Art and culture

Niki Gorick: Behind the lens

Elizabeth Oliver — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 14:20:41 +0000

Niki Gorick: Behind the lens Elizabeth Oliver Mon, 03/30/2026 - 14:20

For more than 25 years, Niki Gorick has been capturing London’s hidden communities. Her passion for photography began during a gap year in Montreal, and led to a career spanning photojournalism, television camerawork and screenwriting.

But it’s her love of London’s lives and landscapes that continues to capture her imagination. “London is a city that’s always changing, yet staying the same,” she says, “There’s always something going on.” Her candid images of the capital have seen her produce work about the city’s architecture, parks and markets, as well as an outdoor exhibition and book about daily worship in the City of London.

One of her more recent projects celebrates everyday life in London’s docklands, from families on houseboats to vessels undergoing maintenance. A selection of these images are now on show in Niki Gorick: Dock Life, a photographic display in Cutty Sark’s Dry Dock. The display is accompanied by images and stories from Royal Museums Greenwich’s archive to highlight the connections – and contrasts – between dock life past and present.

Here, she tells us about the inspiration behind the project, the people she met – and how it feels to have a display at Cutty Sark.

Urban backdrop by Niki Gorick © Niki Gorick Photography Ltd., 2025

Why were you drawn to London’s docklands?

I’ve lived in Surrey Quays for around eight years and overlook Greenland Dock. When Covid happened, I went on walks around the area and became fascinated by the houseboats. They’re right near the centre of London, but because they’re gated, they’re almost like a hidden world.

I started chatting to the people there, and learned all about how people live on boats and renovate and maintain them. It was important for me to gain their trust – I didn’t want to go in with a camera straight away – so I took time to listen and gain knowledge.

The docklands are extraordinarily diverse. As I started to take the photographs, I knew I wanted to expand my focus and cover more aspects of dock life. I captured scenes from St Katharine Docks – a marina that attracts a lot of visiting superyachts – and the Isle of Dogs, which docks warships and tall ships in its deep waters. I thought these areas would complement the Surrey Docks well because they’re so very different.

Can you tell us about some of the people you photographed?

I’ve always loved finding hidden communities in London and showing the capital’s lesser-known side. Some of the people I photographed include Rebecca and Simon, who are raising their two young children while renovating their houseboat. They’ve created bespoke furniture and insulation panels using sophisticated machinery.

Build your own boat by Niki Gorick © Niki Gorick Photography Ltd., 2025

I also met Eva, who is well into her 80s – very spry, active – and has lived on boats all her life. She looks after dogs on behalf of The Cinnamon Trust, a charity that provides support to pet owners who need assistance caring for their animals.

Canine care by Niki Gorick © Niki Gorick Photography Ltd., 2025

London’s docks were originally built as places of work. Were you able to learn more about the maritime activities in the area?

South Dock Marina in Rotherhithe is the only location with a working boatyard in central London, and it’s here that I encountered Phil, Bill and Brenden. Phil and Bill are wonderful characters – they met building the Thames Barrier. When I photographed them, they were working with 20-year-old entrepreneur, Brenden, to renovate an ancient Canadian tug.

Learning from experience by Niki Gorick © Niki Gorick Photography Ltd., 2025

I would talk to them about their way of doing things, then return home, scribble down my thoughts and all the facts I had learned. The boatyard will be significantly redeveloped, so the people who work there are pleased that I captured it how it was.

Someone else I came across was Octavia, who was mending the hull of Maserati, a lovely 1960s superyacht. She was part of a team who called themselves the ‘Rot Detectives’. Over the course of a year, they dug out every last bit of the yacht’s rotten wood, then repaired and resealed the vessel. Once this was complete, they renovated the yacht’s interior.

Rot detective by Niki Gorick © Niki Gorick Photography Ltd., 2025

What have been some of your highlights from the project?

The project took two years to bring together, and there have been all sorts of highlights. I’ve loved learning about the lives and activities of the people here.

The dockside community were thrilled to be photographed – no-one had ever asked to take photographs of them before – and I worked hard to gain their trust and to nurture relationships.

I knew from the outset that I wanted this project to become a book. In 2023, Dock Life Renewed: How London’s Docks are Thriving Again was published by Unicorn Publishing, and features more than 100 images with captions. The book’s publication coincided with the 40th anniversary of the London Docklands Development Corporation, an initiative that redeveloped the area.

Niki Gorick: Dock Life in Cutty Sark's Dry Dock

I’m thrilled that my images are on display underneath the hull of Cutty Sark. The photographs are placed next to historic images from Royal Museums Greenwich’s archive, to really show the transformation that’s occurred. It’s the perfect setting for them.

See Royal Museums Greenwich's historic dockside images

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Large cargo ship the 'Penang' towers over houses and gardens in Millwall, southeast London, 1932

Image ID: P39610

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Workers posing with part of a steam engine at Thames Ironworks at Blackwall, 1901

Image ID: H0465

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Dock-keepers, the Edwards family on the banks of the Thames, opposite St. Paul’s Cathedral, 1923

Image ID: P27565

Banner image: Canine care by Niki Gorick © Niki Gorick Photography Ltd., 2025

Look inside: The Many Invincible Ones by Sharon Walters

Elizabeth Oliver — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 15:44:58 +0000

Look inside: The Many Invincible Ones by Sharon Walters Elizabeth Oliver Thu, 03/12/2026 - 15:44

One of the many highlights to see in the Queen’s House is The Many Invincible Ones, a new display made by artist Sharon Walters.

Encompassing paper-cut collages, textiles and engraved stainless steel and bronze, the six pieces respond to a historic photograph in Royal Museums Greenwich’s collection, which depicts formerly enslaved children on board HMS Flying Fish in Madagascar.

The Many Invincible Ones by Sharon Walters on display in the Queen's Closet in the Queen's House

The display was created during Walters’ Caird Research Fellowship at the Museum in 2024-2025, and explores themes including resilience, reconnection, healing and hope.

Discover the stories behind the artworks below – and see The Many Invincible Ones for yourself in the Queen’s Closet.

The artworks on display

Held Tenderly

This large-scale collage piece reimagines an alternative future for the children who were on board HMS Flying Fish in 1875.

Walters explains that she had a strong reaction upon first viewing the historic photograph: “My response to the work was an overwhelming, visceral one,” she says.

In Held Tenderly, children, mothers and ancestors come together, assembled from photographs held in Royal Museums Greenwich’s archive and the curator and writer Catherine E. McKinley’s photographic collection. “Because the original image caused me so much pain, I wanted to create a work that reimagines the reunification of the children with their mothers,” she explains.

Images of crustaceans collected on the vessel’s later voyages – carefully preserved, catalogued and held in the collections of the Natural History Museum – starkly emphasise how the names and lives of the children on board have been overlooked.

The Beauties

The Beauties was created in response to a historic photograph of four unnamed Black women in the Museum’s collection, annotated in an accompanying manuscript as ‘The Beauties’.

In this piece, Walters wanted to interrogate the idea of the objectifying gaze – and ask: ‘whose lens is a story being told through?’ This is a question that forms the core of Walters’ much larger body of work, Seeing Ourselves, a multidisciplinary series that celebrates the power, grace and dignity of Black women.

Bringing together photographs and delicately cut stainless steel, The Beauties centralises the women’s stories, placing them on a backdrop that echoes the Tulip Stairs in the Queen’s House.

Nan Fed Us Love with Cou-cou and Fish

Maternal love is at the heart of this paper-cut collage work, which depicts Walters’ late grandmother. Its title was inspired by her childhood memories of eating flying fish and cou-cou – the national dish of Barbados – at her grandmother’s house.

When Walters discovered that the historic photograph of the children was taken on board a vessel called HMS Flying Fish, she experienced intense discomfort. “It tore me emotionally. For me, flying fish has always had a positive connotation,” she says. “Being of Caribbean heritage and looking at an image of children who looked like me – and could be from my family – was difficult to deal with.” 

Instead of separation and trauma, Walters’ piece emphasises reconnection and safety, through the setting of her grandmother’s home. It is filled with intricate details, which link to her family stories. A blue and white pattern in the top right-hand corner replicates her grandmother’s scarf, while an ash tray overflowing with flowers references Walters’ bedtimes spent drinking her grandmother’s camomile tea. Other details to spot include the trailing green plant on the left-hand side, adorned with hand-cut photographs of sliced okra.

Like many of Walters’ works, Nan Fed Us Love with Cou-Cou and Fish uses paper cut-outs suspended in glass to create dramatic shadows – resulting in a piece that is sculptural in effect.

Renewal and Restoration

Rest is a key theme throughout the display, which is epitomised in Renewal and Restoration, an armchair covered in fabric designed by Walters. The colours are imbued with meaning, from the red of the armchair – her grandmother’s favourite colour – to the sandy yellow elements, which reference cou-cou.

Links to Walters’ Barbadian heritage can also be seen in the flying fish details, while the fabric’s swirling patterns nod to one of her large-scale paintings: a piece made from interconnected shapes, influenced by the architecture of the Tulip Stairs.

