Poole Museum

Talented third year BA (Hons) Modelmaking student Melis, has created a giant interactive model of an Atlantic cod as an educational tool for our outreach programme.

Working to a live brief set by the museum in collaboration with Arts University Bournemouth, Melis explored the history of the Atlantic cod and its significance to the people of Poole, choosing to inform visitors on the diminishing size of these fish.

Melis commented, "I found it fascinating how overfishing could dramatically affect the size of the cod, and I wanted to find a way to represent that.

"I thought the most compelling and easiest way to educate people was to create two different models of the cod - one giant one and one smaller one, to represent the size difference over hundreds of years."

Melis, who has a particular love of sealife, originally hails from Vancouver Canada, on the same continent as Newfoundland, where the Atlantic cod were fished, with ships from Poole sailing to Newfoundland with salt and provisions, then head to the mediterranean with the cod, which was then traded for goods like wine, olive oil, and other goods.

The model features two fish, a large one around 4ft in length and a smaller one about 30cm. These sizes accurately reflect the size difference before and after overfishing, though slightly adjusted for practicality.

Melis says one of the biggest challenges she faced was figuring out how to make the fish move like puppets.

"Creating two articulated puppets, one being almost as tall as me, was definitely a struggle," she admits.

Sewing the fabric covers for each segment was also a bit of a challenge, but it helped her pick up new skills and techniques along the way.

"Every single segment on each fish had to have a fabric cover put over the base, so I spent a good week just trying to perfect that," she adds.

Melis's research into the Newfoundland cod trade and its impact on the Beothuk people added depth to her project. "I wanted to make sure I informed myself on the topic before diving into making the models," she says.

This project not only enhanced her modelmaking skills, but also gave her a deeper understanding of historical and cultural contexts.

"Growing up, I've always been taught the history and impacts of colonisation, however I wasn't taught about how the Newfoundland cod trade affected the Beothuk people." Melis reflects.

"It was really interesting to be able to learn about this because of this project, and it feels nice that I can help spread awareness about their history in some way with my models." 

The models will be used within the museum's learning team to educate and engage visitors about the history and impact of the Newfoundland cod trade and overfishing on the Atlantic cod.

Jacqui Arnold, Poole Museum's Collections and Engagement Lead commented,

"Melis has made a fantastic fish interactive which the learning team will be able to use to engage our visitors in a fun and interesting way.

"These fish models are the perfect example of how working on a live project and gaining practical hands-on experience can help a student's understanding of a live brief while connecting them to Poole's history.

"We're looking forward to seeing schoolchildren interact with these models once we open again in the summer."

Melis is graduating from Arts University Bournemouth this year, and is interested in working with museum or heritage organisations to make interactive or replica models, or making replica food for marketing purposes, both of which she's passionate about.

We are grateful to Melis for her amazing work on this project, and can't wait to see what she achieves next - she's definitely swimming her way to success!