SurvØY was developed over four years as a contemporary artist’s ‘island almanac’, surveying and monitoring scales of change in the context of the island environment of Papay Westray, one of the most northern Orkney islands. The exhibition runs from 20 Sept – 1 Nov 2025 at The Glasgow School of Art’s Reid Gallery.
Islands are highly sensitive to changing natural ecosystems, in relation to weather, land and sea. Change is magnified and intense; observed and recorded phenological data— observations of recurring, seasonal biological events, such as plant leafing and flowering, insect emergence, and bird migration— is a vital indicator for future trends. For SurvØY artists Saoirse Higgins and Jonathan Ford, measured, monitored, observed, recorded, collected and archived change. Weather change, daylight change, climate change, sea level change, reactions to change, tidal change, migratory change (in birds), geological change and seasonal change. Working with and within an island, this artist-led survey challenges notions of island time, island identity, and the cyclical/orbital nature of an island environment.
In particular, the exhibition focuses on a year-long cycle looking at multiple viewpoints for resilient, caring, adaptive systems, providing a benchmark for future generations of islanders, islands, and communities in times of rapid environmental change. It is placed in the historical and cultural context of long-term island surveys by pioneers such as Praeger, Tim Robinson, and Murdoch McKenzie, along with landscape poets and filmmakers such as Nan Shepherd, Margaret Tait, Isabel Hutchinson, and Hans Jürgen von der Wense.
SurvØY manifests in the coming months as an exhibition with limited-edition vinyl; an online transmission from Orkney as Holm Sound, an offshoot of Oyfestivalpapay; and a SurvØY journal publication. Saoirse Higgins is an artist, educator, and researcher looking at our inter-scalar positioning and energy orbits in the context of the Anthropocene, islands, and surrounding seas. She completed her practice-based PhD in 2020 at The Glasgow School of Art. Jonathan Ford is an artist, the Papay ranger, a curator of feathers, bird folklorist, dialect collector, director of a festival of islands, sculptor, writer, and performance artist.
The exhibition runs from 20 Sept – 1 Nov 2025, with a preview event on Friday 19th Sept between 5pm – 7pm. Admission to the preview is free, but tickets should be booked in advance through Eventbrite.
Supported by Creative Scotland.
Exhibition runs:
20 Sept – 1 Nov 2025
Reid Gallery, The Glasgow School of Art.
Opening Hours: Mon to Sat 10am – 4.30pm
Sun – Closed.
*Please note the gallery is closed on Monday 29th September.
About The Glasgow School of Art (GSA)
The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) is internationally recognised as one of Europe’s leading independent university-level institutions for education and research in the visual creative disciplines. Our studio-based, specialist, practice-led teaching, learning and research draw talented individuals with a shared passion for visual culture and creative production from all over the world. Originally founded in 1845 as one of the first Government Schools of Design, the School’s history can be traced back to 1753 and the establishment of the Foulis Academy delivering a European-style art education. Today, the GSA is an international community of over 3500 students and staff across architecture, design, fine art, innovation and technology in our campuses in Glasgow and Altyre (in the Scottish Highlands) and a thriving Open Studio programme delivering non-degree provision to over 1500 students annually. gas.ac.uk
