Public Art

Halifax Harbour: Beneath the Surface – Nocturne, Halifax 2024

Halifax Harbour: Beneath the Surface is a site-specific projection project reflecting on the community of life under water in the Halifax Harbour – a community that the human terrestrial community moves around and across every day. The projection is a moving tableau of watercolour paintings of fish, invertebrates, marine mammals, and marine debris positioned within fluid underwater video footage of the harbour. The composition, directed and storyboarded by Melanie Zurba, builds a visual narrative that creates space for the audience to contemplate their relationship with the harbour community. The watercolour paintings aim to honour the members of the underwater community through the practice of portraiture highlighting their existence as beings worthy of our care. The underwater video is taken using a remote operated vehicle (ROV) and is provided by SuperNOVA at Dalhousie. Ocean School (program within The National Film Board of Canada) is also a collaborator and assisted with the assembly of the technical video components of the project. Educational materials were provided on site by Ocean School, and participants were invited to make an “ocean promise”.

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Featured watercolours: