brodi/ona

IMA LI MJESTA 
ZA ŽENE U POVIJESTI POMORSTVA ?

intervention at the permanent display
Croatian Maritime Museum Split

41. Splitski Salon, HULU Split
Croatian Maritime Museum Split

 

“IS THERE A PLACE FOR WOMEN IN MARITIME HISTORY?”

Intervention at the Maritime Museum Split (2021)
41st Split Salon “Not Entirely Lost to Each Other”

Curator: Ivana Meštrov in collaboration with Ana Janevski

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Intervention in the Croatian Maritime Museum Split, 23.11.–16.12.2021 / 6 boats / 60 museum labels with 60 LED lights / 100m RGB LED strip / 1 photograph mounted on Kapafix 50x70cm. After four years of recycling crates, wooden floors, parquet, wooden parasols… followed by sawing, building, sanding, and epoxying, I premiered the fleet of 6 boats BRODI/ONA as an intervention in the permanent display of the Croatian Maritime Museum Split – directly into the history of seafaring.

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Through 60 museum labels placed on the walls of the museum, I highlighted my research: which women participated in the maritime world throughout history up to today. With names and short biographies of 60 women, chosen by me, this does not represent the official history of seafaring but rather an intervention – an attempt to “make room” for women in maritime history, pointing to the significance of their contributions and making their presence visible.

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By following the official history of seafaring, one could also read the parallel “unofficial – women’s history,” which was equally present but “not visible.” The plaques are a collage of research, gathered information, and placement of actors into a kind of maritime “timeline,” pointing to the heroines of their time who are not systematically represented as part of history, yet whose exceptionality and importance remained recorded, mostly in newspaper articles, diary entries, or published memoirs. Their short biographies are so compelling that each could inspire a film.

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With this intervention, I redefine the permanent display of maritime museums by “camouflaging them as museum artifacts” – I “make room” for women directly within maritime history, placing them on the museum walls and thus at least temporarily granting them visibility and a place in the official history of seafaring. In fact, I pose the question: “Is there a place for women in maritime history?”

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(*Continuing the line of research by Hanna Hagmark‑Cooper, Åland Maritime Museum, Finland: “Is there place for women in maritime history?”)