Sun and Sea at the Contemporary
SADIE PITCHER
The building of Hastings Contemporary was just one of many challenges facing the Hastings fishing fleet in its 1,000-year history. In view of the gallery’s proximity and architectural sensitivity to the fishing community, it is now playing its part in preserving the town’s history of fishing.
Until 14 September, Hastings Contemporary is exhibiting a project which chronicles the stories and tradition of fishing in Hastings, in collaboration with the Fishermen’s Protection Society and local artist Mary Hooper. The Sun Feeds The Wind is part of a season of events that celebrate the fleet’s generational knowledge, and highlights skills and practices that are now under threat not only from climate change but also from new post-Brexit legislation.
HARSH REALITY
Over ten years working alongside the Society, Mary Hooper has fostered collaboration, partnership, and trust. Using sound, in projects and commissions that engage with environment and community, she creates work that centres on her collaborators. As an artist she wishes to be invisible, so that the stories of the fishermen speak for themselves and become the work.
Images of this community at work, battling against the elements, expertly weaving nets and hauling boats up the shingle beach, are projected onto woven fishing nets and sheer fabrics, suspended in wooden frames made by fishermen. Ships’ hulls rise from the floor like washed up remnants from a shipwreck, against a map of the Stade that occupies the entire back wall of the gallery.
The fishermen’s stories, carefully gathered by Mary and punctuated by the squawks of seagulls, tell of the harsh, laborious reality of being at the mercy of the elements at sea. One man speaks of his first fishing experiences, relying on the time, a compass, and landmarks to make it safely back to shore. Another speaks of embarking in the dark of the morning in still, calm conditions, only for the weather to turn with the rising of the sun. Hence the title for the project, The Sun Feeds the Wind.
HFPS was formed in 1831 to preserve the fishing community’s medieval right to work from the stone beach. Chairman Paul Joy says “As custodians of the sea, we connect our town to its history, with traditions which pre-date 1066, and to its future – offering answers to the challenges facing our oceans and coastal communities.” The Hastings fleet currently has twenty-six boats, active daily. Joy is hopeful that this will increase as more of the younger generation join the industry. He continues “We are excited to share our stories and preserve them for future generations.”
UNDERSEA MYSTERIES
Similarly, Undersea, an exhibition which accompanies The Sun Feeds the Wind, explores the connective nature of the ocean and its shared mysteries and mythologies. Works on view include a depiction of a Japanese sea-woman diving for food and grappling with an octopus, Venus resting in her shell awaiting her birth, and Sirens luring Ulysses and his sailors to land, delaying their long-awaited homecoming.
In Undersea, Art historian and curator James Russell has gathered over 75 artworks that span four centuries and a range of cultures, in a strange display that reveals the magnetic pull of the sea. “One of the main themes is this sense of a shared connection to the ocean and the sea, shared mythologies, shared creatures”, he explains. Leah Cross, Director of Programmes, adds: “The works on display cross borders, traditions, and histories, and celebrate the pleasures of difference.” Undersea is the final instalment of Russell’s aquatic exhibition trilogy, following Seaside Modern (2021) and Seafaring (2022).
Also still on view at the gallery until September is Pearls of the Sea, made in collaboration with eight local primary schools.
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