland over its 8,000 years of human occupation; create an engaging environment for formal, informal and lifelong learning; and improve accessibility to the heritage.
Thought to have been a site of ecclesiastical importance for over a thousand years the building more recently played a key role in the story of the Highland Clearances.

The Farr Stone (c.850AD) sits to the western gable of the building indicating the early Christian significance of the site; while the earliest written record of a church on the site dates from 1223. Recent archaeological investigations as part of planning conditions associated with the work have uncovered a wealth of late Iron Age / early Medieval material including a bronze pin, thought to be ecclesiastical in origin.

Bronze pin covered in mud, recently discovered from the ground

The land surrounding the site mark significant historic events that were pivotal to the establishment of Scotland as the unified nation we recognise today. A series of battles, at nearby Dalharald and at Farr close to the manse, between the forces of William and Harald of Orkney were instrumental in driving out the Norse Kingdom in the area to unify Scotland.

In more recent times the building is the site of eviction notices being read out to the congregation at the height of the Strathnaver Clearances in 1819. Later it was where crofters gathered in 1883 to give evidence to the Napier Commission which led to them receiving security of tenure through the Crofters’ Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886.

Tom Mackay, Strathnaver Museum Chair said: “We are delighted to have received this support from the Wolfson Foundation towards our vital refurbishment work. Strathnaver Museum is at an exciting crossroads, where our vision for a refurbished facility offers the opportunity for the museum to secure the future of our important historic building and reimagine its place in the community by expanding the services we can offer”.

Paul Ramsbottom OBE, Chief Executive of the Wolfson Foundation: “Wolfson places a great emphasis on providing funding across the whole of the UK. Strathnaver Museum is a place of significance for Scottish history and is deeply rooted in the community of northwest Sutherland. It is also a place of considerable beauty – and we are delighted to support a refurbishment project that will bring alive both history and location, as well as providing exciting opportunities for the local area.”

The capital funding package includes support from Natural and Cultural Heritage Fund, National Lottery Heritage Fund, SSE, Museum Galleries Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Dounreay and the Caithness and North Sutherland Fund.

The Highlanders’ Museum, Fort George

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The Highlanders’ Museum, Fort George

Visit us at the 5-star Highlanders’ Museum (Queen’s Own Highlanders Collection) and immerse yourself in our rich and diverse history, following in the footsteps of the Highland soldier from just after the Battle of Culloden until the present day.  Our Nationally Significant Collection, the largest collection of military artefacts outside of Edinburgh, showcases the history of the Highland Regiments and includes an array of artefacts and archive material from the Seaforth Highlanders, The Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, the Queen’s Own Highlanders, The Highlanders and most recently, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (4 SCOTS).

Website link: https://www.thehighlandersmuseum.com/

Help West Highland Museum bring Bonnie Prince Charlie home

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Help West Highland Museum bring Bonnie Prince Charlie home

The West Highland Museum in Fort William is calling on the public to help bring a prestigious collection of paintings of the Royal House of Stuart from Europe to Scotland. 

The West Highland Museum in Fort William celebrates its centenary in 2022.  The museum hopes to stage a three-month exhibition of royal portraiture and has been offered exclusive access to a private collection of paintings owned by the Pininski Foundation, Liechtenstein.  The proposed exhibition will include thirteen paintings of four generations of the Royal House of Stuart, including James VIII (the Old Pretender) and his wife Princess Clementina Sobieska, through to Prince Charles Edward Stuart, better known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, and his daughter, Charlotte the Duchess of Albany.  The series of painting ends with Charlotte’s daughter Princess Marie Victorie de Rohan.  These paintings illustrate the actual family which inspired Jacobites to risk so much to pursue this ‘affair of the heart’.

In order to finance this important exhibition, the West Highland Museum team has embarked on an ambitious crowdfunding campaign. The campaign launches on Wednesday 13 October at midday on Art Fund’s Art Happens crowdfunding platform and runs until Monday 15 November.

Museum Director, Chris Robinson said “We need to raise £25,000 to cover the cost of delivering this exciting exhibition to the public in 2022.  We need your help in raising funds to make this happen and bring Bonnie Prince Charlie and the exiled Stuarts back to Scotland.  It will likely be the last time these iconic portraits will be displayed in the United Kingdom as they may soon be on permanent display at a European museum.”

Broadcaster and Historian Paul Murton, from the BBC Scotland’s Grand Tours of Scotland series, is backing the campaign and hosts the campaign video. You can help support the West Highland Museum by visiting their campaign page and donating.  There are fantastic rewards on offer for those who contribute, including tours of the exhibition with Professor Edward Corp and Art Historian Peter Pininski, and jewellery designed especially for campaign that has been inspired by the unique Lochaber landscape.   Other unique incentives on offer include hand-made coasters crafted from wood sourced from Achnacarry estate from the beech trees abandoned by the Gentle Lochiel, head of Clan Cameron, on the eve of the Jacobite Rising.  Lochiel went off to join the Rising, but never returned. The beech trees grew where they had temporarily been planted.  

The paintings have never before been displayed together in the United Kingdom and some have never before been exhibited here.  Others, such as a portrait of an elderly Prince Charles Edward Stuart by Hugh Douglas Hamilton, painted in Rome in 1786 were last displayed in Scotland in Glasgow in 1910.  The planned exhibition will also include the recently rediscovered portrait of a 16-year-old Bonnie Prince Charlie, by renowned Venetian artist Rosalba Carriera.  It is believed to be the only portrait of the Prince that pre-dates the 1745 Jacobite Rising.  The painting was first publicly displayed for a month at the National Museum of Scotland in 2019.  This will be a rare opportunity to see these paintings and to hear the story of the exiled Jacobites.  

The West Highland Museum plans to bring Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Stuarts back home to celebrate its 100th birthday.  Curator Vanessa Martin said “The museum is world famous for its Jacobite exhibitions and has built up an important collection since the museum’s inception in 1922.  In 1925 the museum held its first major public exhibition dedicated to the Jacobites and established itself as a Jacobite Museum. The Jacobite Rising started here in Lochaber with Prince Charles Edward Stuart raising his father’s Standard at Glenfinnan on 19 August to signal the start of the last Jacobite Rising. For our centenary we have been offered this wonderful opportunity by the Pininski Foundation to present a public exhibition of rarely displayed royal portraiture.”  As Chair of Directors, Ian Peter MacDonald explains; ‘An exhibition of this calibre and local relevance will bring pride to our community and inspire enthusiasts from all over to come and visit our town.’

To find out more about the crowdfunding campaign and how to donate visit: 

artfund.org/bonnie-prince-charlie  

#ReturnOfTheStuarts