Buoyancy in Unprecedented Times

Jenny Pope connects early innovations in maritime travel with today’s climate crisis in order to address questions of collective anxiety and resilience. The focal point is a hand-built ‘lifeboat’, a sculptural object influenced by coracles – small, rounded vessels used for millennia in Scotland, Wales and Ireland as well as in India, Iraq, Tibet and Vietnam.

Made from bent plywood strips and lined with clothing donated by local Portobello residents, the vessel evokes the possibility of navigating hope in uncertain times. The work encourages conversations around the climate emergency and coastal communities’ complex connections with the sea. Following a series of workshops, in which participants created a common ‘survival kit’, the art project culminated with a watery celebration event, launching the vessel with swimmers, rowers, singing and poetry. This art project was part of the Creative Scotland funded Vessel Residency for Art Walk Porty 2023 and the film was commissioned…