The Sound of Shanghai | River Biographies: Conversations Across Waters

This roundtable will adopt the “relational ecology” angle from River Biographies and discuss how rivers connect our bodies, memories, and grief, probing what it means to reform our identities and agency across cultures. The project traverses through waterways, cities, and human bodies, examining topics such as memory, embodiment, eco-grief, the concept of personality, and water politics through cross-species, cross-media lenses.

Resident artists Lundahl and Seitl from Istanbul Modern will join us online to share how the project began and their global practices with rivers worldwide. Guest Cao Jiamin will talk about the Shanghai collaboration; Dr. Zhou Le will discuss the relationship between bodies and environments; and guests from South Africa’s “Soil & Water” project will also join remotely to share their perspectives.