The new special exhibition Stationary Voyages: The Boat in Photograph, open through January 20, 2008, presents the Museum’s renowned International Small Craft Collection in an entirely new and contemporary style. Pairing 18 vessels with 20 photographers, a story between artifact and art has been created, creating an exhibition unlike any mounted at The Mariners’ Museum before.
"Visitors to this exhibition will see our collection in a new and unique way," said Lyles Forbes, curator of maritime arts and culture, and curator of Stationary Voyages. "Amazing photographs capturing ornate details, subtle curves and the true artistry of each craft, placed just inches from the actual vessel make this a breathtaking art installation."
Stationary Voyages also features three interactive touch-screen elements detailing how the photographers set up their shots.
Once curators selected the boats to be included in this exhibition, the invited photographers were asked to select one or two vessels as their subjects. Included among them is the "aluminum kayak" used by two refugees escaping Cuba in the late 1960s. Cece Wheeler, professor of digital arts and filmmaking at Thomas Nelson Community College, utilized video photography to tell the story of those refugees, incorporating the interview with other images alongside the craft. Barbara Ames also selected this boat for interpretation, choosing to create a digital image that combines different interpretive levels of this couple’s voyage.
"This is certainly one of the most profound sections of the exhibition, if not the whole institution," said Forbes. "This reaches the core of what the exhibition’s purpose is all about. This particular section creates a dialogue between the two refugees and their struggle for freedom, combined with the modern-day artist’s interpretation of their story, their journey and their mark in history. The center of it all lays the original craft.
"This has been a wonderful experience working with such a diverse group of photographers," Forbes added. "I think visitors to this exhibition will never look at a boat the same way, and will hopefully be inspired, no matter their abilities, to exercise their visions in some sort of artistic way for others to enjoy."
Stationary Voyages is included with regular Museum admission. -- www.mariner.org
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