Dive in! A History of River Swimming in Oxford, was an exhibition at the Museum of Oxford - focusing on how people used rivers in Oxford as places for socialising, sunbathing and swimming.  On Display between April and September 2023, I was commissioned to run a “Postcards to the Future” workshop with consisted of a visit to St Ebbe’s, a history bathing place, and talk (which even the geese joined in for) and a creative workshop using collage and blackout poetry. The creative session focused on the theme of “There are no official outdoor river bathing places left, but with a resurgence of wild swimming and drives to clean up our polluted waterways, what could the future hold for Oxford’s river swimming?”

You can view all the postcards created on Museum of Oxford’s Blog. All of the work involved in Dive in! A History of River Swimming in Oxford is also featured in a zine.

Commissioned by: Museum of Oxford
Format: History talk and creative workshop
Outputs: Collage and blackout poetry pieces featured online and in a Zine.
Number of participants: 10
When: August 2023