THEY WENT TO SEA

Another incredible work of street art has been injected into the heart of Doncaster by acclaimed international artist Jola Kudela, known professionally as Yola, titled “They Went to Sea”. 

Art of Protest Projects combined forces with curator Mike Stubbs and the Polish Cultural Institute, which provided financial support for the mural’s development, as we unveiled ‘They Went to Sea’ at Doncaster’s annual arts festival ArtBomb 22 on August the 11th, 2022.

This stunning mural was brought to life with a meaningful story behind it with an AI film triggered by a QR code or automatically if you have the ‘Artivive’ app installed on your phone.

Go visit the mural in person here: https://g.page/DABEstatesDoncaster?share 

The mural is titled “They Went To Sea” and is inspired by Edward Lear’s limerick “The Jumblies”. Jola Kudela describes her work and the inspiration from which it was drawn, “The poem speaks about a group of Jumblies who went on a journey to discover the world in the least suitable vessel, a sieve. It’s a story of a group of people who abandon the old status quo in search of something new. It can be interpreted as a metaphor for the migration movements around the world in pursuit of a better life.”

Jola goes on to say “I wanted to create an abstract, dynamic composition with the movement of human bodies, following the flow and rhythm of the music. In order to do so I approached Małgorzata Dzierzon, a leading Polish choreographer and Artistic Co-Director of Fertile Ground, a dance company dedicated to creation, touring and talent development in the North of England. The dancers are surrounded by the symbolic sea created with the help of an algorithm that generates graphic waves in real time, using the luminance and the movement of the dancers, as well as the frequency of the music.” See the video here - https://vimeo.com/723720808

From image stills taken from the video of the choreographed dance production, Jola created the artwork for what would then be replicated and painted as a large scale urban mural by Yorkshire based creative production team Art of Protest Projects led by Tom Jackson, with support from Dave Hatch and Chloe Clark. The mural proudly sits on Cleveland Street against a large red brick wall and tells so many stories, all within one piece of art. Special thanks to music composed by Julia Kent and dancers Esmée Halliday, Lila Naruse, Beth Veitch, Benedicta Valentina Mamuini, Jonathan Curry, Dzikamai W Mudamburi, Renaud Wiser. 

Marta de Zuniga, Director of the Polish Cultural Institute London said:

“We are very pleased to support the making of Jola Kudela's mural entitled ‘They Went To Sea’ which will be unveiled in Doncaster on 11th of August.  Jola’s mural tells a story of people who leave their homes and embark on a dangerous journey to find a new one. This theme is extremely close to the hearts of many people of Polish roots living in the UK as after World War 2 Great Britain became such a new home for many Poles, and not so long ago after Poland joined the EU Polish migrants became the UK's largest minority. Today many of them have built up their careers, families and are an important part of the vibrant fabric of British society, also here in Doncaster. However a completely new context to this project was created on the 24th February with Russia's violent assault on Ukraine. Over 4 million refugees, among them thousands of children, crossed the border with Poland where they’ve found a safe haven and support, while some embarked on the further journey to European countries, including the UK. Poland is now a host to over 3 million members of the Ukrainian community and became known around the world for not having to set up a single refugee camp. At the PCI we believe that this war should also be an opportunity to present the values, cultural heritage of Central-Eastern Europe as well as its contemporary artists. This is why we support projects like Jola’s, projects that seek to express solidarity and compassion with those in need while building new bridges between the cultures of our countries.”