Time is Away - Raid on the Medway

In June 1667, the Dutch Navy sailed up the river Medway to the Royal Dockyards at Chatham. After capturing the peninsula at Sheerness, they wreaked havoc in the harbour, before towing away the flagship of the English fleet, HMS Royal Charles. The latter’s stern decoration is still on display in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Time is Away use this humiliating defeat as a ‘counter-memorial’ to reflect on the Thames Estuary’s place in entangled histories of warfare, colonialism and global capitalism. This piece was commissioned by TACO! for The Estuary 2021 Festival. With love and thanks to Christina Petrie, Jamie Atherton and Suki Sou. In the background: Duinlandschap, Jacob Maris, 1847-1899 from the collection of the Rijksmuseum.