Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM): The Silver Wave (2020) by Michelle Williams Gamaker

The Silver Wave by Michelle Williams Gamaker will be on display in the World Cultures gallery until 21 March 2021. The 12-minute film, commissioned by RAMM, is inspired by objects from the World Cultures collection, and by the incredible story of Ada Blackjack; an Iñupiak woman and the only surviving member of an expedition to Wrangel Island in the Arctic in 1921.

Ada was employed as a seamstress and cook for four explorers, who hoped to claim the island for the British Empire. However, the four men fell ill and eventually died or disappeared in an attempt to seek help, leaving Ada alone on the island. Moved by the account, Michelle Williams Gamaker obtained a copy of Ada’s diary from a library in Alaska; she has used excerpts from the text along with objects from the museum to tell Ada’s story.

rammuseum.org.uk/news/the-silver-wave-michelle-williams-gamaker/