Easing into the 𝙰 𝙷𝚊𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚁𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛 programme for
@theguardiansofriveritchen first session. Thinking about relics of the river's past // present // future at once, and as always with lots of blue/green space play. We even squeezed in some water testing at Mansbridge.
We ventured upstream, North from Riverside Park. Riverside Park is a vast public green space in the city of Southampton. Created from reclaimed marshland post WW2. The river follows relics of the 18th-century Itchen Navigation canal. The Itchen Navigation runs between Winchester and Southampton, completed in 1710 the navigation is described as an "improved river" – clearly from a human cargo boat navigable perspective. We walking as far north as the Southampton/Eastleigh Borough boundary, the edifice of the M27. Around 1982 this motorway's construction split part of the Itchen Navigation in two, leaving a stagnant, swampy wasteland, with a post-apocalyptic feel, with dirthy water, as we anxiously looked on at the mother duck and her ducklings. The river flows underneath the motorway, through a narrow pass, onwards towards Southampton, the estuary and the sea.
Accessing riverside where possible, although at times far away, there is no consistent riverside right of way. We collected rubbings (frottage) of relics where we could find them, including faces, leaves, underground services access panels, dry cracked earth and Mansbridge bridge – using graphite and colourful crayons in folded books. This was the first art workshop contributing towards the young peoples
@ArtsAward Explore.
Thankyou to our funders
@BeASeaChanger for funding this programme of activities!
#RiverItchen
#AHauntedRiver
#ArtEcology
#ArtsAward
#beaseachanger