When creating the chair design, Walters was moved by the work of creative Tricia Hersey, who sees rest as a form of resistance. “I think there’s too much emphasis – especially for Black women – to be strong and resilient, which is all well and good, but I like the idea of us being able to take up space, to be softer, calm and more restful,” Walters explains.

Reflection

This film showcases Walters’ creative and emotional journey while making The Many Invincible Ones, produced in collaboration with filmmakers Leah Kharibian and Mat Sunderland. The display was created during Walters’ Caird Research Fellowship, a practice-based project that saw her make artworks in response to the Museum’s sites and collections. 

For Walters, the Caird Research Fellowship has pushed the boundaries of her practice. “It’s enabled me to explore different materials and to look back historically at figures who I feel as though I connect with – and see myself in.” She adds: “The work has been all-encompassing, and it feels impossible to think of this as the end.”

Ancestral Healing

Ancestral Healing was inspired by an archival photograph of an unnamed woman in Royal Museums Greenwich’s collection. As soon as Walters saw her, she felt a deep connection. “She felt very spiritual,” she explains.

In this work, Walters creates a dialogue between the historic and the contemporary, reinterpreting the woman’s photograph through multiple formats, and layering her on top of an image of a bright blue sky.

"I began drawing into the image as an act of connection and then translated it into an engraved bronze to highlight the woman’s preciousness,” Walters explains. “The sky is a bridge between past and present, holding the memories, real or imagined."

Artist Sharon Walters on creating The Many Invincible Ones display in the Queen's House

Elizabeth Oliver — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 15:03:54 +0000

Artist Sharon Walters on creating The Many Invincible Ones display in the Queen's House Elizabeth Oliver Mon, 03/09/2026 - 15:03

From intricate metal reliefs to bold paper collages, a series of six artworks have transformed the intimate space of the Queen’s Closet in the Queen’s House. These works form The Many Invincible Ones, a display created by multidisciplinary artist, Sharon Walters. 

Known for her intricate paper collage works, Walters’ display was produced during her Caird Research Fellowship in 2024-2025. Harnessing her interest in maritime stories – particularly of the African diaspora – Walters embarked on a practice-based project, creating a body of work in response to the Museum’s sites and collections. 

The Many Invincible Ones is her most ambitious series of artworks yet. Her display responds to photographs in the Museum’s collection, Catherine E. McKinley’s photographic collection in New York and research at the Natural History Museum with Principal Curator of Crustacea, Miranda Lowe. It incorporates textiles, film, paper-cut collages, engraved stainless steel and bronze, weaving together aspects of her family story. 

Here, she talks about pushing the boundaries of her practice, bringing tenderness to overlooked histories and creating works rooted in hope.

The Many Invincible Ones by Sharon Walters on display in the Queen's Closet in the Queen's House

Putting care at the centre

The idea for the artworks came when Walters looked at a historic photograph in the Museum’s collections. Dating from 1875, the picture depicts a group of formerly enslaved children aboard HMS Flying Fish in Madagascar.

It was an image that Walters found deeply upsetting. “My response to the work was an overwhelming, visceral one,” she explains. “When I saw the photograph, I didn’t feel as though the children were liberated, there was a sense of loss.”

The name of the vessel, ‘Flying Fish’ also provoked a strong reaction. For Walters, flying fish and cou-cou – the national dish of Barbados – was associated with love and tenderness, of memories eating the meal at her grandmother’s house. However, for the children in the photograph, the setting of HMS Flying Fish reinforced their separation from their families.

“It tore me emotionally. For me, flying fish has always had a positive connotation,” she says. “Being of Caribbean heritage and looking at an image of children who looked like me – and could be from my family – was difficult to deal with.”

Care and connection are central to Walters’ practice. Her multi-layered works have been praised for their heartfelt and sensitive portrayal of their subjects. Her pieces have been featured in shows including The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and commissioned and acquired by the National Portrait Gallery.

When it came to developing ideas for Royal Museums Greenwich’s Caird Research Fellowship, Walters wanted to create a body of work that responded to the historic photographs and their depiction of Black people, while exploring themes spanning reconnection, resilience and healing. The title of the display – The Many Invincible Ones – emphasises strength and endurance, and references the Betsileo people of Madagascar, who adopted the name after resisting invasion in the 19th century.

However, at the heart of the display, Walters wanted to imagine an alternative future for the children, one rooted in maternal love and hope. “I wanted to recreate something that reimagines the reunification of the children with their mothers,” she says.

Introducing 'The Many Invincible Ones'

One of the largest pieces in the display is Held Tenderly. Located above the fireplace in the Queen’s Closet, this vibrant collage work reunites children, mothers and ancestors. It incorporates photographs held in Royal Museums Greenwich’s archive and the curator and writer Catherine E. McKinley’s photographic collection.

Held Tenderly by Sharon Walters

While the original photograph depicts conditions on board HMS Flying Fish in 1875, Walters’ research led to the discovery that samples of crustaceans had been collected on the vessel’s later voyages. These samples are held in the collection of the Natural History Museum.

Walters worked in close collaboration with Principal Curator of Crustacea, Miranda Lowe, to gain an insight into the sea life that would have surrounded the ship – and how the specimens would have been stored.

Sharon Walters and Miranda Lowe, Principal Curator of Crustacea, look at marine specimens in the collection of the Natural History Museum

“There was something about handling these carefully preserved crabs, the stench of the alcohol and the beautifully written labels, that made me think about how their treatment lay in stark contrast to the unnamed Africans who were categorised homogenously, with so little care and respect and love,” she explains.

The experience also deepened her connection to her creative practice. “As I watched the crabs slowly unfurl, it felt like a metaphor for the kind of work that I had been doing,” she adds. “You delve into history, you delve into stories, and this slow unfurling feels like a beautiful, powerful thing.”

Sharon Walters and artist, researcher and curator Nydia A. Swaby examine a manuscript in the National Maritime Museum's collections

Seeing Ourselves

The Many Invincible Ones display forms part of Walters’ much larger body of work, titled Seeing Ourselves. The series celebrates the power, grace and dignity of Black women, and combines various mediums and sources to explore ideas of femininity, race and belonging. Walters explains that the series offers a counter-narrative to the “othering” of Black communities often experienced in mainstream culture.

Prior to her Caird Research Fellowship, Walters collaborated with Royal Museums Greenwich to produce her podcast ‘Seeing Ourselves,’ which expanded upon these themes. Featuring guests including historians Serena Lee, Fiona Compton and writer and curator Ekow Eshun, the episodes focused on the representation – and misrepresentation – of Blackness in museum collections.

“I wanted to look at the narratives within archives and collections and ask, ‘whose gaze is a story being told through?’” she says, “I wanted to look at the stories that were missing, and how those voices were being told and shared.”

Delving deeper

The idea of the objectifying gaze is explored in another piece in The Many Invincible Ones display. Occupying a wall in the Queen’s Closet, The Beauties reworks a historic photograph of four unnamed Black women in the Museum’s collection, annotated in an accompanying manuscript as ‘The Beauties’.

Sharon Walters looking at The Beauties in the Queen's Closet

“The image immediately made me question: ‘Why are these women being selected as beauties, and what’s the relationship between them and the photographer?’” she says. Walters was determined to centralise the women’s stories. Her final piece places them on a backdrop of delicately cut stainless steel, echoing the Tulip Stairs in the Queen’s House.

This is the first time Walters has worked in metal and is one of the ways the Caird Research Fellowship has pushed her work in a new direction. “The Fellowship has been a good opportunity to expand my practice,” she says. “It’s enabled me to explore different materials and to look back historically at figures who I feel as though I connect with – and see myself in.”

Nan Fed Us Love with Cou-cou and Fish by Sharon Walters

While the display features new artforms, it also stays true to Walters’ roots, showing works that feature her signature paper cut-outs and collages. Her piece Nan Fed Us Love with Cou-cou and Fish depicts her late grandmother sitting at home. Walters explains that it is inspired by the maternal love she gave to her family in many ways, including her cooking.

Look closely, and her grandmother is faceless, which Walters reveals was deliberate. “By removing her face, people who look like me are able to place themselves – and their family members – in this work.”

Rest and resistance

Family and cultural reconnection thread throughout the display, providing nods to Walters’ lived experience. In a corner of the Queen’s Closet, a red armchair is adorned with images of flying fish and cou-cou – a printed fabric designed by Walters – to link to her Barbadian heritage.

Detail of Renewal and Restoration, an armchair fabric design

“It references the fish itself and the golden colour of cornmeal, used in cou-cou,” says Walters. “The dish provides important cultural reconnection for diasporic communities.” Titled Renewal and Restoration, the chair emphasises the importance of rest, which had been at the forefront of Walters’ mind.

“When creating the design, I was thinking about the work of creative Tricia Hersey, where she talks about rest being a form of resistance,” she explains. “I think there’s too much emphasis – especially for Black women – to be strong and resilient, which is all well and good, but I like the idea of us being able to take up space, to be softer, calm and more restful.”

