The Arts Institute is now The Arts & Culture programme presented by
The Bridge
.
Mayflower 400: Legacies and Futures
An Arts Institute and Cornerstone Heritage roundtable, curated as an online response
Overview of the project
The Legacies and Futures digital curation seeks to frame and interrogate colonial heritage. This project re-frames the more familiar Mayflower narrative within more flexible, inclusive and varied parameters.
In 2020, we remember the departure of the Mayflower from Plymouth harbour four hundred years ago. Plymouth was a final stop on a journey to North America, a final stop on a voyage to colonise and conquer the people and landscapes of North America.
This curation, which includes commentary and insights from Indigenous and non-Indigenous contributors, collects and presents new observations about the way that we narrate, visualise and remember the past.
Over the course of the curation, contributors focus on specific objects and images, variously reflecting on the significance of memory, authenticity, revision, reception and renewal.
Each original contribution, from scholars, artists, curators and leaders, seeks to offer a new and unique insight, based on individual experience and expertise. New instalments will appear every 4–5 weeks, from September 2020 through the anniversary year.
Watch an introduction video by Dr Kathryn Gray, Associate Professor in English, University of Plymouth
Contributors
Revealing the partnerships changing perceptions of a ship, its passengers and an Atlantic journey made 400 years ago
Jo Loosemore – Curator of the Legend and Legacy exhibition at The Box, Plymouth
Some notes on Thanksgiving and other matters
Dr Stephanie Pratt – Independent scholar, art historian and first cultural ambassador for the Crow Creek Dakota Nation
The Mayflower voyage and beyond: Unravelling facts from fiction
Dr Kenneth Cohen – Edward and Helen Hintz Secretarial Scholar. Curator of American Culture and Politics. National Museum of American History. Smithsonian Institution
Dr Kathryn Gray
Associate Professor in English, University of Plymouth
Sarah Sense
Artist and photographer
Mayflower 400
2020 commemorates the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower's pioneering voyage to America in 1620. The University is working in partnership to commemorate this historic voyage.
