Beware! Giant Kraken escapes as maritime heritage project gets under way

DISTURBING: Giant tentacles emerging from the Maritime Museum

The first major event to bring Yorkshire’s maritime heritage to life is getting underway.

Giant tentacles have emerged from Hull’s Maritime Museum, and appear to be spreading across the city centre.

It’s a sea monster - The Kraken, of Scandinavian folklore - which has awoken from its slumber in the bowels of the museum. It is thought the creature was disturbed when rooms within the basement were disturbed during the removal of thousands of treasures.

Residents and visitors are now being warned to watch out for its tentacles creeping around corners as they move through the city centre, while its nest of eggs can be seen on Monument Bridge, as the monster claims Hull as its own.

The spectacle of The Kraken is the first of a series major events in the build up to the delivery of the Hull: Yorkshire’s Maritime City project.

The bespoke installation and huge spectacle will cover several sites within Hull city centre.

Giant inflatable sculptures measuring 10 metres in length have appeared on several key landmarks, some with a maritime theme.

It is Designs in Air's largest city-wide tentacle installation to date and the first time one of their Kraken's has taken over a ship – the Spurn Lightship.

They have delivered art sculptures all over the world with past installations in Lisbon, China, Berlin, Australia, and Hong Kong, as well as featuring at many major events and exhibitions around the world including the 2012 Olympics, the Eden project, Glastonbury Festival and for Cirque du Soleil.

Families will get the chance to see this new bespoke inflatable commission for the Hull Maritime project, funded by Hull City Council and The National Lottery Heritage Fund, between Friday, August 6, and Thursday, August 26.

With a free trail starting at the Maritime Museum, there will be some surprises along the way including maritime characters and living statues, theatre performances and live music.

A map of the trail will be available at the Kraken Headquarters in Queen Victoria Square, the tourist information pod within Paragon Interchange, the Museums Quarter, and available to download from maritimehull.co.uk

Maritime themed events will also take place within the Museums Quarter on the High Street on August 7, 12, and 21 August, from 11am to 3pm.

Fun craft activities will include a show and tell with objects from the museum’s collection, with the team will be on hand to update families on the progress of the transformational project.

Councillor Daren Hale, leader of Hull City Council, said: “Developed by the Hull Maritime project, this three-week sculpture installation aims to bring some much-needed fun and excitement during the summer holidays.

“This will be the largest city-wide tentacle installation and will again put Hull on the map for all the right reasons.

“This major event in Hull city centre hopes to raise awareness of the Hull Maritime project, the progress to date, and more importantly bring people together in a safe way.

“Following a challenging year, we all need to smile again and what better way to do it than to celebrate our maritime heritage with a fantastical imagining of what might be in the deeps of the oceans that generations of Hull mariners sailed upon.”

Luke Egan, designer and director at Designs in Air, said: “We're really excited about this tentacle take-over - our Krakens love to explore new cities. But please watch out - like the rest of us they haven't been allowed out much recently and they do like a cuddle.”

Other locations where they tentacles may appear include at the former M&S building in Whitefriargate, inside Trinity Market, and Princes Quay in Princes Dock Street.

For more information visit maritimehull.co.uk or follow @Hullmaritime on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can see the group’s previous work at https://www.designsinair.com/gallery-inflatable-sculptures/