Exhibit photo
Photo credit: Kamvelihle Netjies

Confluency: A Mobile Art Exhibit on Water Justice

The Confluency is a brainchild of a water justice-focused colloquium showcasing Sub Saharan Africa thought leadership and best practices while fostering multi-disciplinary exchanges, resulting in an interactive, mobile art exhibit, linking Canada and South Africa.

For more information about the confluency visit the Future Water Confluency colloquium web site.


Date: October 10 to October 20, 2023

Time: 8:00 am to 10:00 pm

Location: Carleton University, MacOdrum Library second floor


Video by FPA Communications

The Confluency colloquium and art exhibit, led by the University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work Prof. Carmen Logie (as the Principal Investigator) and Dr Sarah Van Borek, postdoctoral fellow and Confluency Coordinator, are supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Co-applicants on the grant include: Dr. Lina Taing, the United Nations University’s Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) at McMaster University (Hamilton, Canada); Professor Caetano Dorea, University of Victoria (Victoria, Canada); Professor Peter Newman (UofT FIFSW); and Dr. Lesley Gittings, Western University (London, Canada). Collaborators include: Dr. Kirsty Carden, the University of Cape Town’s Future Water research institute (Cape Town, South Africa); Dr. Gill Black, the Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation (Cape Town , South Africa); and Distinguished Professor Heila Lotz-Sisitka, Rhodes University’s Environmental Learning Research Centre (Makhanda, South Africa). 

An awestriking array of media will be displayed, from murals and photography, to fibre art sculptures, comics, songs, poetry, audio-visual installations, and more. Works speak to intersecting water justice issues such as gender and health inequity and the experiences of different affected groups including Indigenous peoples, traditional healers, and refugees.

Visitors are encouraged to interact with the exhibit in fun and diverse ways: adding to the blanks in a comic, stitching a textile mosaic with materials from beach cleanups, and grooving on a dancefloor made of QR codes linking to songs created and performed by Kenyan youth, and more – all while learning about an urgent issue linked to climate change and equity.     

An exhibition photo
Photo credit: Dona van Eeden.


Host:
Carleton University, School of Social Work

Principal Investigator:
Professor Carmen Logie, University of Toronto Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Contact Person at Carleton:
Dr Tsitsi Mpofu-Mketwa, Assistant Professor, Carleton University, School of Social Work

Confluency Coordinator:
Dr Sarah Van Borek, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Toronto Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Confluency Research Team:
Principal Investigator: Professor Carmen Logie, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (FISFW), University of Toronto (UofT). Co-applicants: Dr. Lina Taing, the United Nations University’s Institute for Water, Environment and Health at McMaster University; Professor Caetano Dorea, University of Victoria; Professor Peter Newman (UofT FIFSW); and Dr. Lesley Gittings, Western University. Collaborators: Dr. Kirsty Carden, the University of Cape Town’s Future Water research institute; Dr. Gill Black, the Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation; and Distinguished Professor Heila Lotz-Sisitka, Rhodes University’s Environmental Learning Research Centre. Supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Art Workshop Facilitators:
Soeraya Davids, Bulelwa Somlota, Lutfiyah Tities, Chevon Smit, Amanda Leo, Gracia Fortuin, Siwaphiwe Rodolo, Xolelwa (Nomtha) Mkhetho, Nolufefe Tubeni


A photo of a mural
Photomontage of  Pathways to Water Resilient South African Cities (PaWS) Stormwater Pond Mural, mural artist team Handcontrol 360. Photo credit: Dona van Eeden.