Syann van Niftrik

World Afloat 1

The movement of people around the planet has been a constant over millennia. The reasons vary - hunger, displacement and persecution. Is it possible that this movement of large groups of people is as natural to the universe as winds and currents? Just as the elements move, balancing the climate, perhaps the migration of people is similar, ensuring a mingling of ideas and the evolution of humankind.

Silver boat and fish necklace with stones.

Tokens

Little bronze boats, each representing 1 million of the 80 million presently displaced people across the planet. I offer them as contemporary votive vessels. Reminders for us to allow time and space for the displaced to find connection, wherever they may be. My boats are a riff on the hoard of palm-sized boats, simply folded from thin gold sheet, in the Copenhagen Museum of Archaeology. They were found in a Danish bog, where they had lain for approximately 3,000 years. It is thought they were fashioned as prayers to the powers that be, in times of great hardship, in times of stress.

THE PANDEMIC EFFECT

An extraordinary prospect: at first I welcomed the isolation, thought it to be the opportunity I needed to do all the things I'd been avoiding; tidy my website, complete my CCE profile, archive images, sort family photos and do loads of Instagraming. Very soon I found myself floundering, ideas came and went, I couldn't stick to anything….. took solace in cycling, walking, swimming in the river, anything but the workbench.

What I did do was check out interviews of artists, performers, musicians, any creative expression, virtual exhibitions and websites, … I learned loads and gained some clarity in thinking about my own practice. In retrospect, I let go of stuff I thought was important and when and I did settle to work, simply made what I wanted to, revisited old ideas, and pieces previously abandoned.

Covid has changed my view on many things, including where I want to go with my practice.