Journey with a Container, Yva Jung
Journey with a Container, Yva Jung, 2022. Film Still.
Yva Jung has been commissioned by Pier Projects to create a new work in the context of Felixstowe.
Her new video work will be displayed alongside new container installations at Landguard Fort between 17th June and 2nd September 2022.
Her video, entitled ‘Journey with a Container’ will be screened online to mark World Maritime Day (Thursday 29 September 2022) via the Monday Screening and will be available to view for one month.
A staggering 90% of all that we own has made its way to us via a shipping container. For those who live in Suffolk, the Port of Felixstowe - the largest of its kind in the UK - offers a glimpse into the scale of the industry and feat of engineering that enable global free trade. The port’s cranes dominate the skyline and containers stacked high, blocking much of the port’s workings from public view. Yet, we know little of the lives and rarely see those whose job it is to navigate the mass transportation of goods.
It is this seemingly invisible movement and the hidden lives of the sea faring communities that are the focus of this latest exhibition by visual artist Yva Jung. Commissioned by the Pier Projects Art Agency and hosted by Landguard Fort, the exhibition ‘Journeys with a Container’ has the perfect backdrop - that of the port itself - and invites viewers to carefully consider their own relationship and proximity to the mass movement of food, objects and indeed, people.
A newly commissioned film provides the focal point of the exhibition. Drawn from interviews which took place during the height of the pandemic when seafarers were grounded and could not return home, the artist encounters a mother-seafarer and a port chaplain. Through these dialogues - whether voiced or voiceless- Jung reveals the sacrifices made on these journeys, the reasons why they do this work and the impact on their families.
Accompanying the film are several sculptural elements and text, including a container filled with personal items replicating those packed by the female seafarer prior to her journeys. Indicative of Jung’s personal approach to the development of the exhibition as a whole, these familiar toiletries and other belongings, give an insight into the disparity of what can be taken on the journey against the magnitude of what and who is left behind.
Read Ellen Mara De Wachter’s reflective text ‘A Journey for Each of Us’ here.
The exhibition launches during The Festival of the Sea, part of the Festival of Suffolk, and the Platinum Jubilee of her Majesty the Queen.
The exhibition is kindly supported by Arts Council England and East Suffolk Council via Enabling Communities Funding.
Venue: Landguard Fort, Viewpoint Road, Felixstowe, IP11 3TW.
Opening hours: Thursday - Sunday, 10-5pm. Entry charge applies. Please visit www.landguard.com for more information.
Accessibility: Landguard Fort is a Grade I listed building. The exhibition is located within casemate two. This is located on the first floor of the fort. Access to the first floor is by about 20 relatively shallow steps in five separate locations. One set of steps has a partial handrail only. Please note that regretfully due to the building’s historic nature, there is no lift.
