[ISEA2018] Artist Statement: Kristine Diekman — Run Dry

Artist Statement

Art, Science & Us sub-programme

What does clean water bring us and why should we tell the story of its loss? Functionally, without water, we cannot drink, bathe, cook or clean. Essentially, it is indispensable for empowerment, health, dignity and economic security. Water is a human right, yet 10% of the world’s population, mostly living in rural areas, lives without safe water. While globally we use 70% of our water resources for agriculture and 10% for domestic use, catastrophic droughts are devastating parts of North and South America, Africa, China and Southeast Asia, worsening universal access to water.Run Dry,a film project told through personal stories, investigates the significance of water and reveals the systems of power that govern water distribution. The project addresses how water is accessed and resourced, what systems govern water resources, how they have developed over decades, and how they impact human well-being today. Audiences will learn specifically about the water crisis in Central California as a model for understanding how race, class, migration, water policy, hydrology and agricultural history combine to create this crisis.  rundry.org

  • Kristine Diekman is Professor at California State University San Marcos, U.S.A. She produces and directs experimental and documentary socially-engaged media projects. She has won awards and grants for her internationally screened media from California Arts Council, California Humanities Community Stories, Paul Robeson Foundation, ZKM, New York State Council on the Arts, New York Foundation for Art, The Keck Foundation and others. Her work is in such esteemed collections as the Getty Center, CA, Fales Library, NYC, Video Out, Vancouver, The Kitchen, NY, and the Lux Center, London. She is Director of Video in the Community, a program that collaborates with organizations and individuals to enact social change. Her current project, Run Dry, is a series of films and stories of water scarcity from California’s Central Valley region.  kristinediekman.net

Run Dry is in partnership with the Community Water Center, Self-Help Enterprises, CSUSM.