Wisdom Conversation: River Ecologies
…and how we think about time
Photograph by Eelyn Lee
Sunday 27 April
1.30pm-3.30pm
Orleans House Gallery and Online
To mark a new Supermoon, join us in person in London, or online from anywhere in the world, for an international conversation about river ecologies and notions of time.
London’s Thames Estuary is a rich site of human and more than human migration - a point of arrival and departure; a habitat where 1000’s of species depend on each other to thrive.
What can we learn from rivers if we see them as collaborators?
Hosted at Orleans House Gallery and situated on the upper reaches of the tidal Thames, we will be joined by people with local knowledge of the river. This will include boat dwellers, fisherfolk and scientists, as well as people with experiences of migration.
We will be joined online by artists in Pakistan who are working in collaboration with the River Indus - from the glaciers in the Hunza Valley, to the deltas in lower Sindh. Our collaborators in São Paulo, the Guarani indigenous community will also join us online.
Together, we will explore how water connects us; the life it nurtures; the food it provides; the threats it faces; the memories it holds, and the mythologies it inspires. Thinking about water and the phases of the moon, we will ask, how can we renew our relationships with nature? And how can we shift our perspectives to understand different notions of time?
If we think about time differently, what futures can we imagine?
The conversation will be hosted by UK artist, Eelyn Lee who will share some of her research about the Thames Estuary. She will also offer a glimpse into how she is working collaboratively, to honour the demise of the European Eel - a critically endangered species that used to thrive in the River Thames.
This event completes our trilogy of Wisdom Conversations, a strand of, ‘‘Imagining the Forest’, a British Council funded programme, culminating in art exhibitions at the Richmond Arts and Ideas Festival, and at the São Paulo and Karachi Biennials.
Exhibition Tour and Lunch
If you’re joining us in person, why not arrive early for a tour of the Cultural Reforesting Exhibition, led by curator Andy Franzkowiak. We'll then sit down together for lunch before joining the Wisdom Conversation. Tickets are free but limited!
There are three types of ticket available -
Exhibition Tour, Lunch and Wisdom Conversation 12pm-3.30pm
In person Wisdom Conversation 1.30-3.30pm
Online 2pm-3.30pm