GRANDMAS URCHINS

Grandmas’ Urchins is a site-specific installation located at the Keelung Zhengbin Fishing Port. Constructed from metal and fabric, the work consists of multiple woven urchin forms attached to the walls of a sheet-metal building facing the harbor. Visible from various angles and distances along the port, the installation is freely accessible to the public at all times. The work commemorates the seafood traditions and fishing culture of the area, while also acknowledging their gradual disappearance. Sea urchins serve as a symbol of both ecological and cultural loss: the decline of edible urchin species mirrors the fading way of life of Keelung’s sea women.

​

Sea urchins have spherical bodies covered with movable spines, a characteristic that gives their class the name Echinoidea (from the Greek ekhinos, meaning “spine”). They inhabit seabeds at depths of up to 2,500 meters.  Like other echinoderms, their larvae exhibit bilateral symmetry, while mature urchins develop five-fold radial symmetry. In Taiwan, sea urchins have long been part of traditional seafood culture. In recent years, however, edible urchin populations have declined sharply, increasingly replaced by the Devil’s urchin, which is not suitable for consumption.

​

Historically, Keelung’s sea women harvested sea urchins alongside gelidium seaweed, abalone, sea snails, and hair moss. During the low fishing season, these women—often grandmothers—would dive in waters sometimes colder than 10°C to gather marine resources. Today, few young people are willing to continue this demanding practice, leading to a rapid decline in the number of sea women.

​

All the fabric is repurposed material donated by Yee Chain International Co.

​This installation and its construction methods are original artistic expressions developed by Lua Rivera as part of the Rivera Rhizomatic Construction Method.