‘Not Made in Great Yarmouth’ digital exhibition – Time and Tide Museum

From Thursday 20 June visitors to Time and Tide Museum in Great Yarmouth will be able to explore creative digital responses to the museum’s collections courtesy of the brand-new Smokehouse Gallery, housed in the atmospheric setting of one of the industrial former herring smoking rooms.

The Gallery launches with the digital exhibition Not Made in Great Yarmouth, the result of a year-long youth engagement project delivered by Creative Collisions in partnership with Time and Tide Museum, East Coast College, and East Norfolk Sixth Form College. The exhibition – which has been created by local young people – has been made possible by a grant from the Art Fund.

The multi-sensory exhibition includes an animation inspired by a statue head of Britannia, a host of curious object characters drawn from the museum collection created using AI software and other digital tools, and a gaming platform responding to the migratory and colonial journeys of museum artefacts.

The different responses are all connected by the young people’s investigation into museum collections, people and stories that did not originate in the town, providing an opportunity to explore Great Yarmouth’s international connections, and reflect on the legacies of colonialism and migration.

Digital artists Tracy Satchwill and Grace Lee were selected by local students from a field of international applicants, to become Artists-in-Residence at Time and Tide Museum for the year. Together, artists, students, teachers, and museum staff made up two project teams. The teams took part in museum visits, discussion, and research walks to investigate museum collections, people and stories not local to the town, but which arrived in Great Yarmouth from around the world.

A series of practical workshops, using a wide range of analogue and digital software, allowed both the artists and the students to develop their own creative responses to the themes.

Artist Tracy Satchwill worked with Level 3 Media & Photography students and staff from East Coast College to create curious object characters inspired by the museum collection, using AI software and other digital tools.

For her own part Tracy has created Gold Drunk, a short film which takes its starting point from the museum’s cabinet of curiosity and the statue head of Britannia to produce an imaginary world, in which the antagonist craves treasures from over the seas. The film’s title is loosely translated from Gullveig, an old Norse goddess who was obsessed with gold. The collage animation utilises artefacts from across the museum, including models of ships.

Grace Lee collaborated with Creative Enterprise Professional Diploma students at East Norfolk Sixth Form College to create an experimental digital response to the migratory and colonial journeys of museum artefacts through a gaming platform.

Student animations, illustrations, sounds and poetry are intertwined into a multisensory experience. The game features museum artefacts held in cargo crates on the shore. Opening these crates symbolises unlocking the secrets of the past, revealing the narratives, cultures, and lives preserved within.

Visitors will be able to watch the film and play the game using VR headsets when the
exhibition opens on 20 June and throughout the summer until 2 September.

Following on from the Not Made in Great Yarmouth exhibition, The Smokehouse Gallery will be used to display a curated programme of audio-visual artworks and displays, providing Great Yarmouth with an exciting new exhibition space in a unique setting.

(Still from Gold Drunk film – Tracy-Satchwill)