HMS Seaflower Reimagined @NMRN with MOD Families/Trafalgar School

Students from Years 7 to 9 at Trafalgar School, all from MOD (Ministry of Defence) families, worked with City Arts Portsmouth to reimagine the figurehead of HMS Seaflower, a nineteenth-century naval training brig. The project explored themes of protection, responsibility, and care, encouraging students to consider how their own lives connect to the symbolic role of a figurehead.

For students whose families move frequently and often navigate change, the idea of the figurehead—as a constant presence guiding a ship—prompted reflection. Their responses drew on personal experience and translated those ideas into physical forms through a collaborative making process.

Using salvaged and everyday materials, students created sculptural pieces based on sea anemones (Seaflowers) and clam shells, marine organisms that appear delicate but are designed to protect. The sea anemones, made from hairbands, threads, and fibres, represented how emotional responsibilities can become entangled and invisible. The clam shells, some painted gold, referenced the value placed on what we hold and protect, particularly in relation to their parents’ roles in the armed forces.

The project began with a visit to the Figurehead Gallery at the National Museum of the Royal Navy. Students explored how figureheads historically served as symbols of identity and protection. They drew connections between these maritime icons, the people who care for them at home, and the qualities they associate with modern-day superheroes:

Protection of others
Bravery in the face of danger
A sense of duty and responsibility
Recognition through symbol or presence
Carrying unseen emotional burdens
Inspiring strength in those who follow
Guiding others to safety

These ideas fed directly into a shared outcome: a wearable paper sculpture, constructed from individually made components. Each element whether a gold shell or a knotted thread, was shaped by reflection and discussion.

Materials such as string and rope connected to naval tradition and the physical work of service. Choosing to use discarded and domestic materials underlined the idea that strength and meaning often come from the overlooked or everyday.

The final figurehead will be worn as part of a live catwalk performance, with a poem created by the students, during "Queen Charlotte’s Tea Party" at the National Museum of the Royal Navy. Like the figurehead that inspired it, it functions as a form of protection, quietly representing lives shaped by service, transition, and care.