Opening March 9th at the Vancouver Maritime Museum, The Girls Are Coming is a visual voyage of the Bride Ship Tynemouth.
In 1862, the screw steamer Tynemouth set sail from Dartmouth, England to Victoria, BC. It carried 292 passengers including 60 young women. These girls, some as young as 12 years old, came to British Columba to marry settlers and American prospectors. They endured 99 days on board this Bride Ship through violent storms, subhuman living conditions and even mutinies.
As they once did off Vancouver Island a century and a half ago, sails appeared in Tracy McMenemy’s vision of an exhibition.
McMenemy’s research on the Bride Ship Tynemouth and the journey of its young passengers inspired her own journey. Her departure point was a single bride’s dress. Its symbolism drew her deeply into a story of human struggle between freedom and containment, courage and futility, hope and disappointment.
The Girls Are Coming runs from March 9th thru June 16th at the Vancouver Maritime Museum.
Last modified: April 4, 2019