Many of the works in the display were created in her west London studio, a serene space furnished with finished artworks – and various others in stages of progress – and the peal of church bells in the distance. “I have found the creation of the work to be really healing,” she says. “I’ve learnt so much about giving myself grace, and the importance of rest.”

An ongoing legacy

For Walters, the opportunity to exhibit her work at the Queen’s House is important. “It’s significant for me as a Black woman to be in this space – a place that wasn’t designed for me and wasn’t meant to entertain me when the Queen’s House was originally built,” she says. “I’m somehow reclaiming the space.”

Other artworks in the space, which include Ancestral Healing – a bronze and printed paper piece – and Reflection, a film about her fellowship journey, open up dialogues between the past, present and future.

The closing shot from the film Reflection

Using art to inspire positive change is crucial to her. “For so many people of the diaspora, it’s very difficult to find your story or to find that connection, especially in museums and collections,” she says, "I want us to be able to see ourselves in a positive light where possible."

She adds: “The work isn't just about the pictures, the conversations, the collaborating with people I love. It’s about legacy and impact, which is really important to me.”

As for the future, Walters is excited about what's to come: “The work has been all-encompassing, and it feels impossible to think of this as the end.” She adds: “A display of my work in the Queen’s House is simply the beginning.”

Artemisia Gentileschi at the Queen's House

Elizabeth Oliver — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 14:47:48 +0000

Artemisia Gentileschi at the Queen's House Elizabeth Oliver Fri, 02/06/2026 - 14:47

One of the great Italian artists of the 17th century, Artemisia Gentileschi was celebrated for her dramatic depictions of biblical and historical scenes.

Born in Rome in 1593, Artemisia trained under her father, Orazio Gentileschi, before pursuing a highly successful career in her own right that would take her the length and breadth of Italy and eventually to England.

Artemisia’s links with the Queen’s House stretch back to the late 1630s, when she travelled to Greenwich to help her father finish the original ceiling canvases in the Great Hall. Around this time, she created an oil painting of Susanna and the Elders (c.1638-40), depicting a young woman being harassed by two older male judges. This long-lost work was recently rediscovered in the Royal Collection after it had been misattributed.

As this new loan goes on display in the King’s Presence Chamber, Dr Allison Goudie, Curator of Art Pre-1750, reflects on the significance of ‘welcoming Artemisia back to the Queen’s House’.

Susanna and the Elders

By Artemisia Gentileschi

A cultural pioneer: Henrietta Maria and the Queen's House

Henrietta Maria’s impact on the cultural landscape of England was considerable but relatively little remains of the physical spaces she inhabited and made her own as a patron of art and architecture.

The Queen’s House is a unique survival as a domestic space completed specifically for her. Finished in the 1630s, it was a place where Henrietta Maria sought to indulge her taste for the contemporary art of the time. However, her vision for the interiors of the Queen’s House ultimately never came to full fruition due to the outbreak of civil war.

Henrietta Maria by the studio of Anthony van Dyck (BHC2761)

The Royal Collection was sold off under the Commonwealth and over the subsequent centuries the Queen’s House eventually ceased being a royal residence. Partly for this reason, and often understandably something of a surprise to new visitors to the Queen’s House, the permanent collection on display at the House does not include any objects that can be traced to Henrietta Maria’s interiors.

This is why we are so delighted to be able to welcome on loan to the Queen’s House a painting from the Royal Collection that was recently rediscovered as a commission by Henrietta Maria, and from one of the most sought-after painters of the day, no less: Artemisia Gentileschi.

Artemisia Gentileschi's Greenwich connections

Artemisia would have known the Queen’s House well, having probably assisted her dying father, Orazio Gentileschi, in completing the magnificent ceiling canvases which originally adorned the Great Hall (these were moved to Marlborough House on Pall Mall in the early 18th century). A painting by Artemisia of the ancient Roman heroine Lucretia, now lost, is recorded as hanging at Greenwich, possibly in the Queen’s House itself.

Her painting now on display at the Queen’s House depicts the story of Susanna and the Elders, from the Book of Daniel, which forms part of the Old Testament in the Roman Catholic tradition. Although it does not appear to have hung at Greenwich historically, it would have been in keeping with other paintings featuring female protagonists from the Old Testament that we know Henrietta Maria displayed at the Queen’s House, specifically paintings of Lot and His Daughters, The Finding of Moses and Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife by Artemisia’s father, Orazio.

Displaying 'Susanna and the Elders'

Susanna and the Elders was first recorded in about 1639 – around the time the Queen’s House interiors were being decorated – as hanging above the fireplace in Henrietta Maria’s Withdrawing Chamber at Whitehall Palace.

With that interior now sadly lost, however, the Queen’s House, as the only surviving domestic interior completed specifically for Henrietta Maria, makes an exceptionally apt setting for the painting. It is one which allows us to appreciate as best as possible within a real interior how the painting was originally intended to be seen.

Susanna and the Elders by Artemisia Gentileschi on display in the King's Presence Chamber in the Queen's House. Painting of Susanna and the Elders by Artemisia Gentileschi © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2026 | Royal Collection Trust

The room we are displaying it in at the Queen’s House, now called the King’s Presence Chamber, was, in Henrietta Maria’s day, her Withdrawing Chamber, the parallel space to the painting’s original location at Whitehall Palace. Mimicking Henrietta Maria’s placement of the painting above the fireplace, we too are displaying it on the chimney breast.

Indeed, Artemisia seems to have had such a position in mind already when she was working on the painting, as Niko Munz and Adelaide Izat, whose research led to the painting’s rediscovery, explain:

Delicately, like a sculpture wandering off its plinth... [Susanna] steps forward as if to move out of the painting. …
Hung above the chimney, these foreshortened dynamics must have seemed theatrical and illusionistic: the mantlepiece ledge would have seemed to have continued the steps downwards, and the painted water would have appeared to be ready to douse the real flames below.
The drama of the composition is particularly effective from a low vantage point, suggesting that Artemisia designed the work with its intended position [over a fireplace] in mind.
Niko Munz and Adelaide Izat, ‘Artemisia Gentileschi’s “Susanna and the elders” painted for Henrietta Maria’, The Burlington Magazine, vol.165 (October 2023), p. 1061

A final flourish in the parallels between the space at Greenwich and the lost interior of Whitehall is found in the gilt carved royal cipher ‘HMCR’ (Henrietta Maria Charles Rex/Regina) which crowns the chimney breast at the Queen’s House. This echoes Henrietta Maria’s cipher which we know was carved into the marble mantelpiece of her Whitehall Withdrawing Chamber.

Henrietta Maria and Charles I's combined cipher on the chimney breast of the King's Presence Chamber, Queen's House

This may be the first time Artemisia’s Susanna and the Elders has hung at Greenwich, but it is very much at home in the setting of the Queen’s House.

Introducing new contemporary art at the Queen's House for 2026

Elizabeth Oliver — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 15:45:38 +0000

Introducing new contemporary art at the Queen's House for 2026 Elizabeth Oliver Thu, 02/05/2026 - 15:45

Here, Victoria Lane, Senior Curator of Art and Identity, explores three displays that feature contemporary artworks using the powerful motif of the flying fish.

She explores the varied symbolism of the marine creature – and how this provides a gateway to explore the new works and narratives within the Queen's House.

Flying fish and the art of freedom

During our passage I first saw flying fishes, which surprised me very much: they used to frequently fly across the ship, and many of them fell on the deck.
Olaudah Equiano, 'The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African' (1789 )

Olaudah Equiano was struck by the visual spectacle of flying fish while enduring the Middle Passage aboard a slave ship trafficking him from West Africa to be sold into enslavement in Barbados. Amid the profound trauma of this experience, the sudden appearance of these seemingly magical creatures may be read as a fleeting moment of transcendence.

Flying fish do not flap their fins like birds; instead, they jump from the water and use their wing-like pectoral fins to glide through the air. With their remarkable ability to move between ocean and sky, flying fish have come to symbolise freedom, transformation, courage and new journeys – embodying aspiration and the achievement of the seemingly impossible.

The earliest representation of a flying fish in Royal Museums Greenwich’s collection appears on the 1573 map Typus Orbis Terrarum (PBD7640(1))

Flying fish are primarily found in warm-water or tropical seas. In the Caribbean, they embody the spirit of the islands and are embedded in folklore and mythology, where they fly not to escape but to bridge the gap between worlds. They are particularly associated with Barbados, known as 'The Land of the Flying Fish', and appear on the Bajan dollar coin and passport.

Three new Queen’s House displays present works by contemporary artists that engage with the flying fish as a motif, using it as a symbol of Caribbean identity, hope and global migration, within complex postcolonial narratives.

A defining journey: 'Migrants' by Tam Joseph

Flying fish are a focal point in Migrants, a significant loan from the artist Tam Joseph. This compelling painting was inspired by the artist’s childhood sea journey from Dominica to England at the age of eight.

