Sea Treasures
Part of GIBCA Extended 2021
Exhibited at Gathenhielmska Huset
"The exhibition shows the process of a material based investigation where plant fibers from the stem of the banana tree become ropes and threads. The fiber is strong, coarse and rough, properties that easily scar the skin of the hands.
The threads of the plant fiber that are hidden inside the juicy bark of the banana tree need to be dried, divided and cleaned and then softened in water again before the fibers can be spun or twisted together into a very strong thread.
The last banana boat left Frihamnen in Gothenburg at the end of December 2000.
On Bangatan, next to Gathenhielmska Huset, rope-laying manufacturing was already run in the 18th century by Ingela Gathenhielm. The connection to the sea and it’s old fishing history have naturally nestled itself into the exhibition's theme. Traditional fishing gear takes shape as symbolic keys to forgotten methods and stories.
The port's history provides a hub into an artistic process where local rope-laying history meets new and old material knowledge."
