Information

Living by the sea is a special experience, and nowhere more so than in Falmouth, Cornwall, with its long maritime history.

LIVING BY THE SEA explores that experience in words, pictures, shapes, textures and colours through the eyes of children and the memories and thoughts of local people who live by the sea.

This exhibition is a community project that draws together the creativity and expertise of students from Falmouth College of Arts, local schools and community groups and the National Maritime Museum Cornwall.

We have tried to answer the question: what makes living by the sea so distinctive? From children exploring the fun of the beach to the challenging question of how we can care for, maintain and live in harmony with our environment, the exhibition touches on a wide range of debates.

Living by the sea can also be a harsh or demanding experience, especially if your livelihood depends upon it, and these aspects are explored in the words of those who work on or with the sea: customs officers, fishermen and dock workers.

Students on the following programmes at Falmouth College of Arts have collaborated on this project:

· BA(Hons) Spatial Design: Interior & Landscape & BA(Hons) 3D Design for Sustainability

· BA(Hons) Photography

· BA(Hons) Textile Design

· BA(Hons) Broadcasting

· BA(Hons) History of Modern Art & Design

National Maritime Museum Cornwall is a fully independent new museum, a development of the original FIMI (Falmouth International Maritime Initiative) partnership created in 1992 and the result of collaboration between the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich and the former Cornwall Maritime Museum in Falmouth. The National Maritime Museum Greenwich had an impressive collection of small boats. For many years the Trustees of the Museum had been seeking a suitable waterfront location in which to create an imaginative and dynamic showcase for the boats, many of which can still be sailed. Falmouth, offering a waterside location, its own seafaring heritage and one of the world's finest harbours represented an ideal site.

A new charitable trust was created to fund the new independent project, HLF. In addition to this funding has come from the South West Regional Development Agency, European Regional Development Fund, individuals and corporate sponsors.

The Maritime Museum Cornwall evolved from a collection reflecting Cornwall's maritime history gathered over 150 years by the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society. It was brought together in 1981 as the Falmouth Maritime Museum. Since then it has developed and prospered, now owning a diverse collection of approximately 140 small crafts. The collection includes racing dinghies, working boats, punts, fishing vessels, canoes, rafts and many record-breakers. The designs of the crafts reflects the ways in which crafts have been adapted to suit the changing lives of those who use and make them.

The Maritime Museum Cornwall promotes an understanding of the importance of maritime heritage in Cornwall. It inspires the development of this heritage through a combination of entertainment, education and interactivity visible by people of all ages and interests.

This Project is supported by Falmouth College of Arts, the Higher Education Active Community Fund and the National Maritime Museum, Cornwall.