Colourful seafarers are brought to life at museum

THE COLOURFUL characters and stories of Hull’s seafarers will be brought to life at an exhibition in the city.

Portraits at Sea, drawings of 30 fishermen and former Merchant Navy men, opens at the Maritime Museum in Queen Victoria Square, on Saturday.

In the 1960s there were 65,000 people connected with the fishing industry in and around Hull. But by the late 1970s all the industry and the shipyards had closed.

Artist Dan Llywelyn Hall, who conducted sittings with the seafarers during last year’s City of Culture arts programme, and learned how their jobs changed in response to the seismic shifts in the industry, said: “I was invited to meet the men of Hull’s seafaring past, when the ports were bustling with fishermen and the Merchant Navy.

“I discovered some truly resilient and engaging men who were full of stories with rich characters forged by time at sea.

“This collection serves as a testament to these men, their generosity of spirit as ships pass at night.”

An accompanying film documentary shows the artist in discussions with the mariners.

The museum enjoyed the highest year-on-year percentage increase in visitor figures for all museums and galleries in the UK last year, with more than 200,000 visitors. So far this year it has already exceeded 80,000 – more than the total for 2016 (70,238). The museum is open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 4.30pm and Sunday from 11am to 4pm.