Art and artefacts come together in new National Museum show

By Lindsey Turnbull

This is the second in our Arts and Culture series. This week we continue to focus on the new exhibition at the Cayman Islands National Museum called The Sea is History, based upon the poem of the same name by Derek Walcott written in 1978. The exhibition explores the role of the sea in Caymanian identity, with a raft of interesting exhibits, from artwork created by well-known Caymanian artists to fascinating artefacts with tantalising stories to tell.

The exhibition features historical and more recent artefacts, some of them little is known about, and others have had more in depth research on their origins. Some artefacts came from the sea itself or have been found by people washed up onshore; some of the exhibits, such as the paintings by some of Cayman’s finest artists, have been shaped by the imaginations of these artists, so inspired by the ocean that surrounds us all.

Some of the most fascinating artefacts on show include the following:

• Diving Helmet (20th Century), Metal and glass

This vintage diving helmet was found sometime in the 1970s or 80s on a local beach by a Caymanian fisherman, who sold it to its previous owner for $25 dollars and 6 Heineken beers. It was on view at a local beach bar for many years and recently donated to the Museum by Julian Bostock. The Museum does not know by whom or for what specific purpose it was previously used.

• Olive Jar (17th century), earthenware

This earthenware jar is one of the oldest artefacts in the Museum’s collection, found at the Turtle Wreck site in Little Cayman during an underwater archaeological survey in 1979-80. The wreck consists of the remnants of a 60 feet long sailing ship along with several objects, of which this partially preserved jar is one. It is believed that the ship, which was probably a turtling sloop, may have been wrecked during a 1669 attack by the Portuguese privateer Manuel Ribeiro Pardal on turtle fishermen from Port Royal who had established a small settlement in Little Cayman. This attack was in retaliation for Henry Morgan’s attacks on Spanish settlements in the region. It speaks to the intense rivalries between the European colonial powers during this period of conquest and settlement in the Caribbean.

• Bendell Hydes – Tidal Habitat (1997), mixed media painting

Bendel Hydes, one of the Cayman Islands’ most celebrated artists, took the sea and Cayman’s maritime heritage as the source of inspiration for his abstract paintings. This small canvas, which alludes swirling currents in shallow tidal waters, reflects poetically on the maritime environment and captures its movements and textures.

• John Doak – Gilbert (1992), paper collage

This three-dimensional paper collage, which alludes to fragments of damaged dwelling, reflects on the destructive power of hurricanes and the sea. Made a few years after hurricane Gilbert in 1988, it poignantly prefigures the devastation that would be caused by hurricane Ivan in the Cayman Islands in 2004.

• Turtle Decoy (20th century), wood and leather

This wooden turtle decoy is believed to have come from Mariculture Ltd, the first incarnation of what is now the Cayman Turtle Centre. Such decoys were used to attract turtles during turtle fishing. This artefact was recently donated to the Museum by Berna and Steve Cummins. It speaks to the defining role of turtle fishery and cultivation in the history of the Cayman Islands.