St Magnus sails aloft for Orkney 2025 International Island Games

Описание: A cultural feast of public art commissioned by Orkney Islands Council awaits locals and visitors alike during the 2025 Orkney International Island Games.

Orkney’s most iconic building St Magnus Cathedral is the focal point where two key projects converge.

'Island Voices', created by Orkney 2025 Scrivener Gabrielle Barnby, is a collection of written word gathered from across participating island groups on the theme of islandness and presented in a special souvenir booklet.

'Island Soonds' is an inventive and playful sound piece by Orcadian composer Brian Cromarty.

Snippets from 'Island Voices' will echo in 'Island Soonds', with special touch tiles installed throughout the Cathedral until 6 August 2025, allowing visitors to hear the distinct accents, languages and dialects from around the world that are part of the Island Games family.

These projects run alongside the visual extravaganza of the St Magnus Sails – a large scale collaborative installation comprising fourteen 4.2m high sails made in 1993 for the St Magnus Festival and strung from the Cathedral’s dramatic vaulted ceiling. They were last exhibited in 2017.

Both Island Voices and Island Soonds willl be launched at a special event on Thursday 17 July at 7:30pm in the St Magnus Centre. The event will include an ‘open mic’ with Gaby and a talk about the soundscape with Brian - all are welcome to attend.

Listen to our Cathedral Curator, Fran Flett Hollinrake, speaking about the St Magnus Sails and the Cathedrals role over the years as a home for the arts, in this video.

And read more about the public arts commissioned by the Council to help celebrate the Games being held here in Orkney, in our press release ://www.orkney.gov.uk/latest-news/a-playful-take-on-islandness-shines-through-in-council-public-arts-showcase/