Climate Change Edition 2023 This year we are working with Meadow Arts toward Watermark, their forthcoming multi-venue partnership-based project on water and flooding as environmental markers of climate change, which will take place from January to May 2023
There is little doubt that climate change is the defining issue of our age and we are becoming increasingly vigilant over its acceleration; the image of the flood presents as a powerful driver for the sense of unease that permeates our collective consciousness. Watermark will focus on water and flooding as indicators of global climate modification and use the live model of such events in Worcester as a hyperlocal environmental marker of a situation that affects the planet as a whole. Worcestershire has a long history of flooding from its big rivers such as the Severn, Avon and Teme, its extensive network of smaller watercourses and ditches and, increasingly, from surface water. Worcester itself was always subjected to flooding from the Severn and has coped with the phenomenon in various ways over the centuries, but in the past 10 years, as the severity of flooding events continues to grow, this has become increasingly difficult to Manage.
Across the globe, flooding has become one of the most severe markers of climate change; these events now relentlessly hit the wealthy global North; along with droughts and wildfires, they are undeniable signs of a new reality. From the accelerated melting of glaciers or the polar ice caps to the riverbanks of our market towns, and from the biblical age to the most recent loss of habitat, floods are a most powerful trope. Watermark will be delivered through exhibitions and new commissions as well as an engaging programme of workshops, talks, films and a one-day conference.
Exhibiting artists include: Helen Cass, Joe Black Ardy, Isabella Draper, Jamie Banks, Rebecca George, Maria Cristina Gardiner, Dan Holden, Vicky Harvey, Paul Powis, Sara Hayward, Paul Newman, Jain McKay, Lewis Graham, Sarah Jones, Melanie Woodhead, Maureen Heaney-Sykes, Frans Wesselman, Lois Karen Meiklejohn, Andrew Woodhead, Joanne Henderson, Issie Martin, Kurt Hickson, Ella Buchanan, Chris M. Allton, Marta Pedzik, Conrad Judge, Caitlin Carpenter, Tegen Kimbley, Richard Nicholls, Ian Pennell, Jim O'Raw, Jonathan Oakes, Matt Greenhill, Sylvia Wadsley, Shaun Morris, Shona Davies & David Monaghan & Jon Klein, Andrew Howe, Monica Perez Vega, Jeff Orgee, Cameron Scott, Sophy King, Jane Walker, Sharon Baker, Alice Watkins, Lorsen Camps, Jenny Pope, Nick St George, Elaina Arkeooll, Clare Wratten.