argonauta | ARGONAUTA 9/9

she works

radi/ona

SHIPYARD

SHE / WORKS is my studio-workshop

in which I build a fleet of boats

SHE / FLEET,

in honor of women who, despite prohibitions and prejudices,

have built ships, sailed the seas and explored the marine world.

Since 2018, I have been building a fleet of boats BRODI/ONA in my studio RADI/ONA in the middle of Zagreb., on the thin line between artistic and practical, I create, I'm building a functional art installation;

a fleet dedicated to the Heroines of the Seas which is not only asking itself "Is there a place for women in the maritime world?", but with artistic gesture, decision, organization and work: with my own hands, I'm building a "parallel world-word-story-history", a redefined maritime world.

The boats are 4.5m long, navigable, I make them myself, from wood, mostly recycled: from wooden floors, boards from terraces and roofs, fruit and vegetable crates from markets,

parquet, parts of sun umbrellas..., to brooms... and epoxy resin,

and they are powered by the synergy of human and nature, by paddels and sails; ecological, not usurping the environment, neither by noise nor by propulsion, completely immersed in the landscape.

The fleet is a response to an anecdote with a broom and a craftsman, where the broom inspired me to build an entire fleet of boats dedicated to maritime women, and to explore:

Did there exist and who were women who built ships? Did they sail the seas? Did they explore the marine world? Were they misfortune on the ship? Who are they today? Are they completely equal today? What prejudices do they still face?

A R G O N A U T A

WHAT OR WHO IS ARGONAUTA?

Argonauta is my artistic name. It refers to the first mythical shipbuilder who was never recorded in the myths. She is the sister of Argus, the first shipbuilder in Greek mythology, who built the first ship, Argo, and with his sailors, the Argonauts, sailed to the ends of the world. While Argus was celebrated in songs and Greek myths, in known mythologies and historical sources there is no recorded story of the first female shipbuilder. Greek mythology, like most classical narratives, records exclusively male figures such as Argus, while women are often portrayed as goddesses, prophetesses, or helpers, but rarely as creators and builders. I intervene, inventing Argus’s twin sister, Argonauta—the first mythical shipbuilder and protector of flora and fauna, of the sea and the land. Argonauta built ships like songs that came into being when a child first saw a bird in flight…

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she pirate

FLEET

brodi/ona

homage to the heroines
ladies of the seaS

I am building my own "utopian" boats as a functional mobile interactive installation:

the fleet of BRODI/ONA and I am researching which women, although "invisible", have participated in the maritime world-history to this day.

The BRODI/ONA fleet is a navigable, mobile installation under constant construction and upgrading, honoring maritime heroines who, despite societal barriers, prohibitions and prejudice, have built ships, sailed the seas, and explored the marine world.; From pirate queens and woman sailors, pirates and shipbuilders who since the time before the new era often have disguised themselves as men, due to the widespread belief that “a woman is misfortune on a ship”, all untill 20th century pioneers who have circumnavigated the planet by themselves, took part in sport races, welded ships during world wars, fought for education and employment rights in technical fields.., as engineers and educated naval architects have constructed and designed ships, as educated captains and marine officers run the ships and sailed the seas, as educated scientists have participated in founding of marine science, explorations and mapping of the oceans, as activists advocated for the preservation and saving of marine life; thus contributing to pushing of boundaries and establishing equality

To this day, when they study, sail the seas, and construct ships,but they still participate less than 2% of the world's maritime industry.

* Brodi/Ona ”u značenju “Brodi (plovi) Ona", “Brod i Ona” ili “Brod je Ona, Ona je Brod”

Every civilization has its own tradition of naming ships, but female names were most often given. Since the beginning of recorded history, man have built ships for travel and exploration of the world. One of the most enduring traditions of the sea is the concept of naming ships. While it is not known exactly why ships were named with female names, and why they were referred to in the feminine gender, as “She”, there are two prominent theories. One hypothesis is that ships were named after goddesses and other mythical female figures, and later popular female names, following a tradition that refers to the idea of a female figure as a mother or goddess who guides and protects the ship and crew. The other theory is that in many languages, feminine nouns are used for objects. As language has changed and developed, the tradition of using the feminine form for ship names has continued and is still present today. Naming a ship is an important tradition prior to the inaugural launch of a ship. The ceremony is held to appease the sea, to bring good luck and safety to the new ship, its crew and passengers. The tradition of naming ceremonies goes back thousands of years, with different peoples and cultures shaping ceremonies around the launching of a ship. There is evidence that the Babylonians celebrated the launching of ships as early as the 3rd millennium BC, and the Romans, Greeks and Egyptians called upon their gods to protect their ships before they set sail.

Drawing on the tradition of naming ships, each new ship I build, as part of the performative launching actions, together with the godmothers, today's significant maritime women, and the crew, is ceremonially launched and named after a significant woman from maritime history. Not after mythical Goddesses, but after real maritime heroines.

