Latest News

cal folk are being urged to share Orkney’s creativity during the Island Games - by submitting art, sculpture, photos, or words for displays in windows ‘doon the street’ in Stromness.

Anyone can submit work - from bairns and first timers to professionals – for consideration.

‘A Life in Drawing and Painting’ - a retrospective by local artist Robin Bownass - opens on 8 March at The Orkney Museum.

The hidden meanings behind some of Orkney’s iconic grave markers are the subject of the Orkney Museum’s first exhibition of 2025. 

Centuries-old exquisitely crafted weapons owned by Captain James Moodie – known locally for his dramatic murder in Broad Street, Kirkwall - have been gifted to the people of Orkney by his modern-day family and have arrived in the county and into the care of Orkney Islands Council’s Museums service.

The North Isles Landscape Partnership has been highly commended in the Nature of Scotland Awards 2024 for working alongside farmers and other landowners to restore natural habitats for wading birds.  

Three archaeological digs in Orkney supported by the Council – Swandro in Rousay, Blomuir tomb in Holm, and The Cairns in South Ronaldsay – have captured slots in popular UK-wide programmes this winter.

The Sanday shipwreck timbers have been named as one of 5 most amazing archaeological finds in Scotland by ‘Dig It!’, a hub for Scottish archaeology coordinated by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has awarded £21,000 to Wessex Archaeology and Dendrochronicle to carry out further research of the Sanday Wreck, an intact section of shipwreck timbers uncovered on Sands o’Erraby earlier this year. The funding will support in-depth analysis of the wreck including dating, reporting and archiving to help shed light on this remarkable discovery. 

Orkney Library & Archive has been awarded £11,000 from the Public Library Improvement Fund (PLIF) to create an interactive Orcadian trail of native flora in the library forecourt. 

Simpson & Brown have been appointed to carry out a quinquennial (five year) survey of St Magnus Cathedral.