Encounters on the Tigris & Sound Lab
As part of the World Weather Network, artists and writers will share weather reports about their local weather and climate for a year starting on June 21, 2022. The marshes of southern Iraq, with their significant cultural and historical importance, are threatened by dams, neglect, conflict, and rising temperatures despite being named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016.
Ruya Foundation has commissioned two art projects in Iraq to address the country’s water crisis. The projects, led by Iraqi artists Sherko Abbas and Akeel Khreef, will explore the impact of rising temperatures on the Tigris River and southern marshes.
The Sound Lab
Sherko Abbas is building a mobile weather station raft called the Tigris River Sound Lab, which will record sounds made by the weather using instruments and objects such as water, wind, and rainfall.marshes.
Encounters on the Tigris
Encounters on the Tigris is a films that trace artist Sherko Abbas’ journey along Iraq’s Tigris River in June and October 2022 in search of its mythical past and present ecological reality. The film presents encounters with different communities who live along the river: with farmers, fishermen, scholars and musicians who share oral histories of the river in the form of songs, anecdotes and stories that reveal how the dramatic effects of climate change across the region are interwoven with the country’s ancient culture and unique historical experience.
Encounters on the Tigris & Sound Lab
Read about WWN and this project
By Sherko Abbas