We named and launched the first five ships of the BRODI/ONA fleet on the First International Day of Women Seafarers, ever, on May 18, 2022, from the Matejuška harbor in Split, continuing the ceremony with each newly built ship, in Silba, Dubrovnik, and even Zagreb.

So far, I have built 8 ships in honor of seafaring heroines.

/ TEUTA / SLAVA LUNARDOVA /

MARY LACY / JEANNE BARET /

EUDKOSIJA KUSTRIĆ / RACHAEL PARSONS /

RENATA HORVAT / ELLEN MACARTHUR

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she/story

priča/ona

SEA SHE/STORY

Collecting stories!

I create a cartography of invisible biographies of real women, inviting the audience on a journey in which they discover real stories, but also complement it with new examples, thus becoming a participant in the process of bringing voices from the past to the present for the future.

By intervening in the permanent exhibition displays of Maritime Museums, I place heroines in the maritime history through museum legends - labels with short biographies of maritime heroines, posing the question "Is there a place for women in maritime history?"

I research all the women who have participated in the maritime world throughout history to the present, their names and short biographies, and highlight them in the form of museum legends - labels on the walls of Maritime Museums (Croatian Maritime Museum Split, Maritime Museum Dubrovnik..). In this way, while following the official maritime history , one can also read the parallel "unofficial - women's maritime history", which was also present but "was not visible", and whose testimonies remained recorded mainly in the form of newspaper articles or published memoirs.

The intervention camouflages itself as a museum artifact, redefining the permanent exhibition, not representing the official maritime history but rather an intervention (of my own choice) and an attempt to "make space" for women in maritime and maritime history, highlighting the interestingness of their work and making their presence visible.

If you know of a past or present name, story, or have any information about – a woman who builds or has built ships, sailed the seas, or explored the marine world; and who has accomplished an extraordinary or everyday maritime feat – I would be truly grateful if you write it down and, together with personal details, send it to:

ladiesoftheseas@gmail.com

artist research and archiving of sea heroine biographies

In this way, she will become part of a collection, that is, an archive of short biographical notes on maritime heroines, with which I intervene in the permanent exhibitions of Maritime Museums – as part of the artistic research BRODI/ONA (2018–) and a book in progress, which will serve as a lasting record of maritime women..

Thank you !

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she shows

izlaže/ona

exhibitions.

Matea Šabić Sabljić
aka Argonauta

born on December 7, 1982, in Split, grew up in Trogir, graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb (2012, Department of Animated Film and New Media), currently lives in Zagreb, Croatia. Member of the Croatian Association of Visual Artists Dubrovnik – HDLUDU, Croatia. Exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions, both in Croatia and abroad.

Through my artistic practice — through research, intervening into history, through the process of building the fleet of boats “BRODI/ONA” ( SHE/SHIPS ), through spatial installations, and performative elements — I present a parallel history and presence of women at sea.

I reshape, question, explore, and reinterpret our understanding of history and social roles.

I construct a fleet of boats with my own hands, and intervene in Maritime Museums with short biographies of maritime heroines, shedding light on parallel, invisible, and often overlooked narratives.

I compose a cartography of invisible biographies of real women, inviting the audience on a journey where they uncover true stories and contribute with new examples — becoming

active participants in bringing

voices from the past into the present, for the future.

For many years, I have been exploring the “place of” women in the maritime world. Since 2018, I have been creating and building the fleet BRODI/ONA ( SHE/SHIPS ) in my studio RADI/ONA ( SHE/WORKS meaning WORKSHOP ), building a functional artistic installation honoring maritime heroines. This fleet not only asks, “Is there place for women in the maritime world?” but also, through artistic gesture, decisions, organization, and manual work, is building a parallel world > word > story > history >> her story ; a redefined maritime world.

Also, through my artistic work I question the very concept of work, especially the invisible work of women of the seas and female artists, I continuously develop performative actions and installations, exploring themes of maritime tradition and women’s invisible work — reshaping, questioning, researching, and reinterpreting historical and societal roles.

As a visual transdisciplinary artist, I work at the intersection of maritime heritage, feminist historiography, ecology, environmental awareness, site-specific, performative, and installation art.

In my practice I merge boat-building, storytelling, installation art and performative actions, transforming forgotten or invisible histories into living experiences.

Through interactive interventions, I challenge traditional museum narratives, reconstructing the hidden legacy of women in maritime history and reinterpreting the cultural memory of the sea.

Navigating between art, history, craft, old and new techniques and technologies, creating a parallel history—physically manifesting untold stories of woman sailors, shipbuilders, explorers, and marine scientists, the boats I build are navigable installations, each honoring a specific woman from maritime history — forming a parallel fleet that sails between past and future, as tribute to the women who dared to sail beyond the horizon, build ships with bare hands, carry oceans across mountains, launch forests over deserts... explore the invisible, rewrite history, reclaim futures, and rise like tides....