91Èȱ¬

Yes we’ve all heard about Vikings and monasteries but there’s a lot more to it than that - they might make you a business offer you couldn’t refuse but their fashion and language really caught on. Dr Adrián Maldonado of National Museums of Scotland, author of 'Crucible of Nations: Scotland from Viking age to Medieval kingdoms' chats to Susan Morrison about the new cultures emerging in 9th-11th century ‘Scotland’. Norse culture in the Northern isles produced striking carved stones and in the 20th century a Shetlander with a love of carving stone heads came to Montrose asylum - Adam Christie - he’s just one of the people whose work is represented in the Art Extraordinary collection which Dr Cheryl McGeachan is so fascinated by. It’s art work made by people in asylums who had a yearning to create - from Adam Christie’s stone heads to Mrs McGilp’s fluorescent bunnies from Aberdeen.