A new series of maritime themed exhibitions are set to begin in Hull, East Yorkshire, and North Lincolnshire.

As part of Hull Maritime’s community programme, the first temporary exhibition for 2023 and 2024 will get underway from Wednesday 12 April. Important maritime stories will be told in creative ways and displays will pop-up in unexpected places across the city and beyond.

The first pop-up, ‘A-Fishing for the Whale’ by internationally renowned artist Caroline Hack, will look at Hull’s whaling story from new perspectives, and explore the legacies of whaling for the city’s musical heritage and historical collections.  

The exhibition will coincide with Yorkshire Coast Whale Week 2023 and will go on display in Princes Quay Shopping Centre, at Monument Bridge entrance, next to Millie’s Cookies, daily between 9am and 5.30pm from Wednesday 12 April and will run until Wednesday 26 April.  

‘A-Fishing for the Whale’ will feature three textile works by Caroline Hack, drawing inspiration from our local histories of the whaling industry and the collections of the Hull Maritime Museum. The title for this exhibition is a lyric taken from traditional whaling song The Bonny Ship the Diamond – sang by folk music icons The Waterson’s in their 1966 film Travelling for a Living. A newly-commissioned piece of artwork, inspired by Hull’s maritime folk music heritage, is also being developed as part of the exhibition and members of the public will be able to interact with this work-in-progress at an event at Ferens Art Gallery on Wednesday 19 April.

Caroline Hack’s work explores stories and legacies of British Arctic Whaling through textiles, prints, and artists’ books. Historical accounts, objects, artworks, and folk songs from Hull all feature heavily in Hack’s pieces, many of which have been part of the Hull Maritime Museum’s displays and our city’s historic collections. Hack’s work has been exhibited around the UK and in the USA, and she has been visiting and working in Hull since 2010.

Gillian Osgerby, Programme Director for Hull Maritime, said: “Over the next two years, these exciting new pop-up exhibitions and displays will tell important stories in unexpected places – from shop windows to fish and chip shops."

“They invite you to think a little differently about our maritime heritage and find out more about Hull Maritime and how the city’s maritime treasures are being transformed to create a new maritime experience for the city.”

Caroline Flack, said: “I’m delighted to be sharing some of my textile work showcasing Hull’s whaling heritage, as part of the new pop-up display programme from Hull Maritime. The pieces reflect the importance of Hull’s whaling past and how it shapes the culture of the city today.

Creating a new piece based on folk music is also exciting, and I look forward to talking with people about my work at the event at the Ferens in April.”

A talk with artist Caroline Hack and a screening of The Waterson’s 1966 film Travelling for a Living - which follows the iconic Hull folk band around the city and on the club circuit during the 1960s folk revival – will take place at Ferens Art Gallery on Wednesday 19 April between 1 – 3pm. Book a place here.

'A-Fishing for the Whale’ is a partnership with the Charismatic Encounters project and part of Yorkshire Coast Whale Week 2023, a week-long series of events in Hull, Whitby, and online which explore our region’s relationship to whales and other cetaceans in 400 years of coastal heritage. The programme includes talks on whale watching, collecting oral histories, filmmaking, and the environment. 

Charismatic Encounters is a collaborative research project between the University of Leeds, University Paris Nanterre and NGO the World Cetacean Alliance (WCA) about the role of whales and other cetaceans in the coastal and maritime heritage of two regions: the Yorkshire coast and the transnational Basque region. Working with key stakeholders and individuals in Yorkshire responsible for the stewardship of and public engagement with living animals and whaling history, including the Hull Maritime Museum, the project highlights the central role of cetaceans in the region’s tangible and intangible heritage. 

Hull Maritime is funded by Hull City Council and The National Lottery Heritage Fund, it encompasses the redevelopment of five historic sites in Hull city centre: the transformation of the Grade II Hull Maritime Museum and the Dock Office Chambers, the creation of a new visitor attraction at the North End Shipyard and the restoration of two historic vessels, the Arctic Corsair and Spurn Lightship.

Find out more about the exhibition here.