Waterland: the art, science & magic of water in our landscapes

Artists/Curators

Kim Williams, Laura Fisher, Vashti Pearce

Collaborative team

Members of Kandos School of Cultural Adaptation (KSCA), Peter Swain, Emma Syme, farmers, local schoolchildren, and other artists

Location

Wayout Gallery, Kandos

Date

2022

“For most of us, the intricate relationship between people, plants, water and the forces of the universe is a mystery. And yet more and more we are asked to play our part in managing that relationship to preserve the landscapes we love. Waterland is an exhibition about the way water moves. It came about through a series of invitations and scientific prompts provided to artists, designers, teachers and students. Members of the local community and landowners in the region were invited to take part in an extended process of building and installing the exhibition, and workshops with local schools took place. These prompts and gatherings were all linked to the theme of environmental stewardship: how can we manage water most effectively to ensure our landscapes continue to thrive?”

A focal point of the workshops and exhibition was an interactive waterway model. In its initial state, schoolchildren could model how a degraded waterway behaves, in which water flows quickly and cannot be absorbed by the riparian landscape. By adding many found objects, rocks and plants to the model, schoolchildren created a living creek system – one in which water moves slowly from a source to an endpoint, with healthy features such as snags, animals, plants, spongy soil and ponds.

Waterland was part of the Mulloon Institute’s 'Modelling Landscape Rehydration for Catchments, Communities and Curriculum project' and supported by the Kandos School of Cultural Adaptation.