Festival Boat

SOKARI DOUGLAS CAMP

Festival Boat

Festival Boat was one of Sokari’s first public commissions.  The Development Corporation in Peterborough came to an end in 1989, and as part of that year’s final Festival of Sculpture, Festival Boat was commissioned from the artist. The sculpture was made from concrete. When Sokari created it, she had just made a 20-foot boat for her degree show. These boats she made are influenced by large dugout canoes from the Niger Delta. A large tree trunk would be hollowed out and, in some cases, burnt out to get the shape needed for floating. Sokari was fascinated by the shape of these vessels. Large festival boats would be two-tiered, trying to imitate the long boats that had come to the shores for trade in the delta. These vessels might have been like “space ships” to locals that heard about them. The sails and bunting add to the structural height of the boats.

All these elements are in the Festival Boat. She mineralised and abstracted the information she had to make her shape. The lilt of the boat is to remind us of the motion of the sea. She was so excited that this location would flood from time to time, creating a perfect composition for the ideas behind the work¹.

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