The Coll Hoard and catwalk comes to Kilmartin

A pre-loved fashion show takes to the catwalk at Lunga House on Saturday March 24 to raise money for Kilmartin Museum’s redevelopment project, writes Katie Trafford.

Beautiful outfits created from donated clothes will be modelled at the show, and then auctioned, followed by a prize raffle. There will be a welcome drink on arrival, but guests are encouraged to bring their own.

Kilmartin Museum has excavated and housed artefacts from all corners of Argyll for 20 years, but the collection has outgrown the current buildings. Scottish architects Reiach and Hall have been chosen to design a new museum.

The museum will be designed to showcase the growing collection of Argyll’s neolithic and Bronze Age artefacts, that include the earliest ‘beaker’ pots ever found in Britain that date back 4,000 years.

As part of the project, Kilmartin Museum will be able start conservation work and research on collections in its care, including the skeleton of a woman who was buried in the Bronze Age, and found in a nearby quarry. They hope to find out she looked like.

The design also includes a space that can be used by the community local artists for temporary exhibits and cultural activities. A learning space, big enough to accommodate a class of children for educational visits, will also be created.

Thirteen Bronze Age artefacts discovered on the Isle of Coll in 2015 have returned to Kilmartin Museum after being cleaned and conserved at the Scottish Conservation Studio in Edinburgh, thanks to supporters of last year’s crowdfunding campaign.

Run by Kilmartin Museum, the campaign raised more than £10,000, allowing these ancient artefacts to be saved from active bronze disease and preserved to prevent further decay.

Enough money was also raised for radiocarbon dating to take place: residual wood found in the sockets of three of the spearheads dates from between 1120-810 BC, implying that the hoard had been deposited over a long period of time.

The hoard was discovered as a single deposit and awarded to Kilmartin Museum, the nearest museum to the Isle of Coll. Unfortunately, the current museum gallery does not have the space to showcase these unique items.

The new museum exhibition area will be three times bigger than the current one, allowing many unique and internationally important artefacts, such as the Coll Hoard, to become part of the permanent exhibition.

The pre-loved fashion show starts at 7pm, with tickets priced £17.50.

To book a ticket, please visit the Kilmartin Museum website at www.kilmartin.org or search for the event on Eventbrite.com