Tam Joseph in front of Migrants. Image courtesy of Felix & Spear Gallery, photographer Nikita Gill

In the work, flying fish serve as metaphors for migration, representing the shared hopes of those – like Joseph – who travelled to begin new lives aboard the Italian steamer Lucania. Their elegant flight evokes the aspiration and resilience of the passengers. Yet Joseph complicates this optimism as the flying fish leap against the stark backdrop of an iceberg, plunging back into dark, icy waters.

Reflecting on the process of creating the painting from memory, Joseph recalls: “We were fish out of water, travelling to colder waters, and a colder land, where the people were colder still.”

Stories of migration: 'Crossings' display

Migrants forms the centrepiece of a new display called ‘Crossings’, which examines how contemporary artists have addressed migration – both the act of oceanic passage and its lasting impact on lived experience in the UK.

Alongside new acquisitions and rarely seen works, the display begins with a small drawing from around 1700 by Willem van de Velde the Younger depicting people landing on the English coast.

A vessel near the coast with people landing by Willem van de Velde the Younger (PAE5308)

The Van de Velde family themselves migrated from the Dutch Republic to England in the winter of 1672–73, following an open royal invitation to Dutch citizens. They went on to reshape British maritime art and their story highlights how migration is a longstanding and generative force in British cultural history.

Care and connection: 'The Many Invincible Ones' by Sharon Walters

Following several years of collaboration with the Museum on the podcast series Seeing Ourselves, which addresses the representation and misrepresentation of Black bodies in the Museum’s collections, Sharon Walters undertook a practice-based Caird Research Fellowship at Royal Museums Greenwich from 2024.

This fellowship enabled her to develop her artistic practice in dialogue with her research into the collection, resulting in a series of multimedia works titled The Many Invincible Ones. These works are displayed in the Queen’s Closet at the Queen’s House and the symbolism of flying fish has been pivotal.

Sharon Walters in the Caird Library and Archive at the National Maritime Museum

One of the first objects that had a profound impact on her was an album containing a deeply troubling photograph taken aboard HMS Flying Fish in 1875. The image depicts enslaved children who had been ‘liberated’ by the Royal Navy off the coast of Madagascar.

Such photographs have often been framed as part of a narrative of British humanitarianism, but this overlooks what Walters registered: an image of children visibly traumatised by enslavement, separated from their families, and fearful at their uncertain ‘freedom’. As she observes, “The ship is traditionally gendered as a woman, but this ship is motherless.”

Determined to restore identity and dignity to the children and other Black people depicted in the archive, Walters created a series of six new works that recentre the humanity of those whose lives and stories have been erased.

The photograph of HMS Flying Fish also presented a stark personal dissonance for Walters who positively associates flying fish with her Bajan heritage. In Barbados, flying fish and cou-cou is the celebrated national dish, one which her grandmother lovingly made on Saturdays.

Detail from Renewal and Restoration, chair fabric created by Sharon Walters

For Walters, flying fish evoke the tenderness of maternal love. As part of her display she designed a bespoke fabric for a chair, inviting visitors to rest as an act of care. The textile incorporates flying fish on a golden background – the colour of cou-cou – signifying cultural reconnection for diasporic communities.

Mapping narratives: 'The Rhumblineage of Penelope Steel' by Remiiya Badru

During her Lloyd’s Register Foundation Creative Research Fellowship (2024-25), Remiiya Badru encountered the little-known mapmaker Penelope Steel (c.1768 - 1840). Born in Jamaica to a free Black woman and a white slave owner and merchant, Steel later migrated to the City of London, where she ran a chart and nautical book-publishing business on Union Row, Little Tower Hill, with her husband, David Steel. Following his death in 1803, she took over the business, known for Steel's Navy List.

Commissioned to create an artwork on Steel’s life for a display in the Queen’s House, Badru worked to reconstruct the gaps in the fragmentary and incomplete archive, by reimagining Steel's life, relationships and spiritual ancestry.

Artist Remiiya Badru next to The Rhumblineage of Penelope Steel on display in the Queen's House

She retraced the sites in London that Steel would have inhabited, to explore what it might have meant for Steel to navigate race, gender and commerce in the City at the turn of the nineteenth century. This included questioning whether Steel’s mixed heritage meant she was “passable” as white, and how this impacted her inheritance, status, agency and wealth.

In The Rhumblineage of Penelope Steel, Badru weaves together Steel’s personal archival traces against broader geopolitical contexts of trade and empire through the concept of ‘rhumblineage’. Drawing on rhumblines – navigational tools used to plot a ship’s course on a chart – Badru uses materials including wool, fragments of found rope, and other textiles to craft a map of both tangible and intangible connections across Steel’s life.

Ropes and shells are just some of the materials used in Remiiya Badru's The Rhumblineage of Penelope Steel

Her practice recalls the image of flying fish as seamstresses in Grace Nichols’ 2006 poetry collection Startling the Flying Fish. Nichols creates a mythical figure of the Cariwoma – a hybrid of Caribbean and woman – who “watched history happen” and whose all-seeing gaze ebbs and flows, like the rhythms of the sea. She moves between the violence of enslavement and the diasporic present, where her children, "sucked abroad", have "stamped themselves / with the ink of exile".

Like the Cariwoma, Badru imbues her work with mythic and spiritual dimensions of African diaspora womanhood, incorporating the flying fish and other symbols in The Rhumblineage of Penelope Steel.

Details of flying fish and the Sankofa bird within the artwork

Badru recalls “the pure joy of witnessing the magic of flying fish whilst sailing from Carriacou to Grenada. They were like ‘taliswomen’ leaping out of the water – momentarily journeying in between worlds... pure magic. Freedom. To me, the oceans embody multilayered and multisensory mythic narratives connecting many realms of rhumblines, which are timeless and boundless.”

Badru’s work, like Nichols’ Cariwoma, declares:

I sing of Sea self
a glittering breathing
in a turquoise dress
Constantly stitched and restitched
by the bright seamstresses of flying-fish.

Transformations across realms

Together, these three displays show how the flying fish continues to surface as a potent symbol – of freedom and fracture, migration and memory – bridging sky and sea, the known and the unknown and connecting past and present through art.

With many thanks to Remiiya Badru for sharing her research on flying fish.

Banner image: Detail of Migrants by Tam Joseph courtesy of Felix & Spear Gallery (photographer Nikita Gill)

Pasifika Now

Zoe Craig — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 11:07:11 +0000

Pasifika Now Zoe Craig Wed, 01/28/2026 - 11:07

Powerful photographs by young artists from across Te Moananui-a-Kiwa are now on display in the Pacific Encounters gallery at the National Maritime Museum.

Through the lens of these photographers, experience intimate reflections on life, culture and resilience – encompassing island landscapes, portraits, moments of celebration and everyday life across the Pacific and its diaspora.

These poignant images connect past and present, giving faces and voices to Pasifika taonga; showing the ongoing impact of colonial histories; and celebrating the diversity and enduring strength of Pasifika identity.

Their work challenges the narrow portrayals of Pacific peoples that have historically dominated European museum collections. The images offer an honest view of contemporary Tangata Moana life, rooted in authenticity rather than stereotype.

Pasifika Now terminology

Aotearoa is the Māori name for New Zealand
Pasifika is a collective term used by many Pacific peoples, particularly in Aotearoa New Zealand, to describe themselves and express a shared cultural identity on their own terms
Tangata Moana is a term taken from various Pacific languages and used to describe Indigenous peoples across the Pacific Ocean
Taonga is a Māori term meaning treasure, something prized or of great importance, including cultural practices, knowledge and physical objects
Te Moananui-a-Kiwa is the Māori name for the Pacific Ocean, meaning 'the great ocean of Kiwa'
Te reo Māori (the Māori Indigenous language) and tikanga (customary values and practices) are foundational to Māori culture in Aotearoa New Zealand. Grounded in the concept of tika—what is right or appropriate—tikanga guides social, cultural and ethical behaviour in everyday life

Hanalee Vaike

Pasifika Now is co-curated by Hanalee Vaike, who worked closely with the photographers to shape a display that brings a new and important perspective into the Pacific Encounters gallery.

“Nō tō tātou iti tangata, mai i tō tātou iti tangata - This is for our people, by our people. That’s something that’s been missing in museums for far too long”

Hanalee Vaike is part of the Tangata Moana Advisory Board, which has partnered with the National Maritime Museum since the opening of the Pacific Encounters gallery in 2018. The Board is made up of Natasha Vaike, Crystal Te Moana Nui-Squares, Hanalee Vaike, and museum staff Charlotte Paddock and Sarah Lockwood. They consult on exhibitions and publications, advise on the display of culturally significant taonga and ensure that Pacific Island perspectives are understood and respected.

The Pasifika Now photographers

Hele Christopher-Ikimotu

Hele comes from the islands of Niue, Banaba and Kiribati. He is a writer, photographer and content creator currently based in South Auckland, New Zealand. His work is inspired by community, culture and nostalgia.

Hele is particularly passionate about sustaining the visibility of Banaban identity through his creative work, social media and grassroots community work.

