Travelling art exhibit on water justice comes to Western U

An international art exhibit focusing on water justice is coming to Western University this week.

A travelling exhibit called “Confluency” is making its first stop at the John Labatt Visual Arts Centre on campus. The focus is on water justice, an issue linked to climate change and accessibility to clean water.

The exhibit began in South Africa, but Lesley Gittings, assistant professor in the School of Health Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences at Western, helped coordinate the exhibit and is part of its research team.

“The idea behind the exhibition was to bring together academics, activists, and artists around the key issue of water justice which is an issue all over the world,” said Gittings. “A second objective is to make art accessible and to invite people into the exhibition in interactive ways.”

The exhibit is part of Western’s Riverfest, which is co-organized by the Indigenous Students’ Association, Indigenous Student Centre, and Western’s Sustainability office, which runs from September 9 to October 3.

Londoners are invited to interact with sculptures, videos, poetry, and more aspects within the exhibit.

On Friday, Gittings spoke of an art piece in the gallery that shows a water journey in South Africa as understood by different communities outside Cape Town.

“It's important because Cape Town was the world’s first major city to almost run out of water, so that brought up a lot of thought around issues of drought and water justice because people who were the most protected from the drought were those with the most access to resources,” she explained. “Poorer folks and racialized folks had the least amount of access.”

This is Western’s second year hosting Riverfest, a month-long series of events taking place on campus.

“It’s focused on building connections with the campus community and the river and the natural heritage on campus,” said Jessica Cordes, an engagement coordinator with Western’s Office of Sustainability.

“Our university is situated in the Carolinian life zone, which is one of the most bio-diverse regions in all of Canada. With the Thames River flowing through campus, we think it's important to create places and opportunities for our campus to connect,” said Cordes.

Speaking to the importance of water and accessibility to clean water, Ashley Kewayosh Samuel, student opportunities coordinator with the Indigenous Student Centre said,

“It gives us so much, it gives us our life. We can’t live without clean water, so this is an extension, it shows that all around the world people are doing that work. It's amazing to bring that here,”

Events for Riverfest can be found on the university’s Sustainability Office website.