Confluency: Development of an Interactive Mobile Art Exhibit and Resource on Water Justice in South Africa and Canada

Abstract

Water justice-equitable, reliable access to clean, sufficient water, and the knowledge and mechanisms related to its management-is a key global social justice and environmental issue. Cape Town, South Africa, is an important context to explore water justice due to its 2018 water crisis. Water scarcity intersects with other issues, including health disparities, food insecurity, and gender inequity, in turn requiring citizen engagement in water-related issues and knowledge sharing to produce sustainable, contextually relevant solutions. The arts are powerful tools for citizen engagement and knowledge sharing and translation in research, as well as social and environmental action. In this Resources, Frameworks, and Perspectives article, we outline the methods and lessons learned from developing Confluency, an arts-based exhibit and resource that aimed to generate and share knowledge on water justice issues between academics, practitioners, artists, and activists in Canada and South Africa. We detail the methods used to develop the Confluency exhibit and resource, including preparing the art exhibit framework, facilitating art workshops, designing interactive stations, and implementing the interactive art exhibit. Lessons learned are shared from implementing Confluency in diverse South African and Canadian settings. These case studies signal that the methodological approaches used in designing and implementing this exhibit and resource hold promise for providing opportunities to reflect on, and learn about, global and local water justice issues. This resource could be expanded to engage communities in research, policy, and practices regarding water justice in other diverse global settings to advance health, equity, and rights.

Keywords: Canada; South Africa; arts-based methods; arts-based research; equity; methodology; water access.