Two Waterside Dusk Performances Close Estuary 2021

September 16, 2021

Estuary 2021 has announced two final events that will bring to an end the second edition of the large-scale arts festival that celebrates the lives, historical impact and landscape of remarkable Thames Estuary. SILT and Nattsong are both commissioned as part of Estuary 2021 which began in May, with the main festival programme taking place across locations in South Essex and North Kent, as well as online.

SILT is an outdoor, site-specific performance created by Arbonauts, the artists Helen Galliano and Dimitri Launder, and is commissioned by Metal for Estuary 2021.

SILT is made as a response to the climate crisis. It draw on the dystopian tides of our times, exploring the challenge of rising sea levels and imagining how humans might evolve beyond an impending climate disaster. It is performed live at dusk in the water of a tidal pool by a group of community performers made up of open water swimmers from Essex, Kent and London.

Taking place from 24th to 25th September, visitors can expect to be captivated by the performance that takes its name from the fertile sediment found in abundance in the Thames Estuary, between the land and the sea. This transgressive material, shifts, changes and overlaps providing a metaphor for our present and future selves and how we will be forced to adapt when there is no separation between land and ocean.

Devised in the water with the participants over the past months, working with bodies of different ages, shapes, strengths and experiences mirrors the hope, resilience and adaptability of humans. All themes that are explored within the performance.

SILT has been commissioned by Metal for Estuary 2021 and supported by Arts Council England and the DCMS via Creative Estuary and Estuary 2021 and tickets are free.

SILT is performed as the tide turns form high to low tide, and as dusk falls - a transitional moment between this day and the next, between the present and the future.

SILT has been supported by Arts Council England and the DCMS via Creative Estuary. Tickets are free. To book visit www.estuaryfestival.com