In a continuing series of fascinating interviews with individuals whose work intersects with the life of explorer Louise Arner Boyd, I’m delighted to feature a conversation with British artist/researcher/voyager Anne Lydiat.
JK – How did you learn about Miss Boyd and what most intrigues you about her?
AL – I discovered the voyages of Louise Arner Boyd whilst researching Arctic explorers. Until then I was totally unaware that any woman had been able to accomplish such amazing endeavours in what was perceived to be the entirely male domains of the ship and exploration.
JK – Tell me about your research project “In the Wake of Louise Arner Boyd.”
AL – My PhD focuses on women who have voyaged and how historically these women’s achievements have been forgotten or disappeared – like the wake of a ship.
JK – What are the objectives and research process you are following?
AL – Utilising the ship as a research method, this project has entailed my visiting the Arctic five times using Boyd’s charts to follow in the wake of the places she has sailed including Norway – Alesund and Tromso (2014); Spitzbergen – Svalbard (2015 and 2017) and Greenland – Scoresby Sound (2016).
JK – How does this project relate to your own lived experience?
AL – In 2002, I went to live on an old British Coaster moored on the River Thames. This fluvial existence inspired my research, my art making process and my desire to voyage in the wake of women before me.
JK – How does this project extend the research on Louise Arner Boyd?
AL -Uniquely, I want to concentrate on the actual photography of LAB and to achieve this in August of this year (2018), I have hired a ship to sail up the fiords of East Greenland to Louise Boyd Land (Weisboydlund). During this voyage, I will re-photograph some of Boyd’s original b/w photographs of the region.
‘Following in the Wake’ power point presentations at the WOW Festival (Women of the World) Southbank, London, 2017/2018 and booked for 2019.
Joanna Kafarowski 