How you can use this image

This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).

Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.

The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

George Wyllie’s 'Paper Boat' was built in 1989 it sailed through Glasgow, London, Antwerp, Dumfries and the East coast of Scotland. It made the front page of the Wall Street Journal as it berthed at the World Financial Centre in New York in 1990. Measuring an impressive 78 feet in length, the 'Paper Boat' had a steel frame clad in sheets of plastic and gauze, velcroed together, which opened to reveal a viewing platform, from which rose a question mark. The launch from Glasgow’s Finnieston crane replicated that of a real ship, with a blessing by the industrial chaplain, Rev. Norman Orr, and a naming ceremony by author, Naomi Richardson. Accompanied by a choir from Greenock, Wyllie performed a wee tune, a paddle-steamer song 'We’re going to build a big paper boat…Fold it up carefully, so it can float. But not what a ship used to be.'