By the Seaside: Heritage, Healing and New Horizons

By the Seaside, on display at the Scottish Fisheries Museum, explores the ways in which blue spaces can influence our lives, rekindle childhood nostalgia, and connect us with nature. This exhibition emphasizes the role of the sea in the history of art, leisure, and our emotional, mental, and physical well-being.

As the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic and its shadow pandemic of isolation and loss, nurturing our wellbeing holistically, caring well for both our bodies and minds, is more pertinent now than ever. There is truly no better time to synthesize lessons learned throughout history and those evident in recent years linking the sea to human flourishing. Presented as a component of Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters (2020-2021), our exhibition delves into the vital interconnectivity between humanity and the blue spaces that surround us. Through an interdisciplinary lens, we explore how this relationship manifests across history, art, psychology, and the sciences. For many of us, the sea has been a source of solace, peace, and inspiration in recent months. Even while reality as we know it has been transformed in significant ways, there is something about the sea’s ebb and flow that remains soothing in its ever-changing constancy. We invite you to come along with us to the seaside, in order to rekindle childhood nostalgia and joys while gaining a new perspective on nature, mindfulness, leisure, and the spirit of place.