Museum Trip

Went to the Shetland Museum with classmates and Roxanne to research and seek inspiration. Were lucky enough to get a guided tour by one of the staff who took us through Shetland History with particular emphasis on women's work and status in Shetland, Burra and textiles as well as focusing on some of our requested areas of interest. I asked for some information on Vikings, Up Helly Aa and press gangs as I'm interested in the parallels between some of the barbaric oppression of Shetlanders by Vikings and press ganging and slavery, ships, crowds etc. I have discovered there may be a press gang hidey hole near Burra which could be interesting to look into. A very small cave that men hid in to avoid forceful recruitment into the navy could certainly be seen as intimate and the numbers of Shetland men drafted by the navy were huge and devastating to Island communities. I suppose Highland Clearances could also be something to investigate, as well as smugglers caves and I intend to go back to the museum at some point to take more detailed photos and visit the Archives for more information. I managed to get the whole tour recorded on my phone so hopefully this can be uploaded once I get home. It might be an idea to to take video next time we go to the Claesline Gallery at Burra as I feel this could be a very useful research medium since I can look back and perhaps pick out things I missed or wasn't immediately struck by. There were several aspects of the tour that intrigued me and I will probably remember better when I rewatch video and take notes but I was particularly keen on a group of bottles in a whisky display cabinet and I thought about using the hundreds of glass bottles I have at home in some way to represent crowds and immensity.