Statutory Address: High Street, Hull, HU1 4BG
Coordinates: 53°44’24″N 0°19’51″W
Description of Location –
Located in the west bank of the river Hull, near the tidal surge barrier (Grade II listed).
Details –
Erected: 2002. The head of Uckaluk fell off the pedestal in April 2023 but was quickly reattached.
Listed: Not listed
Monument Type: Art Sculpture/Historical Importance
Associated Site(s): Table Sculpture is located in close proximity.
Inscription(s): “TRUELOVE by Stefan Gec (2002). In 1847 Memiadluk and Uckaluk arrived in Hull close to this site aboard the Truelove, a local whaling ship. The following year the married couple set sail for their home in Cumberland Sound, Baffin Island. During this journey Uckaluk died following an outbreak of measles on board the shop. TRUELOVE is part of Hull Time Based Arts Rivercommissions series. For more information contact www.timebase.org”
Description: A metal pedestal hosting two busts, depicting an Inuit couple, Memiadluk and Uckaluk who arrived in Hull aboard a whaling ship, the Truelove, in 1847 from Nyatlick in the north of present-day Canada. It was created by Stefan Gec (b. 1958). Captain John Parker brought Memiadluk and Uckaluk to Britain under the pretence of raising money for their homeland, but Parker also wanted to emphasise how they could be ‘civilised’ and exhibited them around the country, also making Uckaluk a servant in his house for a period. They were to return home in March 1848, but both caught measles on the return journey – with Uckaluk dying as a result. The busts were based on plaster casts made of the pair in 1847 by local sculptor William Keyworth, senior. The Truelove itself was one of the last whalers sailing out of Hull, making its final voyage in 1868.
Additional Resources –
“Memiadluk and Uckaluk,” University of Kent, accessed 27 December 2023, https://research.kent.ac.uk/beyondthespectacle/records/memiadluk-and-uckaluk/.
“Life-casts of Memiaduluk, Uckaluk, and Captain John Parker – William Day Keyworth Senior (1847),” History of Art Research Portal, accessed 27 December 2023, https://hoaportal.york.ac.uk/hoaportal/turnerwhaleZoom.jsp?wallId=&id=200.
“Truelove: From War to Whaler,” Hull Museums Collections, accessed 27 December 2023, http://museumcollections.hullcc.gov.uk/collections/storydetail.php?irn=196&master=868.
Alexandra Wood, “The Extraordinary Tale of the Inuit Couple who came to Hull on the Last of the City’s Whalers,” Yorkshire Post, 11 February 2021, https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/the-extraordinary-tale-of-the-inuit-couple-who-came-to-hull-on-the-last-of-the-citys-whalers-3132052.
James Campbell, “Head Disappears from Hull’s most Romantic Sculpture – But there is Good News,” Hull Daily Mail, 25 April 2023, https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hull-east-yorkshire-news/head-disappears-hulls-most-romantic-8384425.