Mystic Seaport Museum is pleased to announce the launch of its Writer-in-Residence program. The annual, invitational residency correlates with the Museum’s “Find Your Sea Story” campaign, developed to encourage its audiences to reflect upon their own heritage and histories in connection to the ocean and its culture. Osman Can Yerebakan (who has been published in The New York Times, BOMB Magazine, The Financial Times, The Art Newspaper, among other cultural outlets) will be the inaugural writer in residence. During the week-long residency in April 2024, in addition to connecting with the Museum staff and communities they serve, Yerebakan will have the opportunity to explore the Museum’s permanent installations, including the working shipyard, historic village, floating vessel exhibits, and the indoor rotating exhibition galleries.
“Our mission is to inspire an enduring connection to the American maritime experience. Through this residency, we hope that Osman and future writers in residence will discover their sea story by connecting more deeply with the Museum. We believe that this path of self-discovery will help to unveil a greater purpose and reveal that the sea connects us all,” says Sophia Matsas, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at the Museum.
The Writer-in-Residence program includes domestic transport, accommodation, and a food stipend. Yerebakan will receive access to the Museum’s impressive collection of over 500 historic vessels in the Henry B. du Pont Preservation Shipyard and Wells Boat Hall, the Museum’s Collections Research Center (CRC), the G. W. Blunt White Library, and the recreated seaport village. He will also have access to the exhibitions on view: Alexis Rockman: Oceanus, an exhibition of newly-commissioned paintings addressing climate change and extinction; Spineless: A Glass Menagerie of Blaschka Marine Invertebrates, a collection of glass models, specimens, and archival materials following the intriguing story of father and son glassmakers Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka; and Entwined: Freedom, Sovereignty, and the Sea, a forthcoming major Spring exhibition centering maritime histories in Indigenous, African, and African American worldviews and experiences. While in Mystic, Yerebakan will write a feature article drawn from his experiences to be published in the Museum’s Spring 2024 magazine and will also be at liberty to publish work in other media outlets.
“As a Mediterranean living in New York, I am thrilled for the opportunity to imagine my own route over thousands of aquatic miles, through the power of words,” shared Yerebakan. “The collection of Mystic Seaport Museum which is one of its kind in the US promises unparalleled connections to outline between human perseverance and curiosity. I am excited to explore many narratives innate to drift which has been a major force for civilizations for transformative or dismal reasons. Seeing the Museum’s archives and exhibitions through my own journey will be an experience to always remember.”
Yerebakan is a New York-based art writer and curator. His writing has appeared in Financial Times, GQ, Artforum, The New York Times: T: The New York Times Style Magazine, New York magazine, The Guardian, BOMB, The Art Newspaper, Artsy, Artnet, ARTnews, Airmail, and Architectural Digest. He has written for several artist catalogs and is on the curatorial committee for the upcoming edition of Future Fair. He co-edited the Art & Style list of Forbes 30 Under 30, 2024. He will organize a group exhibition on masculinity for MoCA Westport in Connecticut later this year.
