Jointly developed by M HKA and the KU Leuven, this long-term, interdisciplinary research project focuses on a specific, yet complex body of work; multifaceted and variably installable, unfinished and open-ended: Ship of Fools / The Dockers' Museum (2010-2013) by artist and theorist Allan Sekula (1951-2013). Informed by the research of the team members, the project continues to evolve in a succession of research outputs, such as this digital platform.

Allan Sekula. Collective Sisyphus

"Nanook" Inuit Walrus Tusk Carving of a Seal Hunter in a Kayak (The Dockers' Museum, object nr. 56)
Object , 4,2 x 15, 2 x 1,8 cm
wood, rope and walrus tusk

Glen O., "Nanook", Inuit Walrus Tusk Carving of a Seal Hunter in a Kayak [title given by Allan Sekula], wood, rope and walrus tusk, production date unknown (the PayPal sales document describes it as "old"), 4,2 x 15,2 x 1,8 cm. Purchased by Allan Sekula on 21 June 2010. [Allan Sekula – The Dockers' Museum, 2010-2013, object nr. 56]


Sekula on this on 15.11.2011 in Paris: "This walrus tusk carving which could be from the 1950s, could be earlier, it is very small, 6 inches, it’s a seal hunter with his harpoon and a baby seal. I was thinking of combining that with a model of Zim Lines, the Israeli shipping line, a container ship, and have this little Nanook figure - Nanook and Goliath - thinking of the convoys of the Palestinians. Why not imagine an Eskimo with a spear trying to spear an Israeli container ship. David becomes Goliath and Nanook is still there trying to make his case, Nanook the Fedayin, or something of that sort. But those kinds of juxtapositions feel like the kind of object montage that maybe I want to resist, but it is possible that we might try some experiments like that."