1000 Boats

Residents of Arlington and SPACE artist Sophie Charalambous made boats for the 1000 Boats installation exhibited in the Great Hall at The British Museum from 28 Feb to 5 Mar 2014.

Inspired by the journeys taken by Vikings the project created a fleet of longboats, knorrs and fishing boats exploring Viking dispersal across Europe.

Working with raw materials and employing natural colours and pigments, the boats each had their own unique and individual details – weaving in raffia, collage with handmade paper, felting with fleece; some boats were created from mud larking journeys along the Thames, using materials straight off the water’s edge and some have been made by fusing glass.

The project is a collaboration with several groups in Camden and Islington - Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Centre, British Museum community Arts group at the Mary Ward Centre, Chadswell Healthy Living Centre, the Calthorpe Project, CSV/RSVP, Christopher Hatton Primary School, Akbar House with ASRA Housing Association, Millman Street Resource Centre, Mildmay Street with Notting Hill Housing, Women at the Well, Argyle Primary School, Arlington and SPACE.

1000 Boats is a community project that ties in with the brand new new British Museum exhibition Vikings: Life and Legend.

Photo credit - Fiona Sant, The Creative Space