waterfront stories 2002

staten island ferry terminal and wsia 88.9fm, new york artfront-waterfront
curated by sean o reilly, lauren amazeen, dean and olivia george

Waterfront Stories is an off site project commissionedas part of Art Front -Water Front a site specific exploration of Staten Islands New York Waterfront.

''CARDIFF DOCKS
Cardiff Docks saw the first race riots in Britain in the early 19th century. There was always a large Afro Caribbean community living in the dock area and political tensions rose due to racism and ghettoisation. ''

A series of waterfront stories gathered from various locations and read by various people, are being broadcast on WSIA88.9 fm from July 2002 until January 2003.

All are concerned with proximity to waterfronts and the types of relations these infer. The stories selected reflect both local personal issues and broader global concerns.

Visual representations of the anecdotes can be found in the urban context of the Staten Island Ferry Terminal as it is renovated.

The intermittent radio broadcast of these stories act as a type of urban punctuation, small interruptions in the daily broadcast that relate to their new context. They are short and succinct but relay every day reflections about relationships to waterfronts.

Story telling and swapping is common to most cultures it acts as a metaphor for discussion and debate. This project is an attempt to use the vernacular everyday to communicate broader political issues.

With thanks to The Arts Council of Ireland, Travel Award Scheme