Boats

Details

Boats is a multisensory project that explores migration through taste, sound, and image. The work draws inspiration from Australia’s 2013 “Stop the Boats” campaign, transforming a phrase of deterrence into a poetic reflection on movement, belonging, and empathy.

For this project, Emeka Ogboh commissioned Taylor & Smith Distilling Co. to create a bespoke gin titled Boats, crafted in Tasmania from 17 botanicals, combining 7 from West Africa (including Alligator Pepper, Calabash Nutmeg, Scent Leaf, and Aidan Fruit) with 10 from Australia (such as Juniper, Strawberry Gum, Kunzea, and Kelp). Wrapped in paper printed with migration-related news excerpts and adorned with Nsibidi symbols for boats and water, the bottle becomes a vessel of dialogue.

Across Hobart, the project unfolds through billboards, culinary collaborations with Chef Vince Trim, and a multichannel electroacoustic composition titled Matters Arising. This composition features the parliamentary speech in Tasmania Parliament by John Kamara, 2023 Tasmanian Australian of the Year.

Blending gin, sound, and storytelling, Boats transforms consumption into connection, a sensory meditation on migration, identity, and the shared waters that divide and unite us.

Info

• Title : BOATS

• Year : 2024

• Medium : Multisensory installation, commissioned gin, sound installation, dinner, and public interventions.

• Duration : Variable.