Boats Art Object in Teriberka

The Boats art object (Art-obekt «Lodki») is an installation made of old fishing boats in the village of Teriberka, Kola District, Murmansk Oblast. It stands on the shore of Teriberka Bay on the Barents Sea, near the mouth of the Teriberka River, about 120–130 km from Murmansk. The bows and sterns of the boats are set upright in a round wooden platform, and the composition is lit after dark. Guidebooks also call it "Meeting Place".

History

The installation was created in 2021 by the St Petersburg artist Ekaterina Golubina as part of the Public Art Expedition 2021 project. The project was carried out by a non-profit organisation that won a grant from the Murmansk Oblast Ministry of Culture. The art object was officially opened in mid-November 2021.

Most of the old boats were collected on the banks of the Virma River near the village of Lovozero. The artist's idea was to bring the stories of the fishing villages of the Kola Peninsula together in one place and give the retired boats a new life.

What to see

The base of the installation is a round wooden platform about 12 metres across. The boats stand on it at different distances from one another and "look" in different directions, an image of meeting and conversation. Benches are fitted inside the boats, turning each one into a narrow shelter where you can sit out of the wind. Every boat carries a QR code that tells its story and where it was brought from.

In the evening, when it is lit, the composition looks especially cosy, and during the polar night, from early December to mid-January, there is a chance to see the northern lights here. In summer, from May to the end of September, whales come close to the Barents Sea coast.

Other well-known sights of Teriberka are nearby: a large wooden letter "T" that resembles a sperm whale's tail, a wooden throne built from driftwood on the sandy beach, a whale skeleton left behind after the filming of "Leviathan", the old school closed in 2006, and the Church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God on the edge of the village. The village hosts the annual Teriberka Arctic Festival and the Motobukhta bikers' rally.

Getting there

A road leads from Murmansk to Teriberka: leave the city along Kolsky Prospekt through Pervomaisky District onto highway 47K-050, then at Lake Yuvalyavr turn onto 47K-051 and continue straight to the village. The drive takes about 2.5 hours. A scheduled bus runs from Murmansk bus station to Teriberka in 3–4 hours; check the timetable in advance. Day tours of about 10 hours also leave from Murmansk. The art object is in the village itself, off Tsentralnaya Street, close to the shore.