"In 2008 the wreck of a treasure ship called the Apistos (meaning “the Unbelievable”) was found on the seabed off east Africa. It sank about 2,000 years ago. Its unique cargo of global artefacts, assembled by a freed slave called Cif Amotan II, have spent two millennia undergoing a “sea change” straight out of Shakespeare’s Tempest, becoming wrapped in coloured corals and bizarre crustacean growths - until the archaeologists who found this sunken marvel asked Hirst to use his millions to help recover it."

"If you believe that, you’ll believe anything. The curators who told this bit of hokum straightfaced at the start of the press view deserve bonuses, if Hirst has not yet bankrupted himself creating this luxury masterpiece. " The Guardian

Photographed by Christoph Gerigk
© Damien Hirst and Science Ltd.

The elaborate backstory is slightly undercut by the fact that the fake relics include not just historical references, but the faces of Pharrell, Kate Moss, Rihanna, and Die Antwoord singer YoLandi Visser, not to mention Mickey Mouse.

Photographed by Prudence Cuming Associates © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS/SIAE 2017.

‘Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable’, April 9-December 3, Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana, Venice; palazzograssi.it

Photography from exhibition by Rita Bamburova