FourthLand
Artists weaving new myths of land and people
Vasiliki
By the River, a personal remembering ritual growing to be collective
An offering of meditative hours — a personal ritual that becomes collective.
I have always wished to live by a river, and recently I realized I am—but it is so unseen, so forgotten, that its presence feels erased. Yet countless beings inhabit it: humans, plants, animals, and the flows of water from the mountain. This space offers a site for reflection, care, and collective involvement.
I seeks to trace the river’s memory, to understand its history, and to explore how it continues to shape and be shaped by the city and its communities.
Through this work, the river becomes both collaborator and witness. By engaging with it, we cultivate attentive presence, co-healing, and collective listening. Silence, care, and movement become methods of radical attention and remembrance.
Care practises with the river.
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Initial engagements through small acts of care: cleaning, offering attention, simple gestures of presence.
- Find organsation
-Invite people to help
I wish to get to get to know you.
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Silent visits - stay there.
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observe its flow, listen to its voice, meet tis inhabitants
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Learn about its past and current ecological and social condition.
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Listening to the river’s stories
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Research on collectives that work with the river Podonftis and rivers in greece
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Research on artistic projects
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Find its map
Embodied Rituals and Care Practices -
Walking together with others in silence, gathering impressions
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NOTEBOOK on a embroidery, recording observations, stories, and images, creatures i meet there
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Rituals, slow walks, or silent workshops that allow the river to shape the experience rather than imposing pre-set activities.
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Poetic Mapping of th erea
Meeting the people who live by the river and asking:
How come they come to live in this area?
What is their relationship to the river?
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What would they say is the connection of the history of the area with the river?
How do they imagine the stream in 20 years?
How do they imagine the area when it had the streams?
What would they say if they were the river?
By the stream in Kent
Resting & Dreaming Workshop by the River
What does it mean to sleep with the river? Can I rest next to you?
Participants are invited to experience rest and shared sleep by the river—whether in moments of silence or actual sleep.
Upon waking, they take 15 minutes to write down what they heard, remembered, or what thoughts and dreams came to mind.
How can we dream together for a future? How can we share our dreams and fears? This workshop is an invitation to explore how we might imagine and create together.
During moments of silence, participants choose a sentence to write on a piece of fabric. Together, we then embroider these sentences using black and gold thread, creating a collective tapestry of our thoughts and dreams
The Eye In My Seed
1.
There is no independence in nature:
I was born in the sea and the sea was born in me.
In the sun I write the moon; I feel my feet of soil.
Withdraw from waves with caution.
In writing we share the space between signs. Where there is no expectation of belonging.
I dream of fear and wake up in the mist of thoughts, wishing a cure would be as inevitable as aging.
The poem continues here
