Test Sites: Calder

Test Sites was a series of inquiries into matters of concern relating to environmental issues, such as flooding, pollution, and species loss, and their impact on local culture and the health of ecosystems and communities. At each site, we are inviting local people and groups to be part of art-centred co-inquiries, working with artists, scientists and other experts.

Test Sites: Calder

Across the globe, floods, loss of biodiversity and rising temperatures are pushing communities to rethink the way they live with natural and built environments. Environmental change represents a matter of concern that cannot be dealt with uniquely by scientists and decision makers; instead, it is a common ground that requires acts of re-imagination.

In the Calder Valley in Yorkshire, flooding and water pollution have been a problem for over 200 years, and in 2015 a major flood galvanised local communities into taking on a more active role in maintaining and managing the river and waterways, through volunteering and initiatives designed to enhance the resilience of the local ecology. 

In 2017, Arts Catalyst began working with artists, anthropologists and stakeholders from the Calder region to collectively explore water governance and its relationship with health, wellbeing and the resilience of communities and environments. The project asked ‘how can we re-imagine our relationship with the infrastructures that govern our everyday life through practices of care?’ The core team comprised artists Ruth Levene and Invisible Flock, anthropologist Megan Clinch and Arts Catalyst curator Anna Santomauro in conversation with local stakeholders and members of the community.

Over Summer 2019, Arts Catalyst presented a touring programme of installations and participatory activities exploring ways of caring for the ecology and water systems within the Calder Valley. Stops along the way included Hebden Bridge Arts Festival, Mirfield Arts Festival and Castleford.

Scroll down for more information about the works presented. Watch a video about the project here: 

 Ruth Levene | Working Waters

 Working Waters is an artwork by Yorkshire-based artist Ruth Levene that takes the form of a 3D model representation of the Calder Catchment, which aims to foreground the complexities of the valley, its material and immaterial infrastructures and its governance. Populated by a variety of moveable miniature scenes – from canal locks to flood defences, tourists on walking holidays to flooded shops – visitors are invited to direct the scenery around, to activate and exert control over the landscape itself and become a steward of the water systems. Here, a cyclist, a reservoir and a group of protesters become part of a multi-layered micro-reality in which visitors are invited to re-imagine their own agency within the ecology of the valley. Working Waters was made in conjunction with model maker David Riley.

As part of the project, a series of workshops led by member of the Test Sites: Calder co-inquiry team exploring the interdependent relationships within the water system took place.

 Invisible Flock | Duet

 As part of Test Sites: Calder, interactive arts studio Invisible Flock and their collaborators Quicksand presented a new iteration of Duet, their multi-platform digital art project about making connections, and finding space in our daily lives for expression and reflection. Comprising an interactive installation that aimed to explore the relationship between the river Calder and its inhabitants, this new version of the work invited participants from the local area to respond to a series of questions via a temporary, artist-designed website, the answers of which formed an integral part of the finished work. The anonymous glimpses respondents left became part of an evolving, ephemeral artwork of stories, captured and woven into a digital light and text sculpture. By virtually connecting multiple voices from the communities who live along the river, Duet sought to produce a choral and amplified perspective on the role that the river plays within the local ecology of the Calder valley. 

 Printing the Calder Valley

 As part of the activities at Hebden Bridge Arts Festival, visitors were also invited to explore the valley through a printmaking activity led by students from the Architecture MA at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. Each participant was invited to create their own small section of the waterways of the Calder Valley using mono printing and stencils, which were then combined to create a composite picture exploring the environmental issues and experiences of the river Calder. 

 Acting as a form of visual storytelling, the printmaking created a starting point for sparking conversations around some of the topics present within Invisible Flock’s and Ruth Levene's artworks on display at Hebden Bridge Town Hall. 

 SUPPORTERS

Test Sites: Calder was supported by the Wellcome Trust and Arts Council England, with thanks to the Canal and River Trust.

 Duet was originally funded by Arts Council England, the British Council and Leeds Inspired. Co-commissioned by Yorkshire Design Group, Quays Culture, Threshold Studios and the V&A. Supported by East Street Arts, Leeds Bid, Leeds City Council and UnBox Festival.

Visit Arts Catalyst’s website to find out more about the project and the event that took place: https://www.artscatalyst.org/test-sites-calder-valley