A free Barrow exhibition will celebrate the area’s tidal wetlands, highlighting the hidden beauty and importance of this often ignored landscape.
Deluge, at Art Gene from March 4 to March 15, shines a light on the many vital roles played by saltmarshes and asks people to look again at this misunderstood terrain.
The exhibition is a collaboration between three international artists – fine art illustrator and installation artist Linde Ex, installation and performance artist Dana Olărescu and photographer and filmmaker Oscar Van Heek.
Over three years, Art Walk Projects invited the artists to spend time at three notable saltmarsh sites. The locations were in Walney and Askam, in Aberlady near Edinburgh and on Schiermonikoog, one of the Wadden islands in the North Netherlands.
Leading walks and workshops with local people within the three habitats, they then developed a series of works inspired by the tidal ecosystems, which will be shown in Barrow for the first time.
The exhibition hopes to make people look again and find the wonder within these coastal flatlands, which have even been described as ‘blandscape’.
The artworks on display include larger than life photographic panoramas, pencil drawings, audio stories and installations. Together, they invite audiences to take a closer look at the saltmarsh habitat and consider its importance in the fight against climate breakdown.
A free half day conference at Art Gene on Friday February 28 will give people more opportunity to explore the importance of saltmarshes.
Speakers include Nick O’Keefee, coastal expert and lead advisor at Natural England, Charlotte Braungardt, environmental scientist and ecologist Jenny Holden.
Deluge was initiated by Rosy Naylor of Art Walk Projects (Edinburgh), and curated in partnership with Barrow’s Art Gene and Anna-Rosja from University of Groningen, Netherlands). It is supported by funding from Creative Scotland (Art Walk Projects).
Rosy said: “In this exhibition the saltmarsh is considered as a wasteland, a space historically without use; a landscape initially underwhelming in its features.
“It 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.”
Maddi Nicholson artist, founder and director, Art Gene, said: “Deluge takes its name from a landscape constantly under the threat of water, being flooded twice a day by the tides. It is a generous habitat that helps to protect our shorelines from erosion and slows down flooding.
“Saltmarshes play so many vital roles, including providing nurseries for fish and hiding places for many mammals, birds and insects.
“And we are only recently starting to realise their importance in the fight against climate breakdown. Saltmarshes act as giant carbon sinks, locking away carbon for millennia if undisturbed, and they also play a role in absorbing run-off from farms, filtering out herbicides, pesticides and heavy metals.
“We hope this exhibition makes people stop and consider the rare and crucial landscape on their doorstep and start to see the beauty and wonder within it.”
Barrow’s coast includes around 130 hectares of mudflats, saltmarsh, beaches, and freshwater marshes within South Walney Nature Reserves, as well as the North Walney National Nature reserve, the Duddon Estuary and Morecambe Bay. These areas are recognised for their ecological significance, with large sections designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
The UK only has about 45,000 hectares of natural saltmarsh remaining.
Deluge is free and is at Art Gene, Bath Street, Barrow, from Tuesday March 4 to Saturday March 15 from noon to 4pm. (Closed Sundays and Monday).
