Inspired by the Omo River Valley in Southern Ethiopia, Robert Slingsby’s latest exhibition In/Dependence tackles a pressing but often overlooked issue of the environmental impact of dams. 

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Omo River Valley is home to the Karo, Hamar, Mursi and Suri cultures who follow a nomadic pastoral lifestyle. Their group identities are inherently linked to the river; it is essential for their survival, helps demarcate inter-group boundaries and also informs their cultural practices such as their body modification and scarification. With the introduction of the construction of Gibe I, II and III hydroelectric projects which have redirected the flow of the river into dams however, this idyllic anthesis to Ethiopia’s race to modernization is threatened.

Aiming to serve as “both a lament and an impassioned call to action”, Slingsby's In/Dependence includes sculpture, photography and drawings inspired by the Mursi and Karo cultures, which challenge the drive for modernisation at the cost to both the environment and community. 

Also showing concurrently is David Brown's Zoo. 
Opening event Thu Mar 7 at 18:00.