HF ArtsFest Event: “River to river, coast to coast”, 8 June 2019☞ Story Of Books ☞

Story Of Books is partnering with Re:Centre and HF ArtsFest to bring the “River to river, coast to coast” event on Saturday, 8 June 2019 for the Hammersmith and Fulham Arts Festival.

Event details

Ticket: £3 per person (includes drinks and nibbles). Available to buy here.
Date: Saturday, 8 June 2019
Time: 10.30 am – 12.30 pm (door opens at 10.15 am)
Venue: Re:Centre, Thames Wharf, Rainville Road, Hammersmith, W6 9HA, London, UK
Nearest tube station: Hammersmith (10-min walk)

Please check for regular updates on Facebook here.

“River to river, coast to coast” is a creative dialogue and artists workshop about the waterway and the environment. Participating artists will be sharing their discoveries at Re:Centre, a wellness centre and artists workspace situated by the riverside in Hammersmith.

The event inspiration came from photography projects by Mark King, Publisher, The Point and Zarina Holmes, Photographer, After The Rain, who have been documenting the seaside communities in Devonshire, UK, and Pangkor Island, Malaysia respectively, and the impact brought by water pollution.

Londoners go through two million single-use plastic water bottles a day, one of the highest rates of bottled water consumption in the country. Some of these plastics don’t get recycled. They end up in our waterways.

*The Point*, Issue 7 is out on April 2019. Another powerful and evocative photography edition documenting the coastlines and surfing community in Croyde, Devonshire, UK.

After-The-Rain-Mockup — *After The Rain* Number 1 is a limited edition magazine that will be out in June 2019. This issue features Pangkor Island, which is situated in the Malacca Straits – one of the busiest maritime routes in the world.

For HF ArtsFest 2019, the two photographers will join forces with Re:Centre Artists in Residence, Natalie Cronin and Kate Lowe, who will talk about their upcoming collaborative project, Thamesis, that’s inspired by the objects found in the River Thames. The artists will invite guests to embark on a studio tour to see their ongoing projects.

Kate Lowe art — From left: *Sometimes there’s no current* (Mixed media on linen 150 x 190 cm) and Gathering by artist Kate Lowe. “My practice continues to plumb the process and ramifications of our technology-induced retreat from human interaction.” Lowe works across a variety of media including painting, collage, drawing, text, photography and installation.

Natalie Cronin art — From left: *Our mutual friend* and *River bones* by installation artist Natalie Cronin. Natalie works with discarded materials such as bones, stone, broken glass to imagine new possibilities and explore identity.

The latest editions of The Point and After The Rain magazines will be showcased at the event, alongside the books that informed the artists on their works.

At this event, Story Of Books will be launched as the imprint of GLUE Studio with After The Rain as it debut publication.

Some statistics about water pollution

Londoners go through two million single-use plastic water bottles a day, one of the highest rates of bottled water consumption in the country. (Thames21.org.uk, September 2018)
Malaysia became the top destination for US plastic waste, importing more than 192,000 metric tons in the first 10 months of 2018 — a +132% jump from previous year, after China banned nearly all global plastic waste imports. Plastic waste is being illegally smuggled to Malaysia by being falsely declared as another type of imports that do not require a permit. (LA Times, December 2018; The Star, April 2019)
A plastic bottle can last for 450 years in the marine environment, slowly fragmenting into smaller and smaller pieces which eventually end up microscopic but never truly go away. (Surfers Against Sewage, 2019)
Recent studies have revealed marine plastic pollution in 100% of marine turtles, 59% of whales, 36% of seals and 40% of seabird species examined. (Surfers Against Sewage, 2019)