Mudlark Walks: Flotsam Talismans is an immersive performance, interactive workshop, and ritual for renewal along the foreshore of the river Thames at low tide. Join live artist and amateur mudlark Sebastian H-W on a site-specific participatory audio tour to make an amulet, charm or talisman for luck, courage and protection, from the flotsam and jetsam washed ashore, as we think about personal, local and environmental tides, shifts and changes within and around us.

Audience are invited to join Sebastian as fellow mudlarks, to walk, find and discover found objects, materials and tools washed up along the exposed beaches of the Thames foreshore at low tide. Through audio instructions, Sebastian invites the tour group to work alone and together to make an amulet, charm or talisman for luck, courage, and protection to keep, return or give away, to the river, the artist, or a stranger.

Exploring the unusual, untold and hidden histories and imagined futures of the river Thames, we’ll walk through the rise and fall of the Mudlarks, through to present day problematics of plastic pollution and climate change, and beyond into sci-fi visions of London yet to come. Mudlark Walks: Flotsam Talismans seeks to uncover how we think and feel the embodied changes around shifts and tides, both local and global, personal and political, big and small, that affect us as collectives and individuals.

This is a work-in-progress performance, with a view to be developed in 2019/20. Feedback, comment, and suggestions are most welcomed; please ask for a feedback form, email the artist (contact[at]sebatsianhw.info) or stick around after the performance to have a light informal discussion with the artist in person.

Follow the process towards making the performance via social media by searching #MudlarkWalks #FlotsamTalismans on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Google.

Mudlark Walks: Flotsam Talismans is kindly supported by Totally Thames Festival 2018, Totally Thames Trust, Seasons for Change 2018, DCA S.T.R.E.A.M and Soundart Radio Totnes.