Embankment | 2011
Video installation
This is the first of a series of watervideos. The case of Bangladesh impressively shows that the livable and arable space is by no means absolute and fix, but a constantly fluctuating, mobile mass. With the expansion of the world seas, Bangladesh is going to lose considerable amount of land. Yet the sediments carried by the three major rivers from the Himalaya to the Bengal Delta increase its surface continuously. This natural process is stimulated by land accreditation practices that help secure new land by encouraging silt to deposit around the shore rather than wash out into the sea. The video documents gigantic community efforts in building protective mud embankments. Hands on work by thousands without any mechanic help is what climate change will mean for most people in the Bengal Delta and elsewhere in the global south.
EMBANKMENT will be premiered at the Lentos Museum, Linz in February 2012