the tides of our tears, Raqs Media Collective
Until 24 July 2025, part of Richmond Arts & Ideas Festival 2025
‘A wave in one language can be a Tsunami in another’.
Renowned Delhi-based contemporary art group Raqs Media Collective are working with Invisible Dust to present a trail of augmented reality poems along the regularly flooding Thames riverside path, ‘The Tideway’, as part of Richmond Arts & Ideas Festival 2025.*
Set against the backdrop of the river’s extreme tides—rising up to seven metres—the works resonate with Richmond’s deep ties to the Thames and its shifting, often unpredictable nature.
As the UK Environment Agency notes, climate change is intensifying “Richmond’s ‘peak river flow, sea level rise, wind speed, wave height and storm surge”, leading to more frequent and severe flooding events.
Developed through conversations with scientists at UCL in conjunction with the Royal Docks, the poems weave together references to detritus, data, trade, and capital—tracing the turbulent currents of ecological and economic systems. But just as crucially, they speak to the inner tides of the body, especially tears, linking planetary flux with human emotion.
Set along a route from Richmond Bridge to Eel Pie island, the poems appear over the water of the Thames when you scan a QR code with your smartphone.
*The artworks remained in situ until 24 July 2025
What3Words Locations
Work 1:
///gravel.become.artist
Work 2: start of riverside footpath
///belts.pumps.museum
Work 3:
///nearly.dishes.cared
Work 4: Within Turner view, Lamppost 039
///poker.gravy.agents
Work 5: by ferry/Orleans Play Park
///stray.calculating.frog
Work 6: the pub beach
///Recall.having.chimp
Work 7: Opposite eel
///menu.allows.lasts
In Conversation with Monica Narula of Raqs Media Collective
13 June, 2025, 2–3.30pm (past event)
The Coach House, Orleans House Gallery
An inspiring conversation on art, place, and poetic resistance
Discover how art can shift perspectives and spark new ways of thinking. Join Monica Narula of Raqs Media Collective in conversation with Andy Franzkowiak, Custodian of the Cultural Reforesting programme and Arts Direction of Richmond Arts & Ideas Festival. The event will be chaired by Jeanine Griffin, Curator at Invisible Dust.