This special exhibition, March 1- October 15, 2009, explored the shared history and links between England’s first two permanent colonies in the New World, on the occasion of Bermuda’s 400th anniversary.

A British presence was established in Bermuda in 1609 when the Sea Venture, the flagship of a fleet en route to Jamestown, Virginia, founded two years earlier, was shipwrecked.

Beginning with the wreck of the Sea Venture, upon which Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest“ is based, the exhibition traced Bermuda’s 400-year history, highlighting its importance as a strategic location and emergence as a premier travel destination in the 20th century.

The exhibition featured more than two dozen artifacts from the Sea Venture underwater archaeological site and objects associated with early government and the Church of England in Virginia and Bermuda.

A dozen 19th- and 20th-century paintings by leading American, Canadian and British artists depicting Bermuda scenes were exhibited along with posters and other promotional materials illustrating the popularity of both Virginia and Bermuda as travel destinations.

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Watch a video about the Sea Venture, the British flagship that was shipwrecked while on the way to Jamestown, Virginia.