Collection of art from Shetland and Scandinavia on show at Da Gadderie

A new collection of art opens in Da Gadderie at Shetland Museum this weekend. i Westerveg is a collaboration between artists and museums of Shetland, Faroe, Iceland, Norway and Denmark.

The exhibitions aims to increase the participants’ understanding and knowledge of the common cultural heritage across the North Atlantic region.

The artists were invited to work together on themes relating to the heritage of their countries and explore not only the things they have in common but the things that are specific to each country. It was also an aspiration of the project to extend mutual understanding and knowledge between artists across the North Atlantic nations.

The broad range of work in the exhibition includes sculpture, mixed media, installation and textiles. The work spills out of Da Gadderie into the foyer and the pier store, where They shoot stars, don’t they by Elise-Ann Hochlin and the miniature Lighthouses of Icelandic artist Guðjón Ketilsson can be seen.

The catalogue that complements the show outlines the background to the exhibition and contains interviews with each artist as well as a series of articles on North Atlantic culture.

Exhibitions officer John Hunter said: “This imaginative show links together traditional and contemporary life. This is highlighted in works such as the sculpture by Johannes Vemren-Rygh where he has reworked an African candlestick (a modern piece of drift wood found in a Faroese second hand shop) which is carved into an Atlantic fisherman to symbolise the Faroe Islands past reliance on drift wood.

“It is great to see contemporary artists/makers living in the north being given the opportunity to experience, at first hand the culture of their neighbours and to create exciting and challenging new work out of this collaboration.”

The exhibition, which runs from tomorrow until 3rd January, includes work by Johannes Vemren Rygh and Elise-Ann Hochlin (both Norway), Málfríður Aðalsteinsdóttir, Kristín Reynisdóttir and Guðjón Ketilsson (all Iceland), along with Shetland-based artists Roxane Permar and Barbara Ridland.