Water rising is a celebration of the river, a good flood. Floods happen because people settled in floodplains. Had we left the space for the rivers to flood freely, water rising would be life-giving. Thanks to that very phenomenon, river valleys are rich in riparian forests, the most valuable habitats and ecosystems. We got to delve into the topic of water rising this year on the Oder river. We headed there on the World Rivers Day to celebrate the place where the river’s embankment was moved away to return some space to the river and thus create an environmentally-friendly detention basin. The “Water rising” project is all about communities, sisterhood, friendship and motherhood. It’s about how activism brings people together and strengthens relationships, but also how it works the other way round – how friendships and relationships can make us efficient male and female activists. It is also about good anger and collective action.
Cecylia Malik
Painter, visual artist and environmental activist. Author of many artistic projects, among which the most important ones are: “365 Trees”, “6 Rivers”, “Białka’s Braids”. Co-initiator of the “Alcon Blue Collective” campaign to protect Krakow’s Zakrzówek from urbanisation and co-creator of the cyclical “Critical Water Mass” event on the Vistula river. Co-founder of the CSW Wiewiórka association. Initiator of the “Polish Mothers on the stump” protest against LEX Szyszko in 2017. Member of the Save the Rivers Coalition. Author and leader of Polish social campaign “River Sisters”. Author of the documentary “Paradise on Earth” about the love of a homeless couple. Winner of many awards, including Poland’s Ecology in 2017 and Katarzyna Kobro Award in 2018. Cecylia Malik brings art and activism together, cares for the meaningfulness and effectiveness of her actions, and together with various experts she organises protests in the form of happenings and works of arts in public space.