Water Bodies is part of an ongoing project by speculative writer, artist and pleasure activist Ama Josephine Budge. The project thinks with the river Thames as a site of history, folklore and possibility. Over several months, Ama has been walking beside the river, gathering its debris and creating a series of sculptural anti-monuments. These anti-monuments honour the stories of those who arrived upon its shores by force, those that came filled with dreams and those for whom the Thames is still a sacred passage between past, present and future.
The final iteration of Water Bodies will be presented as a full mixed-media work as part of the Cultural Reforesting Exhibition from 27 March – 31 August 2025. Cultural Reforesting is a series of artist-led, multi-disciplinary projects aiming to help us renew our relationship with and as part of nature, set in the context of the ecological crises of our time.
Ama’s research is in partnership with St Mary’s University, Twickenham and the Being Human Festival.