River

The river chapter establishes the case for artistic thinking with bodies of water in the curatorial theory of the Hydrocene, specifically in relation to rivers in the Nordic and Oceanic regions. It begins with an investigation of the hydrofeminist concept of ‘gestationality’ within the work of Kati Roover, and then looks to the waterfall as a site for resistance in the work of Hanna Ljungh and Anja Örn. Following this is an investigation of exhibitions which see rivers as the sediment of culture in Let the River Flow in Norway and rīvus, 23rd Biennale of Sydney. The chapter looks at the work of First Nations artists Cass Lynch, Julie Gough and Deborah Cheetham as well as Badger Bates who is a river defender for the Barka Darling River, as well as Gabriella Hirst alongside Bonita Ely. The artists of the river chapter have ways of re-negotiating human–river relations from which we can learn and the curatorial theory of the Hydrocene offers us a way to learn with and from the river.