Watershed launches in Parliament ahead of the River Summit & Festival
On Tuesday evening I was invited to the Upper Waiting Hall of the House of Commons, at the opening reception for Watershed: A River's Call to Action a powerful touring art installation by Laura Dekker, Angela Mellen and Liz Sergeant of XAP, Cross Arts Projects, invited by Daisy Cooper MP.
Watershed bears witness to the crisis facing our chalk streams, one of the rarest habitats on Earth, with only 260 in the entire world and 85% of them in the UK. The installation grew out of the artists' deep concern for the River Ver, a unique chalk stream near St Albans that was subjected to thousands of hours of sewage dumping in 2024 and continuously for the first half of 2025. The response they created is extraordinary - a huge cascading willow sculpture hand-harvested from local rivers, striking visual poetry and an immersive interactive video installation, each one made in direct response to the local landscape and community it inhabits.
Bringing Watershed to Parliament while the Clean Water Bill is being debated and the Chalk Streams (UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site) Bill progresses through Parliament is timely in every way. Art in the room where decisions are made and the reality of what is happening to our rivers, placed directly in front of the people who are supposed to change it. Even Andy Burnham whisked through after his speech that evening.
Meeting Laura, Angela and Liz in person was wonderful - their passion, knowledge and commitment to the communities surrounding these rivers shines through everything they have created.
What makes this even more special for Future for Water is that Liz mentioned the River Summit in her speech and in September, Watershed comes to The River Summit and Festival on 4th September in Henley-on-Thames. Art, science, policy and community all in the same room - that is exactly what Future for Water is for and personally I can’t wait.
Creative expression is a huge part of Future for Water. We are updating some of the fabulous artists coming to The River Summit & Festival this year regularly here.