5th April 2023
As part of Hull Maritime’s community programme, a new series of temporary exhibitions will get underway to explore the many different, important maritime stories in lots of creative and exciting ways.
The first pop-up, ‘A-Fishing for the Whale’ by Caroline Hack, a mixed media artist, will present three textile art works displaying Hull’s historic whaling industry.
The exhibition will coincide with Yorkshire Coast Whale Week 2023 and will go on display in Princes Quay Shopping Centre, at Monument Bridge entrance, next to Millie’s Cookies, daily between 9am and 5.30pm from Wednesday 12 April until Wednesday 26 April.
Coming from the traditional whaling song, the title of this pop-up exhibition demonstrates Hull’s rich maritime history, which will be further explored in an upcoming artist talk and film screening at Ferens Art Gallery.


Caroline Hack’s work explores stories and legacies of British Arctic Whaling through textiles, prints, and artists’ books. Historical accounts, objects, artworks, and folk songs from Hull all feature heavily in Hack’s pieces, many of which have been part of the Hull Maritime Museum’s displays and our city’s historic collections. Hack’s work has been exhibited around the UK and in the USA, and she has been visiting and working in Hull since 2010.
Gillian Osgerby, Project Director for Hull Maritime, said: “Over the next two years, these exciting new pop-up exhibitions and displays will tell important stories in unexpected places – from shop windows to fish and chip shops."
“They invite you to think a little differently about our maritime heritage and find out more about Hull Maritime and how the city’s maritime treasures are being transformed to create a new maritime experience for the city.”
Caroline Flack, said: “I’m delighted to be sharing some of my textile work showcasing Hull’s whaling heritage, as part of the new pop-up display programme from Hull Maritime. The pieces reflect the importance of Hull’s whaling past and how it shapes the culture of the city today.
"Creating a new piece based on folk music is also exciting, and I look forward to talking with people about my work at the event at the Ferens in April.”
‘A-Fishing for the Whale’ is a partnership with the Charismatic Encounters project and part of Yorkshire Coast Whale Week 2023, a week-long series of events in Hull, Whitby, and online which explore our region’s relationship to whales and other cetaceans in 400 years of coastal heritage. The programme includes talks on whale watching, collecting oral histories, filmmaking, and the environment.