When the land has gone, but a place lives on through its people, we can still make maps—drawn from their memories.
This sentiment lies at the heart of Living Coast, our latest exhibition at Humber Street Gallery, which opens today and runs until June 16th. The exhibition invites visitors to explore the profound connection between place, memory, and identity, as expressed through the South Holderness coastal landscape.
Landscape is the work of the mind. Its scenery is built up as much from strata of memory as from layers of rock
Living Coast is a unique installation that merges artistic and scientific perspectives to capture the essence of a landscape under constant threat from coastal erosion, yet alive in the memories and stories of its people. Created over six months through a collaboration between creative artists and environmental scientists from the University of Hull, the exhibition also draws on the insights of local communities in Easington, Kilnsea, and Spurn. As the historian Simon Schama has observed, ‘Landscape is the work of the mind. Its scenery is built up as much from strata of memory as from layers of rock’, and this exhibition seeks to bring both the physical and emotional contours of this coastline to life.
Our installation weaves together a tapestry of media: photography, fine art, spoken word, poetry, scientific text, recorded sound, music, and video—each offering a different lens on this complex landscape. Whether through verbatim interviews capturing the voices of the local community, newly composed music reflecting the coastal spirit, or field recordings that resonate with the natural world, Living Coast challenges visitors to reflect on the delicate interplay between the environment and those who live within it. ‘Places are not just a setting for life’, writes geographer Tim Cresswell, ‘but are inseparable from it. They are a part of how we come to know and experience the world’. In this exhibition, the South Holderness emerges not just as a littoral freeze frame, but as a living entity inextricably bound with the identities of its people.
The exhibition also features physical theatre videography and new poetic writing, contributing to a dynamic narrative that highlights both the past and future of this fragile landscape. ‘The coast is the place where land meets sea, where two very different worlds meet and interact. It is a place of constant change and adaptation’, observes coastal geographer Michael Pearson. Living Coast captures this fluidity, immersing visitors in a space where the rhythms of memory and the uncertainties of the future are ever-present.
In bringing together such diverse elements, Living Coast exemplifies what museum anthropologist James Clifford refers to as a ‘contact zone’, where different cultures and communities intersect and interact in ways that challenge traditional boundaries. The installation becomes a forum for critical reflection, echoing Eilean Hooper-Greenhill’s assertion that ‘the museum space has the potential to be a forum for critical reflection on the relationship between humans and their environment’. in Hull’s Humber Street Gallery, visitors are invited to consider not only the stories and artefacts of this coastal region but also the broader ecological and ethical questions that underpin it.
At the core of the exhibition is a reflection on the relationship between people and their environment, informed by environmental ethics. Conservationist Aldo Leopold famously argued that ‘we abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect’. Living Coast embodies this vision by treating the land and sea not as mere resources but as active participants in the ongoing narrative of place. As Leopold further notes, ‘the land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land’. This expanded sense of community is palpable throughout the exhibition, which highlights the reciprocal relationship between people and place.
In this sense, the exhibition is not merely a nostalgic reflection on a disappearing landscape, but a call to action—a reminder of our interconnectedness with the natural world and our responsibility to protect it. As UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre reminds us, ‘cultural landscapes are living landscapes that reflect the complex relationships between people and place over time’. Through Living Coast, we hope to map these relationships, not only through creative expression but also through scientific inquiry, offering visitors an opportunity to engage deeply with both the past and future of this unique region.
Join us at Humber Street Gallery to experience Living Coast—a celebration of the enduring relationship between people and their environment. As you move through the exhibition, may you hear the echoes of the land and sea, and the stories they continue to tell.
