The Bride Boat

The Bride Boat was a sculpture project that took place in Exhibition Park. It coincided with the arrival of the Tall Ships in Newcastle in July 2005.

Artist Meera George based the workshop on the Indian Ocean and the culture of the Indian subcontinent.

The project involved the decorating of a small boat with fabric, textures and patterns relating to India. The idea was to dress up a boat in the same way that a Bride is dressed up in India before her marriage and her journey to a far away unknown land.

Decoration plays a vital role in the lives of Indians. From homes to altars and temples, from clothes and jewellery to ones own body. The aim was to address Indian culture through the visual language of intricate henna designs and the coloured pigment floor patterns which are made outside Indian homes.

Meera worked with a group of individuals from the Sir Martin Roth Young Person's Unit at the General Hospital. Using a variety of cloth, paper, paint, mirrors, spices and incense the group brought the boat to life. They painted their names in Hindi on the boat making it their own.

The project gave the individuals an opportunity to physically engage in an outdoor sculpture project as well as learn about the symbolic and practical significance in India of the patterns, colours and words they had used. The boat was unveiled at a public event in the park on the 24th July 2005.

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