Marshbodies
2024MARSH BODIES is a 3-part podcast series, released each month from December 2023 to February 2024, developed as part of beneath the pavement, the marshes, a new creative programme bringing artists, activists and ecologists together with local environmental and community groups working in Bexley to explore the ground beneath our feet.
The series follows the water of Bexley’s marshlands through silt and mud, to the cells within plant walls, ocean currents, brackish ponds, in the species living within the clouds and steam above our heads, and the water within our own cellular bodies. Each episode explores a quality of water that is amplified within the marshlands that FILTER, ERODE and LEAK.
FILTER uncovers how the built environment is sieved through bodies of reeds, bivalves, water voles, ducks, and local volunteers. ERODE explores local resistance to the industrialisation and drainage of Bexley’s marshlands, most recently through a bid to build carbon-capture plants upon Crossness Nature Reserve. LEAK discusses how wet places seep into city operations, our cultural understandings, and civic responsibilities.
The word podcast is an abbreviation from the 2000s “Ipod broadcast.” The etymology of “Broadcast” is related to radios and other data transmissions. It originally comes from the spreading and scattering of seeds with a long arm. The spread of species has always been about the spread of information.
This podcast hopes to spread the seeds of community resistance within the ever-industrialising marshes of Bexley, London. Each episode features an interview with local residents and activists, including Anji Peterson from Crossness River Action Group, Ralph Todd from Friends of Crossness Nature Reserve, and Donna Zimmer from Friends of Crayford Marshes.
Marshbodies was written and produced by Anyu Chan and Rosa Whiteley, Commissioned by Three Rivers and Funded by Arts Council England, with sound design by Jacob Norris and Alice Western.
Release Dates:
- FILTER: 13 December 2023
- ERODE: 10 January 2024
- LEAK: 7 February 2024
Available on Spotify here