SICK!, Kulttuuriosuuskunta ILME,
The Finnish Institute in UK & Ireland
Manchester, UK & Oulu, Finland
November 2026 - ongoing
Ecologies of Repair is a body of research presented in an AR sculpture, imagined as a future protector of two post-industrial water bodies - Harpurhey Ponds & Reservoir in Manchester, UK and the Oulujoki River in Oulu, UK.
The work presents a response to the question ‘What would it mean to make an artwork for a river?’, following an extensive period of collaboration with scientists (University of Manchester, University of Oulu), park rangers, river activists, local communities, archivists and ecologists.
The work brings together multiple perspectives and approaches to how we might ‘heal’ our polluted landscapes, speculating with both science and spirituality.
The work features two plants; the water violet, an endangered species thriving in the ‘blasted landscape’ of Harpurhey Ponds & Reservoir and the biosorbent Willow Moss, which is currently the focus of bioremediation efforts from mining pollution in Northern Finland. Both quietly reveal a different kind of intelligence, making visible the unseen work of restoration already taking place around us.
The final stage of the artwork will consider how ecological care can be an artwork of itself in a ‘queering of the work party’. This will utilise art practices and processes alongside ecological restoration techniques.
Commissioned as part of the European Capital of Culture 2026. Cultural Climate Change in Oulu, Finland.
In collaboration with;
Natalie Byrd, University of Manchester
Kaisa Lehosmaa, University of Oulu
Tiina Leiviskä, University of Oulu
Nicholas Delap (AR Technician)
Manchester City Council Parks Department
Groundwork, Greater Manchester
Mersy Rivers Trust
Machester City Council Archives
Members of the Local Community in Harpurhey, Manchester and Oulu, Finland