The first exhibition of the #200Fish Project took place at the North Sea Observatory, Chapel Point, Lincolnshire in August 2018. In March 2019 the #200Fish art was staged again in two exhibitions at the village halls in North Somercotes and Marshchapel.

#200Fish is an art project whose objective is to raise awareness of the biodiversity of the North Sea.

There are about 200 species of fish native to the North Sea. This project records their existence through works of art. Mindful of the threats to the marine environment, global warming, ocean acidification, pollution, over-fishing and so on, we invited a large number of artists each to pick one of the fish species and produce a painting, sculpture or other art-work therefrom. After the major exhibition of some two hundred works, at the new North Sea Observatory, we now take much of the exhibition on tour to other venues in coastal Lincolnshire and then, perhaps, further afield. The first outing for #200Fish on the Road takes place at North Somercotes Village hall over the first weekend in March 2019 and Marschapel Village Hall over the second weekend in March 2019.

The Book

We published a book, more than an exhibition catalogue, that includes pictures of all the fish and the accompanying texts written by the artists. The paper version sold out but you can download the whole thing as a .pdf from Here.

#200Fish - Report

The exhibition surpassed all our expectations. The number of visitors was overwhelming; without an exact count we estimated attendance, by two independent methods. We sample counted representative time periods and extrapolated to the whole 12 days and we looked at the café's drink sales numbers. Both approaches produced a figure of about 5000.

Our prime objectives were to raise awareness of the biodiversity of the North Sea and the threats that pollution and global warming give rise to. That was achieved in the minds of a large number of people, so counts as the exhibitions main success.

We also brought art of merit to a new location while giving the opportunity for amateurs to exhibit their work alongside. While about half the works on show were from Lincolnshire artists, we had contributions from further afield, from Cornwall to Sutherland and several from overseas, from Europe, America, Africa and Asia. The exhibition brought artists and their relatives from all corners of Britain to visit the exhibition. One German artist, who lives in Shanghai, made a diversion en-route to Berlin to bring his work, another posted their piece from Germany and then visited the gallery in person.

The book we published to accompany the exhibition has drawn much praise and the print-run of 200 copies has almost sold out, as has the 300 print of the catalogue, which was also produced in full colour, illustrating almost all the works. There are still a few books left for sale: Buy Here

Selling art was not one of our prime objectives but about 20% of the works were sold, paying some artists for their work. We have a policy of not charging commission on sales. Thanks however to the generosity of the many artists who donated their work, we raised about £2000 for our funds. We also gave a space for a local 13 year old to sell the cards that she made, giving a significant boost to her mini-enterprise.

There was one visitor who complained that the window frames of the gallery interrupted the wide view of the seascape but it was suggested that he could step outside onto the decking and enjoy the horizon. That said, there was universal admiration for the building and general surprise that such a magnificent facility had been provided on the Lincolnshire coast. It is clear that the North Sea Observatory will become one of the county's significant visitor attractions. There is no doubt that the exhibition's success owes a great deal to the venue. Some people came to see the building and accidentally found themselves in an art gallery. That was deliberate.

We wanted to bring art to new audiences, showing works of merit to people who may not often visit art galleries. We wanted to give a platform to amateurs to show their work alongside that of established and professional artists. We wanted to encourage new people to take up art creation. And we wanted to use art as a tool for environmental campaigning, in this instance to raise awareness of marine biodiversity, that were over 200 species of fish in the North Sea.

We ticked all the boxes. Thank you to all who helped make that possible.

The #200Fish were exhibited at the North Sea Observatory Art Space from 23rd August to 3rd September 2018. The project will live on beyond this exhibition, popping up at various venues and times in the future. As some works get sold others will be needed to fill the gaps so if you fancy creating a work of art based on one of the North Sea fish species then please do join in.

If you would like to get involved here's what to do:

1. Pick from the list a species of your choice. You may find it helpful to go to Google Images or search elswhere for pictures of the fish.
2. Send us an email telling us which fish you have chosen. We will then add you to our list of participating artists.
3. When completed send us a photo of your work and a short biographical note and link to your own website, if you have one, for publication, if you wish. We will then add that to the fish list.
4. Also, do a bit of research into your fish and send us some writing. Please read the paragraph at the bottom of the Fish-list for more info on this.

Inclusion in the exhibition of worthy works is free and we make no judgements on artistic merit, preferring to trust the judgement of the artists. Our website in indefinitely extendable. Everybody's images of their artwork and their writing will be included. And we'll include your biography and links to your website if you wish.

F.A.Q. Do I have to be an actual artist?
We are all artists. It's what distinguishes humans from other creatures. Never mind tool-using; monkeys and crows do that. But no other species deliberately paints pictures or models sculptures and we've been doing it forever.
Do I have to be an professional artist?
No. This project is open to all, from acclaimed artists to folk just having a dabble and wanting an opportunity to show something they've created and are rightly proud of.

To get involved with #200Fish, Send us an email telling us about your choice of fish

So get on, pick your fish, paint your picture!

The list is derived from Wikipedia's List of North Sea Fish. This webpage contains or has links to a wealth of information about each fish, and importantly for our purposes, what they look like.

FishBase is a great resource for learning about each fish.

Published in 1993, and some of the fish have moved on, but the North Sea Atlas still has some useful information. Download it here.

By far the largest collection of fish related data is managed by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). Start here.

Another good source is The Marine Life information Network (MARLIN)

The Food and Agriculture Organisation has a lot of infomation here.

For the most authoritative account of fishy politics in the North Sea go to this EU fisheries policy document.

The Shark Trust has lots of good information about the sharks, skates and rays. That's numbers 4 to 43 in the list.

The report from BIOACID - Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification Exploring Ocean Change is available here. Giving urgency to our efforts.

To see pictures of completed artworks click on the word 'Picture' in the list below.

A big thankyou to everyone who has already picked a fish and helped spread the word about this project. And thanks to Radio Lincolnshire who got hold of the idea. Here's the BBC's online report.

To see pictures of completed artworks click on the word 'Picture' in the list below.

And do try to get to know your fish. As well as the obvious online sources such as Wikipedia and Google Images, try this remarkable database of all things fishy: FishBase

On the basis that a thousand words are worth a picture, we invite artists to include writing, documentary, prose, poetry or whatever, with their art-work.
The exhibition will feature the written word more extensively than often found on labels in art galleries.
The exhibition catalogue could be a good read - but that's up to you, the artists.

Please give a description of your fish. Start with some basic scientifically accurate facts such as where the fish lives, geographic spread and depth in the sea, how big it gets, what it eats, what eats it, commercial and conservation status. Then move on to something a bit more creative. You might be able to say something about the origin of its name, appearances in folklore and literature or perhaps it has been painted by others. You might like to describe your own relationship with the fish, why you picked it and any other points of interest. Be as creative as you like. Write a poem if that's your thing. It's entirely up to you.

We intend to convert the 200 webpages, each with an image and a piece of writing by you, the artist, into a book. It will be about 200 pages long, in colour, and will have about 200 authors. So when you are doing your writing you might bear in mind that we will need to have a version that is about half a page long.

The Wildlife Trusts - Living Seas

Download the Living Seas vision for the future of our seas

After the Season (detail) ~ Marta Sienkiewicz

Mosaic Fish ~ Fiona Gurney at Box of Frogs

Up-cycled drinks can Fish ~ Christina Stevens at HereNorThere

We seem to have become news.

Lincolnshire Time and Tide Bell Community Interest Company is a not-for profit organisation, registered at Companies House. Company Number 10934941