My new film The Seaflower Venture is based on the life of Charles Robin, Jersey’s premier cod-merchant who founded the most successful firm on the Gaspé Coast in 1766. Using extracts from his own diaries and a fictional biographical narrative of Robin’s life the film re-imagines a merchant triangle – a three-pointed trading system with production in Canada, management in Jersey and markets in Brazil, Italy, Spain, Portugal and England.
It will premiére at The Channel Islands Contemporary Art Show alongside a selection of images from Brazil and some archive objects loaned from the Société Jersiaise. The launch of the exhibition takes place on Thursday 18 January 17:30-19:00 at ArtHouse Jersey at Capital House, St Helier, Jersey.
The film is the first in a series of outcomes, such as a set of publications and exhibitions planned for production in the next couple of years from Entrepôt - my maritime photographic research project exploring the history of Jersey’s cod-fishing trade in Canada and its merchant networks in the West Indies, South America, Mediterranean and Baltic in the 18th and 19th centuries.
I hope you will be able to make it next Thursday for the opening - if not, I'll share a sneak preview of The Seaflower Venture afterwards.
The film was produced with funding from ArtHouse Jersey.
