Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance Expedition Exhibit Opens at the Scottish Maritime Museum
A powerful exhibition exploring Sir Ernest Shackleton’s legendary Antarctic expedition aboard the Endurance (1914-1917) has opened at the Scottish Maritime Museum on Irvine Harbourside.Fortitudo by Italian artist Paola Folicaldi Suh features scenes and portraits which vividly reimagine the extraordinary survival story of Shackleton and his crew who left Britain on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition or ‘Endurance Expedition’ in 1914. Although Shackleton failed to complete the first overland crossing of Antarctica via the South Pole, all 26 crew members survived despite two years stranded in the frozen wilderness.Folicaldi Suh’s artworks draw on surviving black and white photographs taken by the expedition’s official photographer Frank Hurley and include oil paintings on sackcloth and mixed media panels combining oil and tempera on tapestry Each piece is accompanied by quotes from Shackleton’s memoir ‘South’ as well as recollections by Endurance captain Frank Worsley and Aeneas Mackintosh, captain of the support vessel Aurora.Born in Fermo, Italy, and now living in Stockholm, Folicaldi Suh is known for portraits and paintings with psychological introspection. Fortitudo marks her first foray into the world of polar exploration.The exhibition’s title Fortitudo is drawn, like the name Endurance, from the Shackleton family motto: ‘Fortitudine Vincimus’ – ‘through endurance we conquer’.Fortitudo, which is included in museum admission, runs until January 18.Fortitudo Shackleton & Crew. Credit: Paola Folicaldi Suh