Photos by Hele Christopher-Ikimotu

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Lidwina Seioriana Tutuvanu

Lidwina is a Samoan, London-based creative who is passionate about making art that matters to her community. Born and raised in Samoa, Lidwina believes that it takes a village to raise a child – and her village remains her greatest motivation.

Lidwina portrays her people as she knows them: strong, loud and proudly united. Several images were taken during the celebrations that followed Stephen Crichton’s goal, which sent the Samoa national rugby league team to the World Cup Final – the first time any Pacific Island nation had achieved this. Lidwina is guided by the proverb 'O le ala o le pule, o le tautua' ('The road to leadership is service'), which reflects the values she was raised with: humility, generosity and a deep responsibility to uplift her community.

Photos by Lidwina Seioriana Tutuvanu

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Te Rangimoaho Iti

Te Rangimoaho from Rūātoki in Aotearoa New Zealand is a multidisciplinary creative, working with film, photography, music and traditional Māori art. His practice is rooted in the indigenous education systems of kōhanga and kura kaupapa (referring to early immersion in Māori language), which established te reo Māori and tikanga, the interconnectedness of Māori language, customs and practice.

Te Rangimoaho's photography presents Aotearoa as seen through the eyes of a young Māori. He focuses on the natural environment and the visible layers of human intervention, including human-made objects or non-indigenous flora that disrupt the native scenery.

Photos by Te Rangimoaho Iti

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Geoffery Matautia

Geoffery is a Samoan photographer based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa New Zealand. His practice centres on documenting Pasifika peoples, with a particular focus on his community in South Auckland.

Geoffery is inspired by the stories that surround him – his heritage and community. He creates portraits of people he meets, alongside images of the places that shape him: the landscapes of his birthplace, Samoa, and the everyday scenes of the place he now calls home, South Auckland.

Photos by Geoffery Matautia

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Navarone Toalepai

Navarone spent most of his childhood in Samoa and moved to South Auckland in Aotearoa New Zealand as a teenager. There he was exposed to cultures and lifestyles which were very different from what he’d known in Samoa. As a photographer, Navarone captures what his Samoan culture looks like as it thrives in South Auckland. His influences are worldwide, from Estevan Oriole to Simon Wheatley. His photographs showcase South Auckland’s vibrant community and the beauty of Samoan culture.

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Reaching for the Moon

Elizabeth Oliver — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 09:30:18 +0000

Reaching for the Moon Elizabeth Oliver Mon, 11/24/2025 - 09:30

For more than 20 years, artist Luke Jerram has enchanted audiences around the world with his celestial installations.

His multidisciplinary works include Museum of the Moon, Mars and Gaia – a giant depiction of the Earth from space. These stunning pieces have been featured in spaces from the Natural History Museum and Trinity College Dublin to the Commonwealth Games in Australia and the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.

Gaia in Trinity College Dublin 2023. Image courtesy of the artist

To celebrate 350 years of the Royal Observatory, Jerram has created an exclusive version of his work Mirror Moon. Made from stainless steel, this artistic interpretation of our celestial neighbour will go on display in the Meridian Courtyard from June 2026. Visit, and you can get up close to the lunar surface – touching craters, valleys and mountains – and reflect on what the Moon means to you.

Here, Jerram shares the process of creating the artwork, the varied symbolism of the Moon – and why tactile art is so important.

Detail of Mirror Moon by Luke Jerram. Image courtesy of the artist

Why does the Moon capture your imagination?

I grew up in the countryside in the Cotswolds, which had beautiful night skies. I always wanted a telescope but could never afford one, so I became interested in the idea of making my own Moon that I could see up close.

The Moon has inspired mythologies, music, religion and poetry around the world. I find it fascinating how it's been interpreted in so many ways, whether as a god, a planet, a light source, timekeeper or a point of connection.

Mirror Moon is the latest in a series of lunar artworks I’ve created, which include Tide (2001) – a live sound installation controlled by the Moon’s gravitational pull – and Museum of the Moon (2016). This giant inflatable sculpture brings together light, lunar imagery and surround sound.

Tide (2001). Image courtesy of the artist

As I’ve toured my art, I’ve gained an insight into how different cultures and regions respond to the Moon. When I took Museum of the Moon to India, 100,000 people turned up on one night to see it, because the Moon has massive significance in Hinduism.

However, when I toured the installation around the USA, people associated it with the Apollo missions. In France, romantic couples sat in deckchairs beneath it and held hands. I’ve enjoyed experiencing how local cultures see the world in different ways.

Museum of the Moon in Kerala, India 2024. Image courtesy of the artist

What are some of the key ideas behind 'Mirror Moon'?

The Moon has been a destination for mankind for 200,000 years, yet it’s always been slightly out of reach.

Mirror Moon will enable people to see and feel the craters, valleys and mountains on the lunar surface. We only see one side of the Moon from Earth, so this installation will allow the public to go around it and explore its ‘far side’. If you’re partially sighted, you'll also be able to experience the Moon and touch its detailed surface.

I like artworks that are accessible and allow people to engage with them in all sorts of ways. That’s why the installation is called Mirror Moon: the Moon is a cultural mirror to society. It reflects the ideas, dreams and beliefs that people bring to it, so it was important that the installation was made from mirrored stainless steel.

How did 'Mirror Moon' come together?

The first iteration of Mirror Moon was developed during a residency at COSMOS Community Observatory St Martins on the Isles of Scilly. Mirror Moon at the Royal Observatory is a larger version, and measures two metres in diameter. Like many of my works, it utilises imagery and data from NASA, specifically from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission.

Creating Mirror Moon has been quite a journey. The first step involved making a digital model and then printing the design in 3D sections to make a mould. A wax version was created, which was cast in metal and polished. The whole process took around four months.

How does it feel to have 'Mirror Moon' on display at the Royal Observatory?

I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to create a new artwork for the Royal Observatory – an institution that is a beacon of science.

The Royal Observatory contains extraordinary artefacts, which have influenced my art. My sound artwork, Harrison’s Garden, brought together 1,000 timepieces inspired by John Harrison’s clocks. I also visited the Observatory when developing the ideas for Tide.

Harrison’s Garden, 2015. Image courtesy of the artist

I like making artwork that can be appreciated by different people at various levels. I hope Mirror Moon will be inspiring and make people think about science and art together. If you’re a child, you’re going to enjoy experiencing it one way, whereas if you’re an astronomer, you’ll appreciate it in another way.

After seeing my works, I’ve had a small child come up to me and say: “Will you put the Moon back afterwards?” I’ve had astronomers in tears, as they’ve been able to see lunar features they’ve only ever studied with a telescope or a computer.

I couldn’t have asked for a better place or location for Mirror Moon. Despite our differences, the Moon connects us all.

Reframing the Pacific in the Queen’s House

Elizabeth Oliver — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 17:26:09 +0000

Reframing the Pacific in the Queen’s House Elizabeth Oliver Tue, 11/18/2025 - 17:26

How do you tell when a gallery is getting old? Do the displays look tired? Have some of the objects been removed? Do the texts on the walls reflect ways of thinking that have been questioned? Are relevant voices and perspectives omitted?

Being alert to these signs is a significant part of our role as curators, but making improvements often takes time and requires careful thought and consultation.

Historically, much of this behind-the-scenes work has gone unseen, but an increasing number of museums are now looking to bring greater transparency to the process of reviewing and rethinking displays.

In that spirit, this article shines a light on our ongoing work to update one of the rooms in the Queen’s House, shares the questions that we are asking ourselves and introduces some of our collaborators on the project.

The 'Enlightenment Views' room before redevelopment

The Enlightenment Views room is on the first floor of the Queen’s House, overlooking Greenwich Park. Since 2016, it has showcased selected landscapes and portraits from our extensive collections of eighteenth-century British art.

The Enlightenment Views room before redevelopment

The introductory text panel, written in 2016, describes the room as a display of ‘Enlightenment Views’. It states:

Often termed 'the enlightenment', the 18th century was when the British and European view of the world, and mankind's place in it, greatly expanded. This was generally based on the rise of rational science, but artists were also crucial in presenting the widening world to an increasingly art-conscious public.
As British trade and naval power extended, artists interpreted both new landscapes and people for this new age. We display some of these works here.

‘To enlighten’ means ‘to give greater knowledge and understanding’. The term ‘Age of Enlightenment’ describes an intellectual movement in eighteenth-century Europe. It highlights the era’s growing emphasis on reason, scientific thought, religious tolerance and individual liberty.

Yet the same period was also characterised by colonial violence, exploitation and the emergence of pseudo-scientific racialized hierarchies. This included transatlantic enslavement and the growing power of the British East India Company. Some historians believe that using the word ‘enlightenment’ obscures these histories.

We are now questioning whether we should employ this contested term in the gallery and whether the text should do more to highlight the violence and complexities associated with this period in British history.

The artworks on display

The range of artworks displayed in the gallery has changed over time. Some paintings have remained in place since the room opened in 2016, but others have since moved to different galleries. New acquisitions have also been added to the display.

