Brigus, Newfoundland, by Jini Rawlings. Courtesy of Jini Rawlings

This exhibition has now closed.

Exhibition dates: 19 January–23 April 2006

'Mariners and Migrants: in Search of Home' explores the lives of 19th-century child migrants and young sailors who sailed between Great Britain and Canada, telling the stories of individuals displaced from their original homes by the sea.

The works, made using glass and projections, was commissioned by the Museum as part of its New Visions contemporary art programme.

Illegitimate Daughter by Jini Rawlings. Courtesy of Jini RawlingsJini Rawlings spent 2005 as artist-in-residence at the Museum archives where she examined different parts of the collections to piece together the stories of the poor and sometimes destitute children who made this difficult journey.

Some 80,000-child emigrants left Britain between 1870 and 1914 for Canada, the primary British colony for emigration. On arriving, children would be directed to Dispersal Centres where they would be allocated to families, often to work as servants or home help. The ship became a place where the 'Home Children' and boy sailors met and bonded through their displacement from home.

During her research, Rawlings unexpectedly found records of two of her own ancestors in the archives, making it a very personal research journey.

About the display

Drift Current by Jini Rawlings. Courtesy of Jini Rawlings'Hrimceald Sae' (which translates from old English to 'ice-cold sea'), is a glass ship based on the Nova Scotian (1859). The sculpture is etched with charts showing the path of icebergs in the North Atlantic, as recorded in the 19th century.

A video is projected through the sculpture to evoke the experience of the travellers, as they looked from the ship to the shore through the fogs of Newfoundland.

View clips from the video

Quarantine station at Grosse Isle by Jini Rawlings. Courtesy of Jini RawlingsClick on the links below to watch the video clips.

• Mariners and Migrants clip 1
• Mariners and Migrants clip 2
• Mariners and Migrants clip 3

'Sent to Sea' intertwines the stories of young sailors who sailed the North Atlantic and the narratives of emigrant children. This piece links the two different journeys through domestic actions and the two groups' shared fates of being lost at and by the sea.

Archive material that inspired and informed Jini Rawlings is also on display, including the original plan of the Nova Scotian and a photograph of the ship at sea taken by Francis Frith.