︎ The Dockers’ Museum
(2025)
This exhibition presents works by artist Allan Sekula (1951–2013), courtesy of the collection of M HKA, the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp. Sekula was an influential American photographer, writer, critic, and filmmaker, with a particular interest in workers’ rights and maritime issues.
Influenced by his upbringing near the port of San Pedro in Los Angeles, Sekula explored how technological advancements in shipping reshaped labour and global commerce. As a committed Marxist and anti-war activist, he used photography to critique the commodification of culture and global capitalism, highlighting the often-overlooked contributions of dockworkers and labourers. Sekula’s work addresses tensions between art, activism, and social justice, reflecting his own experiences during a period of industrial decline.
The works on display here are from a vast, evolving body of work, comprising objects and photographs, only a small selection of which are shown.
The project is divided into two distinct but interrelated parts: Ship of Fools and The Dockers’ Museum. Ship of Fools is a series of photographs that document Sekula’s time aboard the Global Mariner, a cargo vessel which had been repurposed by the International Transport Workers’ Federation to highlight the exploitative labour conditions of seafarers and dockworkers. In 1998, the Global Mariner embarked on a worldwide voyage, with Sekula intermittently joining the crew over the following two years.
The project is divided into two distinct but interrelated parts: Ship of Fools and The Dockers’ Museum. Ship of Fools is a series of photographs that document Sekula’s time aboard the Global Mariner, a cargo vessel which had been repurposed by the International Transport Workers’ Federation to highlight the exploitative labour conditions of seafarers and dockworkers. In 1998, the Global Mariner embarked on a worldwide voyage, with Sekula intermittently joining the crew over the following two years.
The photographs exhibited here in Gallery 2 draw attention to the harsh realities of shipping, exposing the hidden social costs of globalisation. They also celebrate the remarkable lives, solidarity, and personal stories of those working at sea.
The Dockers’ Museum, shown alongside Ship of Fools, comprises over 1,000 items — including various objects, graphic images, postcards, and prints — that Sekula acquired between 2010 and 2013, mainly during his travels but also via eBay. Like Ship of Fools, The Dockers’ Museum offers a powerful commentary on the plight of workers. It transforms a diverse but carefully curated collection of objects into a compelling exploration of themes such as workers’ rights, the environmental and human costs of capitalism, and Britain’s colonial past.
This exhibition, co-curated by Alejandro Acín and George Harwood Smith (East Quay), holds particular resonance for Watchet, a coastal town on the Bristol Channel with a rich seafaring history. Watchet’s past as a cross-channel port, integral to transporting raw materials between Wales and Somerset, is echoed in Sekula’s work — from figurines of coal-miners to dockworkers carrying sacks of goods. Certain items in the collection highlight poignant local, national, and international histories. For instance, Sekula’s figures of mine-workers and a caricatured head of Margaret Thatcher evoke the miners’ strikes of the 1980s, while a radiation calculator from the U.S. Army references the Cold War nuclear threat.
This exhibition, co-curated by Alejandro Acín and George Harwood Smith (East Quay), holds particular resonance for Watchet, a coastal town on the Bristol Channel with a rich seafaring history. Watchet’s past as a cross-channel port, integral to transporting raw materials between Wales and Somerset, is echoed in Sekula’s work — from figurines of coal-miners to dockworkers carrying sacks of goods. Certain items in the collection highlight poignant local, national, and international histories. For instance, Sekula’s figures of mine-workers and a caricatured head of Margaret Thatcher evoke the miners’ strikes of the 1980s, while a radiation calculator from the U.S. Army references the Cold War nuclear threat.
Install shots from the exhibition at EastQuay in Watchet © Jesse Wild
Install shots from the exhibition at EastQuay in Watchet © Jesse Wild
Install shots from the exhibition at EastQuay in Watchet © Jesse Wild
Install shots from the exhibition at EastQuay in Watchet © Jesse Wild
Install shots from the exhibition at EastQuay in Watchet © Jesse Wild
Install shots from the exhibition at EastQuay in Watchet © Jesse Wild
Install shots from the exhibition at EastQuay in Watchet © Jesse Wild