Deluge

Linde Ex, Dana Olărescu & Oscar Van Heek

2022-2025 Saltmarsh

Begun in 2022, Art Walk Projects invited three artists to collaborate on a project that would link three saltmarsh locations: in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria; East Lothian, Scotland; and The Wadden Sea, Netherlands. Initially taking the form of a travelling residency relay, the project has since evolved into each artist spending time in each of the other locations, with a planned exhibition for 2025 to be hosted at Art Gene (Barrow in Furness).

3 artists . 3 coasts . 3 partnering organisations

Connecting three tidal wetland saltmarshes

Artists: Linde Ex (Groningen, Netherlands), Dana Olărescu (Barrow-in-Furness & London, England), Oscar Van Heek (Edinburgh, Scotland)


Deluge is a collaboration between three artists and three saltmarsh habitats (UK/Netherlands) exploring tidal wetland ecosystems across the sites of Aberlady, East Lothian, Scotland; Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England; Schiermonikoog, The Wadden Sea, Netherlands. 

First begun in 2022, commencing with a relay-style travelling residency the three artists took turns to visit and spend time in each of the saltmarshes, through which this series of works has since developed and been produced. 

A series of subsequent public engagement events took place across the three years with the artists leading walks and workshops within the three habitats, to explore alternative outdoor advertising, shapes of the land and drawing which has fed into each of the artists research across this period. Details of a number of these engagements and workshops are detailed below.


Deluge takes its name from a landscape constantly under the threat of water, being flooded twice a day by salt or brackish water; a habitat that helps to protect our shorelines from erosion and slows down flooding. 

This three-year project seeks to embrace the ecological value of these rare, often overlooked habitats with each artist creating works in response.

Each artist tells a story of their different engagements with these fragile landscapes and their communities, of their journeys between each locality crossing land, coast and sea, and of their different methods of enquiry.

In this exhibition the saltmarsh is considered as a wasteland, a space historically without use; a landscape initially underwhelming in its features, in which human presence has been largely absent and reimagined into a realm of shapes, speculation, and imagination; or, a land required to continually adapt to provide shelter, emblematic of our resilience at a time of increasing climate change. 

Collectively the exhibition considers how to value, engage with and take care of these precious landscapes, largely forgotten and unnoticed, yet vital transitional zones between land and sea.

Deluge was initiated by curator Rosy Naylor, Art Walk Projects (Edinburgh), and created in partnership with Art Gene (Barrow-in-Furness) and curator Anna-Rosja Haveman (Art & Environment, University of Groningen, Netherlands). 





Oscar van Heek

Above image: Oscar van Heek 2022


About the artists

Linde Ex (The Netherlands) is an artist, artistic researcher and teacher. She lives and works in Groningen, the Netherlands. Linde is interested in other-than- human perspectives in an ecological context. Her work process can be described as a series of attempts to explore and create connections and understandings between humans and more-than-human-others. Linde works from a broad research approach. She often works together with other art disciplines and scientists who stimulate her to consider other perspectives. 

Dana Olărescu (b. 1985, România) is a London-based socially engaged artist working at the intersection of installation, performance, and social design, whose practice challenges minority exclusion and environmental injustice. Through participatory methodologies that democratise access to art and knowledge, she aims to give under-served migrant groups and people habitually excluded from decision-making processes the agency to become active co-producers of culture. 

Her work has been showcased by leading arts institutions and platforms, including Tate Modern, the London Short Film Festival, the National Maritime Museum, the Low Carbon Design Institute, Art Gene, ArtHouse Jersey, x-church, in-situ, Pier Projects, Incheon Art Platform (South Korea), and Tanzhaus NRW (Germany).

Oscar Van Heek (b. 1965, Weesp, The Netherlands) is an Edinburgh based fine art photographer, film maker and writer. He has written and directed the film Dark Water a unique experimental collaboration with Scottish Opera and composer Malcolm Lindsay, exploring new ways to create narrative structure. Dark Water opened at Palm Springs festival.

This was followed by The Iron Harvest, a video installation and series of fine art prints, detailing the detonation of live world war one ammunition on the former battle grounds of Ypres. It was nominated for the Scottish Landscape Awards and shown at the Edinburgh City Art Centre 2024; at Sonica Glasgow 2022 and Somerset House in London and nominated for the Sony world Photography awards 2020.

In 2023 Oscar had a major exhibition at the Scottish Poetry Library entitled –Waterfalls – a unique collaboration with authors and poets, including; Kathleen Jamie; Jen Hadfield and Cal Flyn.  Current work includes The Wastelands and Color Flora.

Oscar regularly shows at Royal Scottish Academy’s Annual Exhibition.

 




Linde Ex 2023 – Barrow-in-Furness, Edinburgh, Waddensea






Artist Dana Olarescu leading walking workshop at Aberlady Saltmarsh (2023), with contributions from Helena Simmons (Green Shores)

Artist Camille Aboudaram leading walking workshop session around billboard sites of Portobello 2023 (in association with Dana Olarescu)

Curator Anna-Rosja Haveman (University of Groningen) talk at Art Walk Hub 2023

Artist Linde Ex leading walkshop at Aberlady Nature Reserve (January 2025)

Drawing workshop with Linde Ex (January 2025)

Upcoming

DELUGE – Exhibition at Art Gene, Barrow-in-Furness
Artists: Linde Ex, Dana Olarescu, Oscar Van Heek
with writing commissioned from Tom Jeffreys
Fri 28 February to Fri 28 March 2025, Opening: Thu 27 February 6.30-9pm

DELUGE – A conversation and community conference
that concludes two years of research and work focused around the Deluge project, featuring a series of conversations and presentations from artists, ecologists and salt marsh experts
Fri 28 February 2025, 1-5pm at Art Gene, Barrow-in-Furness BOOK HERE


DELUGE is supported by funding from Creative Scotland.