Gunnister Man proves most popular exhibition to date
The Shetland Museum and Archives has announced that Gunnister Man: A life reconstructed was its most popular exhibition to date. Usually on display in the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, a partnership agreement between Shetland Amenity Trust and National Museums Scotland enabled the return of the Gunnister Man finds to Shetland for the first time since they were found in 1951.
The finds were put on display on 12th September as part of the Museum and Archives major 2009 exhibition. As well as the original artefacts, the exhibition put the man into context, with an overview of what life was like in Shetland some 300 years ago, and revealed a newly constructed set of replicas, showing how the objects looked when the man was alive. Visitors could also get ‘hands on’ by weaving using a table top loom and dressing up in Gunnister Man inspired clothes as well as becoming ‘part of the exhibition’ by leaving their theories on who they thought the Gunnister Man was and what happened to him.
The full set of Gunnister replicas, which are part of the Shetland collection, will become part of the Museum and Archives permanent exhibitions next year. The overall findings from the public’s comments gathered during the exhibition will be released later in the year.
During the exhibition, the Museum and Archives celebrated the man’s life with a series of events and other activities, including a two day conference. A Gunnister Man publication, including all the information gathered during the reconstruction, conference and exhibition, will be available next year. If you would like to receive notification of the publication date please contact us.
The Gunnister Man, which returned to Edinburgh on 1st November, is one of the most significant discoveries of its type in Europe. For more information please download a PDF of our leaflet here (5Mb).
in partnership with National Museums Scotland