Shetland Museum and Archives, along with a number of rural museums and other organisations in Shetland are set to participate in a new national project called ‘Your Paintings’. The project was launched in June by The Public Catalogue Foundation (PCF) in partnership with the BBC, and is intended to provide the public with a complete catalogue of oil and acrylic paintings held in public ownership in the UK.

The first phase of the project went live in June, with over 60,000 paintings added to the website from 860 collections. Paintings from every part of the country are to be included in this collection from museums, galleries, religious collections and the National Trust. Lesser known works from places like Universities, Council buildings and hospitals will also be included.

Shetland Museum and Archives hold a collection of over 200 paintings, of which 30 are currently on show. These will be photographed by fine art photographers from the PCF in early August and entered into the online catalogue as part of this project. All the paintings will be available to view on a dedicated website along with information about the paintings and their whereabouts. The project is intended to provide a level of access to these works that would not normally be possible.

While in Shetland, the PCF team will be visiting a number of rural museums to photograph and catalogue paintings, including Unst Heritage Centre, The Old Haa, Hoswick Visitors Centre and the George Waterston Memorial Centre in Fair Isle. Also participating in the project are Shetland Arts, Walls Hall, Belmont House, The Town Hall and The Shetland Contemporary Arts Office.

The PCF was launched as a registered charity in 2003 specifically to carry out this work. 50 regional co-ordinators and 30 photographers have been travelling the length of the country to find and catalogue each of these works, the majority of which are seldom or never seen by the public.

The website encourages the public to get involved in the project by ‘tagging’ items in pictures and taking tours of featured collections selected by well-known artists, historians and celebrities. These include: Yinka Shonibare, Rory Bremner, Frank Skinner, Tracey Cox and Monty Don.

The online catalogue and further information about the project can be found on the website: www.bbc.co.uk/yourpaintings

Source: Shetland Museum and Archives