Young Inverness artists depict the war
PUPILS from Inverness High School have contributed to a new exhibition at the Scottish Parliament outlining Scotland’s World War I story.
The exhibition, What Do We Learn From All This, has involved 100 young artists – some as young as 14 – from across Scotland.
It combines traditional printmaking with innovative technologies to tell 100 stories with the artists’ prints mounted on wooden plinths arranged in a map of Scotland,
Augmented reality technology allows visitors to explore each story in detail with an iPad.
The Inverness High School pupils joined forces with the city’s Highland Print Studio for the project which concludes a series of events marking the centenary of World War I.
Their work ranged from stories about spies at Inverness’s Royal Highland Hotel – formerly the Station Hotel – to the
Lovat Scouts who were initially recruited from gamekeepers on Highland estates.
An image highlighting a Lovat Scout in front of the Moray Firth was made by Aisha Siddiqi (13) who originally came from Denmark.
“During the process, after doing some research I learned how powerful, fearless and passionate the Highlanders are,” she said.
“I also learned to print a plate. It was a very interesting process and I would love to do it again.”
Other pupils looked at different aspects of period with Christina MacKenzie focusing on a long-forgotten story about two German spies discovered in Inverness.
Lewis Craig followed the story of two nursing sisters, Mary and Flora Mackenzie.
Kieran Loughhead, who is studying art, came up with his interpretation of the impact of the war on St Kilda.
The exhibition opens today and runs until Friday, September 20.