The paintings currently on show in the room either represent or allude to diverse global locations and histories. However, one challenge that we face as curators is bringing cohesion to this varied assortment.

Browse a selection of the works in the gallery below.

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Vice-Admiral Sir Samuel Cornish, Captain Richard Kempenfelt and Thomas Parry by Tilly Kettle (1768)

Purchased with the support of the Art Fund, the Rought Fund and the Society for Nautical Research Macpherson Collection Endowment Fund.

Object ID: ZBA9432

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The Money Brothers: William Taylor, 1769-1834, James, 1772-1833, and Robert, 1775-1803 by John Francis Rigaud (1788–92)

Object ID: BHC2866

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Captain Lord George Graham, 1715-47, in his Cabin by William Hogarth (1742–44)

Object ID: BHC2720

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Portrait of Emma Hart (Lady Hamilton) as Absence by George Romney (1785–86)

Object ID: BHC2736

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A bay on the south coast of New Holland, January 1802 by William Westall (1809–12)

Object ID: ZBA7939

Expanding perspectives

For all their variety, the paintings in the room have something in common. All of them are the work of British artists and reflect the perspectives of British naval commanders and colonial officials. They offer a one-sided view of history, obscuring or ignoring the viewpoints of people around the world whose lives and communities were impacted by British maritime activity.

What is the effect of these paintings on visitors to the Queen’s House, especially those from diasporic communities whose homelands and histories are represented? How might the gallery be changed to incorporate a broader variety of perspectives?

Answering these questions requires consultation and collaboration. As curators, we cannot speak for groups to whom we do not belong ourselves. Instead, we must listen to and amplify their voices.

Redeveloping the gallery: rethinking the works of William Hodges

Reimagining an entire gallery is a big job, so we decided to start small, taking six of the paintings in the room as an initial case study.

The selected paintings depict landscapes from locations in the Pacific, including Aotearoa-New Zealand, New Caledonia, Tahiti and Rapanui. They were produced by artist William Hodges, who sailed with Captain James Cook on a British naval expedition to the Pacific in 1772 to 1775. This was the second of Cook’s three Pacific voyages.

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A View of the Monuments of Easter Island [Rapanui] by William Hodges (about 1776)

Object ID: BHC1795

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A Waterfall in Tahiti by William Hodges (about 1775)

Object ID: BHC2372

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A View of Cape Stephens in Cook's Straits with Waterspout by William Hodges (around 1776)

Object ID: BHC1906

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View of the Province of Oparree [Pare], Island of Otaheite, with part of the Island of Eimeo [Moorea] by William Hodges (about 1776)

Object ID: BHC1936

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A cascade in the Tuauru Valley Tahiti by William Hodges (about 1775)

Object ID: BHC2373

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A View of the Island of New Caledonia in the South by William Hodges (around 1777–78)

Object ID: BHC2377

The purpose of the voyage was to search for landmasses and to undertake studies of local plants, animals, people and celestial phenomena. This work was not motivated purely by intellectual curiosity. The British Admiralty’s instructions to Cook made it clear that scientific investigation went together with the pursuit of opportunities for trade, resource extraction, conquest and colonisation.

As the official voyage artist, Hodges’s role was to depict the people and places that Cook’s ship visited. He made drawings and oil sketches during the voyage, then worked these studies up into finished paintings when he was back in his London studio.

The resulting pictures were displayed in public exhibitions and published as book illustrations, shaping how people in eighteenth-century Britain imagined the Pacific – a place that they were unlikely ever to visit.

The six paintings on display in the Queen’s House are from a set of twenty-four that Hodges made for the Admiralty. Hanging in the corridors and offices of Admiralty House, the pictures provided more than just decoration: they were mission statements, asserting the British government’s desire for global expansion.

But what do people from Pacific communities see when they look at these paintings?

A pretence of accuracy

Cook assured viewers that Hodges’s paintings were accurate, writing in his official account of the voyage that the pictures served ‘to give a more perfect idea…than could be formed from written descriptions only’.

However, this claim of veracity was misleading. Hodges’s landscapes were in fact carefully constructed and even fictionalised images, which reflected British prejudices and colonial interests.

Artwork in focus

Object ID: BHC1795

'A View of the Monuments of Easter Island [Rapanui]' by William Hodges

In this painting, the monuments stand on stony ground. Three islanders gather in the distance, bowing their heads. They are barely more than blobs of paint and do not look at one another or engage in any visible activity. A more prominent place in the foreground is given over to a collection of bones and a skull.

The skeletal remains combine with the ancient monuments, desolate landscape and listless islanders to present Rapanui as the site of a once-great civilisation, now fallen into decay. Indigenous culture is presented as belonging in the past. This reflects the attitude of the British Admiralty, which refused to acknowledge indigenous inhabitants as legitimate claimants of the land.

Working with Pacific communities

To understand how Hodges’s paintings are experienced by members of Pacific communities, we needed input from someone with an intimate connection to the region. Fortuitously, Mangaian master carver, Robbie Atatoa, was visiting the Museum in summer 2025 as part of a British Council ‘Connections Through Culture’ residency.

Robbie Atatoa (second from left) meets with curators at Royal Museums Greenwich during his British Council ‘Connections Through Culture’ residency

Robbie’s work with the Museum was principally focussed on taonga (treasured items) from Mangaia in the collection. However, he and his wife Polly, who is from New Zealand, generously donated a day of their time to spend with us looking at Hodges’s Pacific pictures.

Robbie and Polly offered insights into the places, people, clothing and taonga depicted in the paintings. They pointed out instances where Hodges’s ignorance of Pacific cultures had led him to misunderstand or misrepresent certain details.

They also noted that Hodges often evoked scenes from the Bible or from Ancient Greece and Rome. Such subjects were familiar to him as a British artist but bore no relationship to the lives of the indigenous peoples of Tahiti, Aotearoa-New Zealand, New Caledonia and Rapanui.

Different perspectives: ‘The view from the canoe’

One of the most revealing and powerful moments during our day with Robbie came when we were looking at Hodges’s painting of the northern coast of Tahiti, looking towards the island of Moorea. In the foreground are two Tahitian men in a canoe. Robbie was drawn to these figures, commenting that, if he were there, he would be fishing from a canoe – just like them.

View of the Province of Oparree [Pare], Island of Otaheite [Tahiti], with part of the Island of Eimeo [Moorea] by William Hodges (BHC1936)

This comment from Robbie stayed with us because it echoed an online article by art historian Manon Gaudet, which had inspired our curatorial approach. Entitled ‘Whose View? The Limitations of Labels’, Gaudet’s piece analysed Hodges’s View of Matavai Bay in the Island of Otaheite [Tahiti] in the collection of the Yale Centre for British Art.

In Gaudet’s words, ‘as viewers of Hodges’s painting, we share in the artist’s elevated position on a ship overlooking the bay’, but she also points out this is ‘not the only subject position available’.

Drawing on the work of Tuscarora artist and scholar Rick Hill, Gaudet encourages us to consider not only the ‘view from the ship’ (the British perspective) but also the ‘view from the canoe’ (the Indigenous one).

As a settler scholar, Gaudet makes no claims to know what the view from a Tahitian canoe would have looked like in the 1770s, nor what a present-day Tahitian perspective on Hodges’s painting might be – and neither do we. However, we embraced the invitation, as Gaudet puts it, ‘to look differently and think critically about whose perspectives are privileged and whose are absent from the interpretive framework on offer [in the gallery].’

Robbie’s identification with the men in the canoe affirmed to us the importance of bringing the ‘view from the canoe’ into the Queen’s House. It also underscored the necessity of working with co-curators from Pacific communities to achieve this.

What's next?

Our day with Robbie showed us that there are other ways of looking at the paintings on display in the Queen’s House. However, more work is needed to incorporate different perspectives in the gallery in a meaningful way.

We want to meet with more individuals and communities who have a connection to the places and histories represented in the paintings. It is our hope that they will become co-curators on the project and that their insights will inform and shape the changes that we make within the gallery.

In so doing, we hope to bring the approach in the Queen’s House into line with the Pacific Encounters gallery in the National Maritime Museum, which was created in collaboration with communities from across the Pacific Ocean.

Changes in the Queen’s House might include new labels, either in addition to or instead of the existing text on the walls. We may also look to move or change certain artworks.

Whatever we do will depend on the availability of budget and resources. More importantly, it will also hinge on what our co-curators believe is worthwhile.

Mapping uncharted histories: the 19th century woman who developed London’s map trade

Elizabeth Oliver — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 14:21:38 +0000

Mapping uncharted histories: the 19th century woman who developed London’s map trade Elizabeth Oliver Wed, 11/05/2025 - 14:21

The name of Penelope Steel (c.1767-1843) may not be instantly recognisable, yet during her lifetime, she charted her own course in London’s mapmaking industry.

Multidisciplinary artist Remiiya Badru has created an artwork inspired by the life of the 19th century mapmaker. Her new piece, The Rhumblineage of Penelope Steel, is on display in the Queen’s House.

