Impact case study database

Economic impact: Contributing to Orkney’s creative industries

The UHI’s Art/Archaeology research has boosted creative SMEs in Orkney by contributing to the design, development, and marketing of new products and the adoption of new business models. Mike Gardens, chair of Creative Orkney, an industry body of 49 member organisations, recognises that this work “contributes significantly to the ‘Orkney Brand, successfully used by Orkney-based businesses in national and international markets” [5.1]. This research has directly influenced three creative businesses: Ola Gorie Jewellery, Sheila Fleet Jewellery, and Kirsteen Stewart Fashion Design. These have a combined annual turnover of £4.5m, with a global reach evidenced by markets in the UK, Europe, USA and Japan [5.2, 5.3, 5.5].

Ola Gorie Jewellery (OGJ), has a turnover of £???, supporting 13 employees. Collaborative discussions between Susan Cross (award-winning goldsmith and designer), Ola Gorie MBE (jeweller), and Antonia Thomas during the 2015 Art/Archaeology CPD course led to the design, development and production of their latest range, the Ness of Brodgar collection [https://www.olagoriejewellery.com/blogs/craft\-design/meet\-sue\-cross\]. For Cross, the engagement with Thomas’ research “had a strong impact on my practice and brought about a new way of working’ [5.4]. As OJG’s director states, “the research of Dr Antonia Thomas was … absolutely invaluable – the collection would never have been created without the input and inspiration from this process” [5.2]. The collection – one of over 70 offered by OGJ - comprises 22 pieces (brooch, earrings, pendants, in different metals, totalling 41 products). It is the company’s best-selling range, and in 2019 alone, the Ness of Brodgar pieces accounted for 25% of sales of OGJ’s Orkney collections [5.2], a significant contribution to this rural SME’s turnover.

Thomas’ research into Neolithic art [3.1, 3.2] directly informed the design process for this collection, leading to increased revenue for the company. Continuing collaborative work between Thomas, Lee, and OGJ, has built on this success, inspiring OGJ to focus their business model on digital studio and web marketing of the archaeology-inspired collections. This will allow global customers to engage with the story behind OGJ’s uniquely important collections from the comfort of their own homes [5.2]. This has become particularly timely, as COVID-19 has devastated Orkney’s creative economy, which relies on physical visitors. The Art/Archaeology collaborative process is impacting on the company’s future business model and commercial strategy, in bringing “changes to the way [OGJ] as a business approach the design and marketing of new collections” [5.2].

Sheila Fleet Jewellery has been at the forefront of Orkney’s jewellery industry since 1993, with 55 employees in Orkney, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The company has a turnover of £???, with 118 collections sold through retail outlets in the UK and globally online. The design, development, and production of two new collections have been directly inspired by the Ness of Brodgar rock art featured in Thomas’ research [5.3]. Launched in 2016, the Lunar and Brodgar Eye ranges contain 21 and 12 pieces respectively (earrings, rings, pendants, cufflinks, bangles, necklets, bracelets) and have so far contributed £???? to the business [5.3].

Kirsteen Stewart Fashion Design has an annual turnover of £?????. The small but growing sustainable rural microbusiness has 18 clothing and accessory collections which sell in the UK, Europe, and Japan, with a global customer base online. Inspired by Lee’s experimental mapping research [3.6] explored in the Art/Archaeology CPD course, Daniel Lee and Kirsteen Stewart developed an innovative creative process linking digital archaeological drawing with contemporary product design. They collaborated on unique place-specific drawings, translated into digital ‘maps’ and inspiring the WANDER collection of 12 items of clothing and accessories: “each a form of mobile map embodying landscape” [5.5]. The collection has contributed £???? to the business since its 2018 launch, but the creative process of working between Art and Archaeology has had wider impacts. For Stewart, the design process “led to changes in practice for me as a designer [and] demonstrated the potential for combining academic research and collaborations in product design” [5.5]. As a result, Stewart is now “pursuing international collaborations in Asia” [5.5]. The collaboration continues with a relaunch planned for 2021.

Building on these successes, a two-day Knowledge Exchange workshop in February 2020, led by Thomas, Lee and Bevan brought together Creative Industries professionals and creative practitioners from across Orkney to discuss the UHI’s Art/Archaeology research and potential for future engagement. The participants noted the strong impact that UHI’s Art/Archaeology research has made on Orkney’s Creative Economy and several further projects are in development. An additional workshop, to explore the role of Art/Archaeology research for Creative Industries in Orkney’s post-Covid economy, is planned for Spring 2021.

Professional and pedagogical impact: Research-led engagement between archaeologists and creative practitioners

Bevan and Thomas have used the interdisciplinary research approach of Art/Archaeology to develop a unique suite of professional training courses, including an MA in Contemporary Art and Archaeology, the only course of its kind in the world, and internationally validated for 2020 delivery. It builds on the successful programme of CPD courses which have run since 2016, which have seen 130 creative practitioners from the USA, Canada, Italy, France, Ireland and the UK engage with the UHI’s Art/Archaeology model. Training draws upon a unique combination of Thomas’ archaeological study of Neolithic art, Lee’s experimental maps, and Bevan’s practice-led art pedagogy. For one professional creative practitioner who took the course in 2019-20, the engagement with the research of Thomas, Lee and Bevan, encouraged new “ways of looking and inhabiting the world”, inspiring her to “develop further my art practice [and] enabled me to reach new audiences” [5.6]. Of the 27 MA students who started in September 2020, 14 have previously undertaken one of the Art/Archaeology CPD courses run by Thomas and Bevan. Two further CPD alumni are now pursuing PhD research in Art/Archaeology.

Social impact: Creative engagement in Orkney’s archaeology

UHI’s interdisciplinary Art/Archaeology methodology brings together professionals and the wider community across Orkney, enhancing wellbeing and supporting training. The Test Trenches Art/Archaeology research residency [3.1] in 2011 – together with the ‘Wilder Being’ Art/Archaeology project [3.4] – established models of interdisciplinary research, bringing together artists, archaeologists and community groups. Participants explored creative interpretations of archaeology using digital and analogue recording techniques [3.1, 3.4], a methodology further developed in the ‘Archaeology Plus’ Project (2018-2019). This was led by Bevan and Lee in collaboration with the Orkney Blide Trust, a charity offering mental health services for 150 people and their carers across Orkney. Archaeology Plus workshops engaged 30 members, who learned about artefacts, photography skills, and expressed creative responses to the archaeological materials and processes during arts workshops. The project resulted in an exhibition and display at Laura Grimond House which was open to the public on an open day. Service users developed creative responses to archaeological artefacts and excavations, which “taught them new skills and created an atmosphere where they could build up social networks, thereby reducing their isolation” [5.7].