Amazing Grace: artist’s tribute casts new light on Victorian rescue heroine
A ferocious gale blew across the north-east coast of Britain on the night that made Grace Darling a star of popular history. She was to become a beacon of bravery for the Victorians when she set out in a small rowing boat to help the distressed passengers of the sinking SS Forfarshire.
Now she is to be celebrated with a large art installation in Northumberland, commissioned by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) museum that bears her name.
Darling, who was born in Bamburgh, Northumberland, in 1815 and grew up on the nearby Farne Islands, was the daughter of lighthouse keeper William Darling.
In the early hours of 7 September 1838, aged 22, she spotted the wreck of the Forfarshire on a nearby rocky island. The weather was too rough to launch the lifeboat, so Darling and her father took to the open seas in a tiny rowing boat, or coble, to rescue stranded survivors.
The paddle steamer had sailed from Hull for Dundee carrying around 60 passengers and crew, but its boilers had begun to leak heavily as the storm came in, and they eventually failed. The ship began to drift, powered only by a makeshift sail, eventually foundering on Big Harcar rock, and more than 40 people are thought to have perished at sea.
Darling’s extraordinary act of bravery became internationally known, making front-page news and even reaching Queen Victoria. She became the media celebrity of her day and was showered with honours, including the RNLI’s silver medal for gallantry.
Now, artist Sophie Dixon has created a multiscreen film, to be unveiled on 7 September, on the 183rd anniversary of the rescue mission, to commemorate her feat. Dixon’s visual installation, entitled Grace, follows her story from childhood to her death from tuberculosis in 1842, aged only 26, filling in many lost details of the life of a woman who became a household name.
“Grace’s role in the rescue is known all over the world, but for many, that’s all they know about her,” said Dixon, whose art focuses on memory, history and myth-making. Her installation was developed using archives at the Bamburgh RNLI museum, as well as letters, records and photographs held in both the Northumberland and Trinity House archives.
“Grace is a poetic exploration of Darling’s life and the impact of her fame, and it is inspired by various, often conflicting accounts,” added Dixon, whose show will transport visitors to Grace’s home on Longstone Island, accompanied by an original score from Kathy Alberici that weaves natural sounds of the Farne Islands with the voices of the north-east.
“A lot of people know about the rescue but they are often less aware of Darling’s life before and after that, and of the impact that event had on her. It will help those who know the story well to experience it differently,” said Marleen Vincenten, heritage development manager at the RNLI Grace Darling museum.
“Sophie’s film will bring a new perspective to the story of Grace Darling and help visitors to our museum learn more about her as a person.” The artwork is part of Meeting Point, a national programme funded by the Arts Council and led by the contemporary arts agency Arts&Heritage that links artists with museums and heritage sites.
“Working with artists can help museums present their collections in an entirely new way. Grace uses digital technology to tell a story many have grown up with, but from the perspective of Grace herself,” said Stephanie Allen, executive director at the agency said. “It opens up parts of her life we don’t know about and helps us better understand a story that’s nearly 200 years old.”
The show runs at the museum until October and can also be seen on a dedicated website.
