Art duo FRAUD aims to follow the lead of successful Yorkshire effort to clean up local river
A London-based art duo called FRAUD are seeking to clean up a section of Hogsmill River, taking a leaf out of the work by the Ilkley Clean River Group in Yorkshire, which secured the UK’s first ever bathing status for their local River Wharfe.
FRAUD artists, Audrey Samson and Francisco Gallardo, plan to use their upcoming exhibition to produce an art-led DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs) application to designate a stretch of the Hogsmill River as bathing water.
A Simultaneous Agreement will open on the 22nd of April at the Stanley Picker Gallery.
“We started to think about how can we develop a practice that promotes or cultivates the indivisibility of body, and water, and land,” explained Samson, “so that we can start to understand the circulation of pollutants also as part of ourselves. It’s not just the river. We are part of this system.”
The Hogsmill River, which wraps around the Picker Gallery, is one of only 260 chalk rivers worldwide. These lowland streams are fed by springs from chalk aquifers, which make them some of the rarest freshwater ecosystems in the world.
It is not the first time that artists are drawn to the banks of the Hogsmill. Most famously, in 1851, English painter John Everett Millais set his celebrated painting Ophelia in its rose-petalled waters.
Today, however, the river’s reputation is being increasingly overshadowed by the environmental concerns raised by reports of sewage pollution.
“We immediately became aware, by doing certain activities with the biodiversity network, that a lot of volunteers were getting sick because of the terrible state of the water,” Samson said.
In response, the artist duo organised a community gathering last Tuesday for conversations about the river’s health.
The gathering opened with a talk by Dr. Becky Malby, founder of the Ilkley Clean River Group. FRAUD facilitated this dialogue between generations of river campaigners, using art as a means to hold space, listen, and divulge.
According to Gallardo, FRAUD’s own project was modelled on the Ilkley Group’s campaign model.
“Right when we started with our fellowship [at the Stanley Picker Gallery],” explained Gallardo, “we discovered that someone had applied for the bathing spot not only for the desire to swim, but also this idea of a way into the problem of river toxicity in England.”
“Sometimes it’s about rethinking legal infrastructure not just to understand and learn how the process works, but also to use them to open up systems of information or accountability.”
FRAUD said they hope to see the Hogsmill River return to its cleanest and safest version, not just to the benefit of people.
“I think for humans to be able to bathe would be lovely, but it is not enough. We think that all species should be able to bathe and live safely in this water.”
For more information, visit the Stanley Picker Gallery’s website.