Part map, part family tree, part timeline, Badru’s artwork draws on her research from her Creative Fellowship at Royal Museums Greenwich in 2024. Like many of Badru’s works, The Rhumblineage of Penelope Steel is rooted in the history of London and the River Thames. It incorporates materials including rope, thread, as well as reworked images from the Museum’s collection, to map the contours of Steel’s story.

Here, Remiiya Badru and Maya Wassell Smith, Assistant Curator of Art at Royal Museums Greenwich, give a greater insight into the world of Penelope Steel – and reveal the influences behind Badru’s piece.

Artist Remiiya Badru next to The Rhumblineage of Penelope Steel on display in the Queen's House

Who was Penelope Steel?

Badru’s artwork has been made in response to the life and work of Penelope Steel, who was born in Jamaica. Her mother, Sara Cox, was a free woman of colour. Her father, Scudamore Winde, was a trader in enslaved Africans from a wealthy, land-owning family in England.

When Scudamore Winde died in 1775, he left Penelope, her mother and siblings a large inheritance. Penelope is recorded as Winde’s ‘natural’ child, i.e. illegitimate. According to the Act of the Jamaican Assembly December 1761, mixed-race children could only inherit up to a limit of £2,000. While the will refers to her brother as a ‘mulatto’ – a dated and derogatory term used to describe people of mixed Black and white ancestry – Penelope is not described in any terms that signify her race, suggesting she might have been ‘passable’ as white.

Chart of the coasts of Spain and Portugal, from Cape Pinas to the Strait of Gibraltar, published by Penelope Steel (G225:1/1)

A pioneering publisher

After migrating to London, travelling with her guardian, Robert Cooper Lee, who was executor to Winde’s estate, Penelope married into the Steel family of maritime publishers in 1786.

When her father-in-law and husband died in quick succession, Penelope Steel took on the business, Steel’s Navigation Warehouse. She ran it for over 15 years (sometimes alone and sometimes in partnership) selling charts, manuals of seamanship and the Steel’s Navy List.

She managed maritime information with a network of individual Merchant Navy captains, admirals and officials in the Royal Navy, and the administrators of the East India Company. As such, Penelope Steel had a complicated relationship with empire.

She was the descendant of enslaved Africans and the beneficiary of a fortune made from their sale. She was at once a woman of colour, potentially ‘passing’ as white, a migrant, and a mapmaker whose work served the expansion and extraction of empire.

In the display is one of Penelope Steel’s blue back sea charts. This type of chart began to be produced in the 1700s using thick blue packing paper (sometimes described as sugar paper, because it was used to wrap sugar loaves) to make these loose maps more robust for use at sea.

Weaving narrative threads: the process of creating the artwork

Remiiya Badru became interested in the life and mapmaking of Penelope Steel when she was undertaking a Creative Research Fellowship at Royal Museums Greenwich in 2024. During her fellowship, she says how she, “allowed the liminal spaces in the collections to speak to me. I was interested in excavating the hidden narratives of Black women at sea in maritime history.”

Examining identity, migration and movement through her passion for maps, especially in the way they communicate complicated stories, she became fascinated with Penelope Steel as an early Black female pioneer of mapmakers.

In creating a work on Steel’s life and history, Badru brought personal and global narrative threads together using the concept of ‘rhumblines’. These are imaginary lines on the surface of a sphere that intersect all meridians at the same angle. The lines are plotted as a course on maps and help seafarers to navigate compass bearings.

In Badru’s interpretation and redefinition, rhumblines extend further than their formal definition to embody intersections of complex narratives, symbolism, metaphor and memory.

The Rhumblineage of Penelope Steel by Remiiya Badru on display in the Queen's House

She was deeply inspired by mnemonic device systems (memory aids), including ‘quipu’ created by the Inca. This ancient recording system was made from knotted threads, which held complex, technological information and knowledge. She was also interested in ‘stick maps’, navigational devices (sticks and shells) made by mariners of the Marshall Islands. Badru sees these as “complex codified systems as ‘holders of memory’ in relation to specific communities.”

In The Rhumblineage of Penelope Steel, Badru uses the rhumblines as “lines of energy”, to hold memory and fill gaps, counteracting erasures of Black women’s narratives. The first of Steel’s maps she observed and studied was one of the River Thames. As part of her creative process, Badru reimagined walking with Penelope Steel along the foreshore of the river.

This enabled her to develop a real connection with Steel. "[It was a] magical moment of both transcending and moving in-between time,” she explains. “My walking route in tandem with her map and the river was a serendipitous moment of reimaginings and conversations experienced in a new liminal space.”

Timehri's Travels

Walking around bodies of water is central to Badru’s practice. It was key to the making of her model ship Timehri, which has shaped the direction of her work – and informed her research fellowship at Royal Museums Greenwich.

In a series of blogs, she explores how Timehri came to be, and her experience of undertaking a creative partnership with the Museum.

Read about Remiiya Badru's artistic journey

Mapping the world of Penelope Steel

The Rhumblineage of Penelope Steel traces Steel’s lineage through her family’s movement between Africa, Jamaica and London. It includes images from the Museum’s collections of African women and maps of Africa and Jamaica.

It also contains the archival traces of Steel’s family life, like the references to her mother in Kingston, her marriage to David Steel in London and a portrait of her son, Sir Scudamore Winde Steel, a British Army officer in the East India Company.

Badru assembles these images and documents with fragments of London history, gathered through her artistic walking practice around bodies of water, particularly the Thames.

Close up details from The Rhumblineage of Penelope Steel by Remiiya Badru

Pieces of rope found on the foreshore trace the shape of the Thames around the Isle of Dogs – which Badru describes as “the Smile in the River” – overwritten with an African map. She explains: “This is a different kind of ‘triangle of trade’ from the cowrie shell, as currency to trade enslaved people, where the flow and migration of finance over the sea and through the river plays a pivotal role in Steel’s story.”

She adds: “I was particularly interested in how this complex external scaffolding shaped her position and navigation as a woman and as a woman of colour, who could pass as white, in a male-dominated world, but also her relationship with the East India Company, whose former headquarters stands on the site of Lloyd’s of London today. I was also curious about how these attributes, especially around the complexities of empire, and external social landscapes, shaped her agency, choices and inner world”.

Details of wall plaques and historic documents within The Rhumblineage of Penelope Steel by Remiiya Badru

Wall plaques evoke the former sites of the churches in which Penelope Steel was married, and the places she did business. The shells and pieces of pottery gathered from the foreshore show that the river is both the archive and the lifeblood of London; the watery highway which carried people and goods in and out of the city, but also the repository of its history.

Through retracing and reconnecting, walking and researching, Badru was able to expand the disparate and incomplete archival fragments to create a ‘reimagined portrait map’ of Penelope Steel’s life: her Rhumblineage.

The significance of blue

The colour blue is a running theme in the artwork, connecting to themes embodied in the Queen’s House. It is seen on the blue backing, which Badru has applied to a partially rolled map of Jamaica, cyanotypes, the East India Company shield, blue and white ceramics, and archival notes and quotes.

The animals which Badru has included are also blue, and instruct the viewer in thinking about migration, wealth and the history. The flying fish was a common and arresting sight during long sea voyages.

The Speed Bird has long been a popular design in West African wax-printed cloth. In Ghana, the design is sometimes called ‘Sika wo ntaban’, which translates to ‘Money has wings’, a reflection on the mobility and insecurity of riches, which both come and go – and are liable to be taken or moved around the world.

The Sankofa bird and flying fish within The Rhumblineage of Penelope Steel by Remiiya Badru

The Sankofa bird sits in the bottom left corner, an Akan symbol which looks back but faces forward, articulating the deep connection between the past and the future. The Sankofa’s blue wool body unravels into the thread, which criss-crosses the work and the visual archive that Badru has assembled.

Through The Rhumblineage of Penelope Steel, Badru illustrates how the past is embedded in the present – and that the legacies of colonial trade and enslavement carry through into the future.

Discover more

Timehri’s travels: how a ship model sent Remiiya Badru on a journey of discovery

Remiiya Badru describes how the chance discovery of a dilapidated ship model led to a rich creative partnership

'The whole world is here, but not all our stories are visible': exploring the collections with Remiiya Badru

Remiiya Badru reflects on her early experiences exploring the Museum's sites and collections during her Creative Research Fellowship

From mapmakers to mariners: searching for women's histories at the National Maritime Museum

Remiiya Badru explores the stories of three pioneering women found in the collections of Royal Museums Greenwich

Mapping untold stories: women in the London chart trade

Discover the nineteenth-century women involved in the London chart trade

Highlights of the Queen's House refresh

Elizabeth Oliver — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 12:48:51 +0000

Highlights of the Queen's House refresh Elizabeth Oliver Wed, 11/05/2025 - 12:48

The incredible art hosted shown within the Queen’s House in Greenwich, the museum’s art gallery, is a semi-permanent hang. But each year, many objects come off display for conservation reasons. This gives us the opportunity to present unseen parts of our fine and decorative arts collection.

