Archive

The installation created by Harvey Dimond took its title from Thoreau’s description of slavery, and explored the subject of Black Ecologies in relation to Walden. The audio work for the exhibition was produced in collaboration with the Johannesburg-based artist and writer Lisa Asivile Mpoposhe, who provided voice and translation in isiXhosa. It follows a river from its mountain source to its final destination in the ocean, both South Africa and Massachussets. Photographic textile works were produced in the Outeniqua Mountains in the Western Cape region of South Africa. Printed large-scale on taffeta, they reference the ways in which Thoreau writes about water in Walden, as well as how water was used as a method of colonisation and control by the British and Dutch settlers.