This was another exhibition for The Word in South Shields, this time on the subject of Pirates. Tying into South Shields’ status as an international port and its maritime history, this explored pirates in literature, real life and popular culture. As well as the design of the exhibition, there were numerous interactives and large scale physical props – the front end of a ‘pirate ship’ housing a mini theatre being the most prominent.
As with previous exhibitions, there were dozens of hours spent researching and writing the content as well as the physical builds for the space. I was fortunate enough to connect with the daughter of Captain Pugwash creator John Ryan, who was very generous in loaning items from their collection to the exhibition. It was amazing to be able to see the original book which Ryan wrote and illustrated to send to publishers almost 70 years ago.
