Revamped museum to showcase rare whalebone art

A new exhibition featuring one of the world's largest collections of art carved from whalebone is set to open.

It forms part of the newly renovated Hull Maritime Museum which has undergone a £20m revamp.

The museum is due to reopen to the public on 8 August after five years of work, Hull City Council has announced.

The scrimshaw collection features artwork produced by sailors who worked on whaling ships sailing from Hull in the 19th Century.

The art will be housed in a dedicated gallery and is "believed to be the largest scrimshaw collection outside the United States", the council said.

A spokesperson said the museum in the former Victorian Dock Offices, in Hull city centre, would "tell the story of Hull's 800-year relationship with the sea".

Following the makeover, the space open to the public had doubled, allowing staff to display "50% more objects from the collection".

Robin Diaper, curator of social and maritime history, said: "The new museum allows us to tell Hull's maritime story in a richer and more ambitious way than ever before.

"Hull is a great maritime city, made greater by its people. Our nationally significant collections will reveal not only Hull's role as one of Britain's great maritime cities, but also the human stories, creativity and global connections that grew from life at sea."

The museum forms part of a £50m Maritime City project which includes the refurbishment of the Spurn Lightship and renovating the former North End Shipyard on the River Hull as part of a new visitor attraction.

In February, councillors heard the cost of the project was expected to be about £20m more than was initially approved in 2019.

The leader of the authority, Mike Ross, argued that the plans had "grown into something far more ambitious" than originally set out.

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