For 2026, exciting new commissions and loans enhance our displays, which are based around two themes. The first features new narratives around the Stuarts and the second creates dialogues between our historic collections and contemporary art.

Here are a few highlights to look out for when you visit:

Sharon Walters – The Many Invincible Ones

Detail of 'Renewal and Restoration' by Sharon Walters

The Many Invincible Ones is a collection of artworks, created by Sharon Walters during her Practice-based Caird Research Fellowship at Royal Museums Greenwich.

From delicate paper collages to metal reliefs, the artworks took their starting point from a photograph in the Museum’s archive, which shows children aboard HMS Flying Fish. Described as ‘liberated’, they appear visibly traumatised by violent enslavement.

Walters’ work reclaims the stories of those children through intervention and care, creating space for their experiences and their humanity. Working with other images of Black people in the collection, Walters reflects on the legacies of colonial violence, including loss, separation, motherhood, resilience and healing, and brings tenderness and strength to overlooked histories.

Shorsh Saleh – Crossing Border

Shorsh Saleh (b. 1980) is a Kurdish mixed-media artist, carpet designer and weaver whose works focus on migration, borders and identity.

Saleh says, ‘Crossing Border combines the tradition of Indo-Persian miniature painting with contemporary politics. Art has always portrayed the immense power of the sea over human beings – a power that I experienced for the first time when I fled conflict and persecution in my homeland and crossed borders in search of safety. The painting shows the vulnerability, strength and immense courage of migrants attempting unauthorised crossings.’

Remiiya Badru – The Rhumblineage of Penelope Steel

The Rhumblineage of Penelope Steel is a new commission by multidisciplinary artist Remiiya Badru, inspired by the extraordinary life of Penelope Steel, an 18th-century mapmaker who was born in Jamaica. Drawing on maps, archives, walking practices and found materials from the Thames, Badru reimagines Steel’s life as a living map, tracing journeys between Africa, Jamaica and London. Using the concept of rhumblines as lines of memory and connection, the artwork brings together hidden histories of Black women, maritime trade and migration.

Poetic, layered and deeply researched, the work invites visitors to consider how the legacies of colonialism and movement across water continue to shape the present.

Artemisia Gentileschi – Susanna and the Elders

Don’t miss this stunning loan from the Royal Collection: a depiction of Susanna and the Elders with remarkable links to the Queen’s House.

Artemisia Gentileschi, an artist favoured by Henrietta Maria (the queen who finished and furnished the Queen's House), painted this beautiful artwork; she also worked on the original ceiling paintings for the Great Hall in the late 1630s.

There’s also a chance that one of her lost paintings (of the ancient Roman heroine Lucretia) once hung in the exact same room. Susanna and the Elders once hung above the fireplace in Henrietta Maria’s withdrawing chamber at Whitehall Palace around the time the Queen’s House interiors were being decorated.

Now, it’s on show above the fireplace in the room that was Henrietta Maria’s withdrawing chamber at the Queen’s House, the only surviving domestic space completed specifically for her.

Güler Ates – Shore to Shore

Shore to Shore is the first piece of sound art to be acquired for the collection – inspired by the story of a refugee family’s migration and exile. The soundscape is both a record of their experiences and an act of healing. The artist Güler Ates (b. 1977) explains:

‘At age nine, a profound experience of travelling in the back of a lorry for 24 hours with our belongings from eastern Turkey to Istanbul [is] deeply embedded in my memory. I became particularly interested in the journey of displaced people and often wondered what they might have experienced and felt.’

PositiveNegatives – A Perilous Journey

Courtesy of PositiveNegatives

This comic illustrates part of Hasko’s story. Hasko is an artist from Syria who was forced to make this sea crossing to Scandinavia to secure a safer future for his family.

PositiveNegatives create animations, comics and podcasts about social, humanitarian and environmental issues. They combine ethnographic research with creative techniques to transform personal stories into art. 

Explore this artwork further on the PositiveNegatives website here

John de Critz – Portrait of James I

It’s a royal portrait that’s familiar to many visitors to the Queen’s House already.

But in 2026, we’re asking you to look beyond the surface – from James I’s extravagant dress to the global and personal histories it conceals. Drawing on cutting-edge research into gender, sexuality and empire, this year we’re exploring James’s intimate relationship with his favourite, George Villiers, alongside the colonial enterprises that shaped his reign. You can read our first co-curated label of the Queen's House, written in collaboration with Dr Kit Heyam of Gendering the Museum. Positioned opposite Villiers in the Queen’s House, the new interpretation encourages visitors to look again – across the room, through the windows down to the Thames, and out into the wider histories that connect power, identity and empire.

Tam Joseph – Migrants

Artist Tam Joseph, photographed in front of his work 'Migrants', on display at the Queen's House (courtesy of Felix & Spear Gallery, photographed by Nikita Gill)

We are delighted to be displaying an exciting new loan from the artist, Tam Joseph and his gallery, Felix & Spears of his impressive painting Migrants, as part of the new display on migration called ‘Crossings' (located in the Orangery).

Migrants uses flying fish as powerful symbols of hope and survival, drawn from the artist’s childhood journey from Dominica to England. Inspired by his passage to Britain aboard the Lucania, the painting reflects the shared aspirations of Caribbean migrants setting out for new lives. The soaring fish suggest optimism, but their juxtaposition with a stark, white iceberg floating in dark waters introduces a note of danger.

Through this artistic metaphor, Joseph captures the emotional shock of arrival in an unfamiliar world: ‘We were fish out of water, travelling to colder waters, and a colder land, where the people were colder still.’

Martin Parr, Beach Life photographs

In 2017, the National Maritime Museum commissioned the late documentary photographer Martin Parr to capture seaside life in south-east England. Two of these works are now on display in the Queen’s House. Parr’s work reflects the diversity of these social spaces, and the communal joy of the Great British seaside experience.

In a podcast produced by the Museum in 2024, South Asian artist Nishant Shukla discussed Parr’s photographs and reflected on how complex these images are. His first impression was that Parr is, ‘looking down upon these communities... Martin Parr is always pointing [his camera] down… [which creates] a power imbalance… but as you inspect them and spend time with them… actually they’re quite sweet.’

Art and culture

Niki Gorick: Behind the lens

Why were you drawn to London’s docklands?

Can you tell us about some of the people you photographed?

London’s docks were originally built as places of work. Were you able to learn more about the maritime activities in the area?

What have been some of your highlights from the project?

See Royal Museums Greenwich's historic dockside images

Discover more

Look inside: The Many Invincible Ones by Sharon Walters

The artworks on display

Held Tenderly

The Beauties

Nan Fed Us Love with Cou-cou and Fish

Renewal and Restoration

Reflection

Ancestral Healing

Discover more

Read more about the Queen's House rehang

More about the Queen's House

Artist Sharon Walters on creating The Many Invincible Ones display in the Queen's House

Putting care at the centre

Introducing 'The Many Invincible Ones'

Seeing Ourselves

Delving deeper

Rest and resistance

An ongoing legacy

Discover more

Read more about the Queen's House rehang

More about the Queen's House

Artemisia Gentileschi at the Queen's House

A cultural pioneer: Henrietta Maria and the Queen's House

Artemisia Gentileschi's Greenwich connections

Displaying 'Susanna and the Elders'

Further reading

Read more about the Queen's House rehang

Introducing new contemporary art at the Queen's House for 2026

Flying fish and the art of freedom

A defining journey: 'Migrants' by Tam Joseph

Stories of migration: 'Crossings' display

Care and connection: 'The Many Invincible Ones' by Sharon Walters

Mapping narratives: 'The Rhumblineage of Penelope Steel' by Remiiya Badru

Transformations across realms

Read more about the Queen's House rehang

More about the Queen's House

Pasifika Now

Hanalee Vaike

The Pasifika Now photographers

Hele Christopher-Ikimotu

Photos by Hele Christopher-Ikimotu

Photos by Hele Christopher-Ikimotu

Lidwina Seioriana Tutuvanu

Photos by Lidwina Seioriana Tutuvanu

Photos by Lidwina Seioriana Tutuvanu

Te Rangimoaho Iti

Photos by Te Rangimoaho Iti

Photos by Te Rangimoaho Iti

Geoffery Matautia

Photos by Geoffery Matautia

Photos by Geoffery Matautia

Navarone Toalepai

Read more

Reaching for the Moon

Why does the Moon capture your imagination?

What are some of the key ideas behind 'Mirror Moon'?

How did 'Mirror Moon' come together?

How does it feel to have 'Mirror Moon' on display at the Royal Observatory?

Discover more

Reframing the Pacific in the Queen’s House

The 'Enlightenment Views' room before redevelopment

The artworks on display

Expanding perspectives

Redeveloping the gallery: rethinking the works of William Hodges

A pretence of accuracy

Artwork in focus

'A View of the Monuments of Easter Island [Rapanui]' by William Hodges

Working with Pacific communities

Different perspectives: ‘The view from the canoe’

What's next?

Read more about the Queen's House rehang

Mapping uncharted histories: the 19th century woman who developed London’s map trade