Anna Boghiguian, The Sunken Boat: A glimpse into past histories

Media View: 12 June 2025, 11.30am

Turner Contemporary is pleased to announce a summer exhibition by Anna Boghiguian (b. Cairo, 1946), taking inspiration from the landscape and coastal history of the gallery’s location in Margate. The Sunken Boat: A glimpse into past histories will run from 14 June to 26 October 2025 and will offer a powerful exploration of global maritime histories and today’s environmental and geopolitical crises. The exhibition reflects Boghiguian’s distinctive practice that challenges viewers to confront the complex and urgent narratives of our shared past and present.

Boghiguian, an Egyptian-Canadian artist of Armenian heritage, creates large-scale installations that combine personal narrative, historical research, and political commentary. Her distinctive visual language—combining painting, drawing, collage, paper-mâché, glass, bronze, and fabric—confronts viewers with questions about colonialism, trade, migration, and ecological devastation. Her figurative work, including large-scale tableaux, is deeply connected to history and storytelling, addressing themes such as the impact of the Industrial Revolution and the climate crisis.

For The Sunken Boat, the artist has developed a site-specific installation responding to Turner Contemporary’s coastal setting. Drawing on stories of a sunken boat that carried enslaved people from West Africa to Liverpool, the installation explores the centrality of the sea in shaping histories of labour, trade, ecological collapse, and political conflict. It combines sculpture, painting, cut-out figures and sound, inviting reflection on rising sea levels and geopolitical tensions around undersea communication cables. The installation is composed of large-scale, brightly coloured cut-outs on Khadi paper using encaustic painting techniques, depicting an underwater scene of a sunken vessel, marine life, and communications infrastructure, that frames the sea as both witness to and active participant in global history.

Key earlier works include The Square, the Line and the Ruler: Ambiguous Philosophers / Ambiguous Politicians (2019), a life-size chess set that critiques power structures, and The Salt Traders (2015), an environmental installation that examines the salt trade’s connections to colonialism and climate change through painted sails and a Roman trading ship sculpture emerging from melting ice.

Boghiguian’s nomadic practice responds to specific locations, creating installations often likened to “giant pop-up books,” where spaces unfold as visitors navigate her installations.

The Sunken Boat promises a rich and multifaceted experience that weaves historical narratives, personal observations, and urgent contemporary concerns, inviting viewers to reconsider the sea’s pivotal role in shaping our collective past and unfolding future.

Clarrie Wallis, Director of Turner Contemporary, says: “We are delighted to present Anna Boghiguian’s thought-provoking and visually compelling work at Turner Contemporary. The Sunken Boat will offer our audiences a deeply engaging and reflective experience, encouraging dialogue around urgent global issues through the lens of maritime history and contemporary geopolitics.”

This exhibition is presented in collaboration with ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum and is curated by Sarah Martin with production by Katherine Lloyd.

Artist Biography

Anna Boghiguian is an artist whose work has been exhibited internationally, including the Istanbul Biennial (2009), Sharjah Biennial (2011), and dOCUMENTA(13) (2012). She received the Golden Lion at the 2015 Venice Biennale and is known for her installations that explore the intersections of history, politics, and the environment. Born in Cairo to an Armenian family, Boghiguian studied political science and economics at the American University in Cairo before moving to Canada in the 1970s to study art and music. In 2024, she was awarded the prestigious Wolfgang Hahn Prize in Germany.

The exhibition is made possible with thanks to the generous support of the Henry Moore Foundation, Silvia Fiorucci with La Società delle Api and Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation. Turner Contemporary receives public funding from Arts Council England and Kent County Council.

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The Sunken Boat: A glimpse into past histories
14 June 2025 – 26 October 2025
Turner Contemporary, Rendezvous, Margate, UK
Open: Tuesday – Sunday, & Bank Holidays, 10am – 5pm

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Fiona Russell fiona.russell@reesandco.com
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About Turner Contemporary

Turner Contemporary is one of the UK’s leading art galleries, located in Margate, Kent. The gallery presents an ambitious programme of exhibitions, events, and learning opportunities, inspired by JMW Turner’s legacy and his connection to Margate. Designed by David Chipperfield, Turner Contemporary opened in 2011 and has since played a pivotal role in the cultural and economic regeneration of the region. The gallery has welcomed over 4.5 million visitors, contributed more than £80 million to the Kent economy, and fostered meaningful connections with local communities.

TurnerContemporary.org