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In Unbroken, EVEWRIGHT reimagines the Museum’s naval uniforms alongside a previous sculptural series, £££ Kissi Penny $$$, named in reference to an iron currency used during the trade of enslaved people in West Africa. The artist explores the theme of Ocean Justice to create an artwork of potent juxtaposition that exposes the intersection of value, humanity and institutional complicity in the transatlantic trade of enslaved African people.
Evewright Arts joined the National Maritime Museum’s (NMM) Practitioners-in-Residence for a 5-month residency from July–November 2025 to explore the theme of Ocean Justice. This innovative residency includes co-founders EVEWRIGHT, a visual artist and Ionie Richards, writer and poet. This residency, culminating in 2025, is part of celebrating the re-opening of the museum’s environmentally enhanced central ocean court.
Artist EVEWRIGHT said:
‘I discovered the ship’s log for the British slave ship Zong within the Maritime Museum’s archive collection. Unbroken was created as an emotional response to the murder of 133 enslaved Africans thrown overboard for the sake of an insurance claim. The one ‘Unbroken African’ who fought to survive by climbing back on board the vessel, was, however, thrown back into the sea.
‘My work is an active, ongoing dedication to him and his struggle, which is unequivocally the fight of the Black British people in the UK today. Unbroken is not merely an artwork; it is a lament, a challenge, and a demand for institutional accountability, built upon the enduring strength of a man who refused to be broken…’forever climbing back on boarding.’’
The installation includes a curated visceral atmospheric visual and sound storm scape and poetry. Ionie Richards said:
‘I used poetry to create a dialogue and reverence within the space, a homage to the 54 women and children thrown overboard on the Zong as part of the 133 African people murdered. Laying the Burden along with other poems from my collection seeks to highlight the inhumanity of the ocean journey of those trafficked and enslaved.’
Sarah Lockwood Head of Engagement- at the National Maritime Museum said:
‘Royal Museums Greenwich is proud to present Unbroken, a powerful new art installation created collaboratively by Evewright Arts, in response to a 5-month residency interrogating the museum’s collections through the lens of Ocean Justice. This new work embodies the complex stories that can be told through museum objects and archives, centring human resilience and the honouring of ancestors in this creative response to the tragic events on board the British slave ship Zong.’
A Libation, is a ceremonial pouring of a liquid to honour ancestors, a spiritual ritual prominent in traditional Black Caribbean and African culture.
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