At the beginning of the exhibition Man at Sea there is not a living creature to be seen on the museum wall. Five photographs by Mischa Keijser have waves as their subject, from a specimen that balances on the border of a blue sea and an equally blue sky to a foaming roller that must have been caught by the photographer with a flash. The choice for this run-up is a conscious one: they lead the visitor, as it were, from the land to the sea, after which the exhibition can really begin.
What brings a person to sea? And who is he or she there? These are the questions that the exhibition in Het Scheepvaartmuseum in Amsterdam tries to answer. The first text board immediately gives an answer: ‘For some, the sea is a place of freedom, transition, dreams or ambition. For the other of fixed order, crisis or even lack of freedom.’
Man at Sea shows all that. Such as the paintings that the artist Aat Veldhoen (1934-2018) made after seeing a photo of Vietnamese boat refugees in a newspaper. But also: the glossy photo report that the women’s magazine Dragonfly in the 1970s turned it into a ‘carefree pampering holiday’ aboard a cruise ship in the Mediterranean. Almost everything hangs in an artfully designed backdrop; The sea is depicted in various guises on the walls in the museum.
The title of the exhibition was conceived by the photographer Koos Breukel. He is one of the initiators of the Dutch National Portrait Gallery organization (see inset), which has created an exhibition for the third time in collaboration with Het Scheepvaartmuseum. Art and history alternate in this.
Scheduled services, of eminent importance before the aviation industry flourished, play a major role in Man at Sea. For example, portraits can be seen that third mate Janus Ossewaarde shot during the First World War of his fellow crew members on the Nickerie, a freight and passenger ship that sailed between Paramaribo and New York. One of those photos shows Maria Margaretha Dekker, who worked as a ‘linen lady’ for shipping companies for thirty years.
The snapshot of her, posing in a white apron in front of the guard rail, contrasts with the advertising photos shot two decades later of first-class passengers on another ship, the New Zealand. Those who dine in evening wear in a luxurious interior, are paddling in an indoor pool or putting their golf balls on the deck.
The highlight of the exhibition are two series. Photographer Henk Wildschut manufactured in 2004 Man at Sea, a strong series of portraits, still lifes and seascapes. The Dutchman traveled on a German freighter that transported salt from Delfzijl to North America. To his surprise, he did not find coarse-mouthed sea bonkers, but mainly docile fathers with pictures of their children in their cabin. One image off Man at Sea is brilliant in its simplicity: that of a plate in which the soup is skewed due to the swell. Wildschut also made a video of this sloshing meal.
Photographer Jonathan Danko Kielkowski’s series is about a cruise ship that became world news. In 2012, the Costa Concordia ran aground on the rocks of an island due to a fault, after which the Italian captain fled his capsized boat shamefully early. 32 people on board lost their lives in the accident. After a lengthy salvage operation, the massive wreckage – on the last voyage carrying 3,206 passengers and 1,023 crew – was towed to Genoa for scrap. The German photographer asked permission to immortalize it one last time. It was refused. He then secretly swam to the ship with his equipment, resulting in a unique series.
His photos show huts that only need to be cleaned up, but also lodgings that have been disfigured beyond recognition. Even more impressive are the recordings of halls, a stairwell and a theatre. They are reminiscent of the abandoned spaces in Chernobyl after the nuclear power plant disaster.
The final piece of Man at Sea is a short, poetic film that offers perhaps the most insight into sailing the oceans. Three screens depict the long sea voyages of Herman Jansen (1924-2017), the first Dutchman to sail solo around the world. In 1972 he started the first leg, the journey would take four years. What made that extra daring: his yacht was only 9.05 meters long.
He wrote a sober and instructive book about his experiences, The horizon sailed along, day after day, which contains only drawings by way of illustration. Slides and films of his hand can now be seen in the exhibition. These are incorporated into the film, as are quotes about the sea from his book. If you are hungry for more, you can still listen to 27 hours of tape recordings that Jansen made on board. His boat is also included in the collection of Het Scheepvaartmuseum. Unfortunately, it cannot be admired.
Mens op Zee, Het Scheepvaartmuseum, Amsterdam, until 28 May.
Dutch National Portrait Gallery
In 2014, photographer Koos Breukel announced that a dream of his was about to come true: a new museum in Amsterdam in which only portraits are shown, just like in the National Portrait Gallery in London. That plan went awry. He then set up an organization with others, the Dutch National Portrait Gallery, which creates exhibitions online and together with museums. Two of these can now be seen in Amsterdam: Man at Sea in the Maritime Museum and Love Stories in the Hermitage. The Dutch National Portrait Gallery does not have a collection of its own, but uses portraits from numerous collections. The organization now also has a modest exhibition space at the Marineterrein in Amsterdam, which is located next to Het Scheepvaartmuseum.
audio tour
In the audio tour at Man at Sea includes the story of a man who was on a Vietnamese refugee boat. At the request of Het Scheepvaartmuseum, he shared insights about the journey he experienced as a baby. In addition, an account can be heard about a young Indonesian woman who fled to Suriname as a contract worker to prevent arranged marriage. After the boat trip she, like many others, came to work on a plantation. Due to the abolition of slavery, there was a shortage of staff.
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