A group of Shetland primary school children have unveiled a 150th anniversary exhibition marking a famous whaling ship’s return after it was trapped in ice for seven months.
The Diana was presumed lost in the Arctic and made national headlines at the time – and ultimately nine of the 13 crew who died were Shetlanders.
Primary 4-7 pupils at Aith Junior High have now curated a display of relevant objects, letters and photographs from the Shetland Museum and Archives collection.
They have also written their own texts and graphics and performed a play to be screened on DVD, entitled The Voyage of the Diana.
The play, written and directed by Marsali Taylor, was performed in the Shetland county drama festival and was based on the diary of ship doctor Charles Edward Smith.
The pupils initially visited the museum before performing the play and staff invited them to help with the exhibition because of their enthusiasm and knowledge of the topic.
Kirsty Clark, lifelong learning officer at the museum, said: “We are visited by about 2,000 pupils a year but this is the first time we have had an exhibition curated by school pupils and we hope to repeat this project with more classes in the future.
“We’d like to thank Ingrid Smith and Mark Balfour and their pupils for all their hard work and enthusiasm.”
The display is now available to view in the foyer area outside the Archives search room.