Pororoca

Pororoca: abraz(ç)o de río y mar

Catalina Mejia Moreno (PhD), Colombian based in the UK, is a sea swimmer, spatial practitioner, writer, educator and researcher. Catalina is a Senior Lecturer in Climate Studies at the Spatial Practices Programme in Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, where she leads the climate forum (climate-forum.com), a research, curriculum and exchange platform that brings the urgent focus of the climate and ecological emergency to the core of the Spatial Practices Programme. Through creative practice, activism and critique, she imagines tangible pathways for social and ecological restorations and imaginations.

Felipe Arturo (PhD) is an architect, artist and scholar based in Bogotá. He has an artistic practice surrounding aquatic territories and narratives derived by extractive economies: rubber, sugar, soy, coffee, among others. He is currently developing a series of artistic processes experimenting with palm fibers found in México, Ecuador and Colombia. Arturo is an associate professor at the Faculty of Creative Studies, Universidad del Rosario.

We were initially joined by Gabriela Leandro Pereira (PhD). Together we shared all immersions and conceptualisation of the project. Gabriela is a lecturer and researcher at the School of Architecture and at the Graduate Program in Architecture and Urbanism at Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, Brazil. She coordinates the Body, Discourse and Territory Study Group that develops research and investigations on narratives, histories, memories and epistemologies produced about the city, urbanism, architecture and their erasures, intersected by the debate of racialities and gender.

The seeds of the conversations, experiences, and thinking of Pororoca as a transatlantic dialogue and collaboration were planted in our three immersions in the Paraguaçú River (Salvador/Recôncavo Baiano, Brazil) / 2023, Magdalena-Yuma (Bocas de Ceniza Barranquilla, Colombia) / 2024 and the Thames Estuary (Southend-on-Sea and London, UK) / 2024.

Together we absorbed, observed, felt and listened to the histories and stories of the three brackish waters we jointly decided to immerse ourselves in. We navigated through, and treasured every voice listened to and every life story shared - even our own. We are grateful to all the many voices who generously shared with us throughout these journeys.

THANKS

From Salvador, Bahia (BR) we are grateful to: Dona Maria da Fonte, Wagner Moreira, Ana Caminha, José Américo, Naiane Pinto, João Rodrigo Araújo, Nega (Marizélia Carlos Lopes), Daiane Bonfim, Marina Lopes, Luis Fernando Santos, Uine Lopes, Itana Cirino, Raimundo Augusto.

➞ Stories shared and listened to at: Dique do Tororó, Dona Maria das Fontes, Lagoa do Abaeté, IDEAS, Igreja de Nossa Senhora dos Pretos, Quilombo dom João, Ilha de Maré - Quilombo Bananeiras, Gamboa de Baixo, Acervo de Laje, Porto de Cachoeira, Paraguaçu river, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador.

From London and Southend by Sea, England (UK) we are grateful to: To Jess Rowley, Holly Birtles, Juan Fernando Herrán, Tom Dyckhoff, Cathay Hawley, Maddie Kessler, Verity Monroe, Ceri Hedderwick Turner, Brownes Thames Estuary Boats, Timo Keller, The Thames Estuary Library.

➞ Stories shared and listened at: Southbank Central London, Central Saint Martins UAL, Thames estuary Southend-on- Sea, Shoeburyness, Brixton, Depftord.

From Barranquilla and Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, Colombia (COL) we are grateful to: Aníbal Maldonado, Carlos Amaya, Carlos Parra Rios, Eloísa Berman-Arévalo, Fabiola Acosta, Génesis Meza, Harold Varela, Isabel Cristina Ramírez, Jaider Orsini, Jao Gómez, Joanna Martínez, Karen Moya Y andrea Benítez, Leydon Contreras, Lore Patrón, Luis Mendoza, Manuel Alzamora, María Correa, María Isabel Rueda, María Rodriguez, Olivia Gómez, Población Humedales de Ramsar - Parque Nacional Isla Salamanca, Población Nueva Venecia - Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, Población pesquera y mujeres líderes de Puerto Mocho - Bocas de Ceniza, Wilfrido Esorcia, Yalmar Vargas Tovar, Zara Reales, Zari Hernández

➞ Stories shared and listened to at: Universidad del Norte, Plataforma Caníbal, Bocas de Ceniza, Puerto Mocho, Cienaga de Mallorquin, Isla Salamanca, Nueva Venecia, Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, Puerto Colombia, Barranquilla.

We are very grateful to re:arc Institute for their continuous support and trust. Our special and heartfelt thanks go to Alice Grandoit-Šutka.

CREDITS

To credit this project please use: Pororoca, a project led by Catalina Mejia Moreno in collaboration with Felipe Arturo and Gabriela Leandro Pereira. Funded by re:arc institute public discourse initiative. 2023/2024. All rights reserved.

To credit a piece please credit the individual authors of each piece (as credited in each piece) and include the credit line: Pororoca, a project led by Catalina Mejia Moreno in collaboration with Felipe Arturo and Gabriela Leandro Pereira. Funded by re:arc institute public discourse initiative. 2023/2024. All rights reserved.

Credits videos and photographs

Website Design: Villalba Studio

Brazil: Colectivo Trama @trama_org

Colombia: Alejandro Manjarrez @alejomanjarrez (video),

Carlos Parra Rios @carlosparrarios (photographs)

UK: Nica Rawhani-Sabet @nicasabet