The vital element of water is the connecting theme. The graphic protagonists of Water’s Edge gather on the banks of an imaginary river. The individual pictures (90 cm high, 120 cm or 190 cm long) contribute to a ribbon whose overall length is open.
Water’s Edge is a graphic journey around the world that contrasts and connects different levels. In terms of content, the focus is on people from different continents who encounter each other on the canvas and start a graphic dialog. Realistically rendered faces meet abstract forms, which are inspired by natural shapes.
Teil 1 – Kenya, Kikuyu and Maasai.
Facing little or no rain the rural Kikuyu population has to fetch water from the river with an oxcart. Rain barrels and drilled wells are evidence of the scarcity of the water supply.
In 2007 a bloody battle broke out between the Maasai and the Nairobi government, who wanted to dam the Maasai’s only river in order to supply the capital with water.
Teil 2 – Brazil.
A flood disaster took place in Teresópolis (state of Rio de Janeiro) in January 2011 and destroyed inhabited valleys.
In Bahia (further North) many people still have no access to running water. People meet at public wells to wash and fetch water together. The coastal region is criss-crossed by river deltas, which are the living environment and lifeline of the people.
Teil 3 – Europe, Montserrat / Catalonia.
The first picture element deals with the special aura of the mountain of Montserrat and its significance for the inhabitants near a dried-up river and their history shaped by the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939.
