BRINGING OCEANIC WELLNESS TO THE SCOTTISH FISHERIES MUSEUM

Bringing Oceanic Wellness to the Scottish Fisheries Museum and St Andrews : Blue Health and Blue Space. Postgraduate museology students from St Andrews collaborate with the Scottish Fisheries Museum to curate their latest exhibition on oceanic heritage and wellness, By the Seaside: Heritage, Healing, and New Horizons.

The group of eight postgraduate students from the University of St Andrews behind this exhibition did not expect to be studying amid an international pandemic, nor did they plan to design their first professional exhibition completely remotely. Originally meant to coincide with Visit Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters programming throughout 2020 and 2021, this exhibition on blue space in Scotland took on a new relevance with the restrictions of COVID-19, which sent a shared sense of isolation and uncertainty throughout the world. Suddenly, this exhibition on the ocean’s ability to heal and inspire became a necessary consolation for mental and physical health in our everyday lives.

As a dynamic collaboration between museology students at the University of St Andrews and staff at the Scottish Fisheries Museum (SFM), this exhibition explores the impact of blue space on human experience and well-being. Mattea Gernentz, the project’s writer and interpretation lead, highlighted the exhibition’s unique, wellness-oriented take on oceanic heritage to be displayed at the SFM:

“it simultaneously directs our gaze outwards and inwards, urging us to consider how blue spaces have impacted our creativity, growth, and wellbeing, as well as pointing out ways that the sea has served as a means of both leisure and livelihood.”

The student team has overcome many obstacles to put together an innovative exhibition exploring humanity’s interconnectivity with water, through physical and digital means. Museum and Gallery studies director at St Andrews, Dr. Karen Brown, comments:

“We are immensely proud of how our students have adapted in these uncertain times to demonstrate resilience and creativity in curating such a meaningful topic for the Fife coastline and its residents during the pandemic.”

The in-person exhibition, due to open in April at SFM should restrictions allow, will be enhanced by a variety of innovative digital content. For example, the show’s podcast, Sound Waves, interviews wild swimmers, artists, fisherfolk, and others from the Fife community, while the website’s blog includes perspectives from the St Andrews community about how the sea has influenced their lives.

Through the exhibition and its programming for public engagement, the team hopes to encourage reflection on how the sea has proved influential in lives across Scotland, and they are excited to bring the ocean directly into homes throughout the country. The exhibition’s digital opening event, on the evening of March 20th, will include the keynote
speaker of Dr. James Grellier from the University of Exeter, who is most well-known for his EU-backed ‘BlueHealth Project’ of 2020, among other panellists and a musical performance.

By the Seaside: Heritage, Healing, and New Horizons

The team behind By the Seaside is made up of eight postgraduate students studying museums and galleries at the University of St Andrews. Having been working completely remotely on this exhibition since September of 2020, By the Seaside is a unique and interdisciplinary look at the impact of Scotland’s oceans and blue space on wellness, history, and artistic inspiration. The exhibition opens digitally on the 20th of March and plans to welcome in-person visitors to the Scottish Fisheries Museum in April, should restrictions allow.

Scottish Fisheries Museum

The Scottish Fisheries Museum is operated by an independent charitable trust and is a national museum that tells the story of the Scottish fishing industry and its people from the earliest times, looking to how it progresses through to the present and into the future, addressing issues faced by the fishing industry and the environment. We have a vast collection housed in historic buildings in the beautiful coastal town of Anstruther.