Artist in Residence on board the Swan for the Tall Ships

For the first time in a Tall Ships Race there will be an artist in residence on one of the vessels. In a unique partnership between Shetland Arts, Shetland’s restored herring drifter SWAN LK 243, and Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum & Arts Centre, North Uist, contemporary artist Imi Maufe has been appointed as artist in residence and will sail and work aboard the SWAN for the duration of the race series. Currently working in Bergen, Imi has established an international reputation over the last decade and exhibited in Britain, Europe and the USA. In the UK her work can be found in the British Library, Tate Collections and the Victoria and Albert Museum. She has teaching and lecturing experience which includes Sheffield University, Bristol School of Art and Bergen Architecture School. Imi will join the SWAN in Waterford, Ireland on 30 June and sail aboard the vessel until the end of the race series in Halmstad, Sweden on 8th August. During that time the SWAN and the Tall Ships fleet will call at Greenock, Lerwick and Stavanger and the artist will work with trainees aboard the SWAN. When in port she will interact with crews of other participating vessels and visitors to the harbour areas. “This project aboard the SWAN is a unique opportunity for an artist to record the Tall Ships Race and interact with a large group of people," said Swan Trust secretary Peter Campbell. “The three project partners are excited at the prospect of having a contemporary artist aboard the SWAN and look forward to the continuation of her work on land in Lerwick and North Uist in September. We are confident that the artist, trainees and crew will all enjoy the experience of sailing and working together. There have been groups of musicians aboard the SWAN in previous Tall Ships Races but this is the first time that there will be a visual artist in residence aboard during a Tall Ships Race.” The Artist, Imi Maufe said that she was, “excited and delighted to have been appointed artist for the project, LK 243 UnderSail, and looking forward immensely to the challenge of working in the confined space of the SWAN.” The LK243 UnderSail residency grew out of a Research and Development project commissioned by Shetland Arts and led by the three project partners and Artist Researcher, John Hartley, during 2010. The Research and Development project culminated in ‘Reading the Waves’, by John Hartley (click to download) which has helped inspire this residency. LK 243 Undersail is funded by Creative Scotland, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and Scotland’s Islands 2011.

The Artist residency is a placement of 10 weeks in duration divided into 2 phases. The sea-based phase on board The Swan between 30 June and 8 August for the duration of the Tall Ships Race series 2011. The land-based phase in studio spaces in Shetland and North Uist between 8 August – 9 September 2011. The residency will investigate innovative and creative approaches to 'data' gathering and presentation responding to social, historical and ecological connectivity as embodied in the ship and its passage.