#saalach

[willkommen-in-germany]

Landscape near Freilassing, Bayern (Bavaria), Southern Germany

[mixingwaters]

Saalach | San Lorenzo (or Two Rivers, Two Continents)

Cynthia Ling Lee and Sandra Chatterjee

This split-screen dance-for-camera work abstractly evokes the stories of two rivers, the Saalach and the San Lorenzo.  The text, created as part of a Mixing Waters ritual by Cynthia Ling Lee, ruminates on the natural beauty, bodies, and border histories of migration associated with the two bodies of water. The Saalach forms the national border dividing Germany and Austria, while the San Lorenzo flows through Santa Cruz, California.  This work was developed in part through Borders Resurfacing, a long distance artistic exchange on bodies, borders, and migration by the Post Natyam Collective.

[mixingwaters]

Saalach River (Salzburg, Austria)

Cynthia Ling Lee

The Saalach River forms the border between Austria and Germany in Salzburg and has been the site of increased refugee-related border tensions from 2015.  

1. Gathering Water

I gathered water from the Saalach while visiting my friend and collaborator, Sandra Chatterjee, in June 2017.  In August 2017, I gathered water from my local river, the San Lorenzo, in Santa Cruz, at which time I did this mixing waters ritual.

2. Meditations on the Saalach and San Lorenzo Rivers

Saalach River:

I remember dipping an amber Nalgene bottle into your waters, the icicle-like sheaths of water falling fast from the dam, algae slipping between toes. Round smooth river rocks, sunlit skies, waters meandering green and blue, feet teasing, talking, fighting with each other. How close the other side of the border, how seemingly effortless the crossing, un-policed. Stones gathered in rings, charred stone. Blackened vestiges of campfires lit by refugees, small fires of hope, re-homing, unbelonging.

San Lorenzo River:

today you were sandy, summery, overgrown with yellow flowering fennel, pink spires, the bees crazy with heat and pollen.  a redfaced man asked me for a quarter, blessed me when I said no.  the river was higher today, the stones of the riverbed all underwater.  I remembered the swollen brown winter floods, tree trunks drifting fast and dangerous, onlookers gaping from the concrete bridge.  across the way, a group of latino men lounge on blankets.  I think of the working class chinese who lived and played on the riverbanks in the early 1900s, of who is seen as suspicious, now vs. then.

3. Mixing Waters

4. Nourishing Life

The mixed waters nourished a small bunch of wildflowers gathered from the banks of the San Lorenzo.  The flowers included California golden poppies and flowering fennel – indigenous and migrant plants – and carried the scent of licorice.

[mac2214jv]

#vwcaliforniabeach appreciation week 😁👌🚐💨 Despite our two '89 Westfalia Campervans we don't have to forget to appreciate our all day vwcamper. The T5 suits you well for a weekend trip, 😴 for 2, (in 🚨3) fits everywhere, transportation genie and even a 2 month 🏄 🏡. ================= #vwbus #volkswagen #vwcamper #campervan #camperlife #t5 #buslife #busblog #bulli #austria #alps #kayaking #saalach #vanagonlife #vanlifeeurope #bluesky #travelgram #sun #roadtrip #gooutandexplore #travel #vanlifeadventure #vanlifediaries #vanlifeadventures #livingsmall #wenigergehtauch😉 #campervanmagazine (at Saalfelden Am Steinernen Meer, Salzburg, Austria)

[krississeelespricht-blog]

Aufbruch

Am Ende einer uferlosen Wasserwelt ohne Kraft und Halt bei Nebel gefangen wie ein Hamster im Laufrad durchbrach ich den Kreislauf und bin in meine heile Welt Bad Reichenhall aufgebrochen nach geraumer Zeit, dahin, wo die Vögel wieder singen, das Leben erblüht dort, dann kam dieses Licht auf, das mir Kraft gab und meine Seele kitzelte. Ich tankte neue Lebensfreude…  hielt mich über Wasser. Yeah!! Die Sonne brach immer weiter durch den Nebel hindurch und dann sichtete ich dieses Boot, dieses Boot der Hoffnung. Ihr nahmt mich auf und habt mich liebend zurück gebracht zu meinen Hafen, von dem ich mich meilenweit entfernte..Sonne wieder im Herzen, neue Daseinsfreude. Meine Liebe tief in mir kann ich wieder zeigen UNVERGESSEN

[3rd-eye-vision-blog1]

[davidhellmann]

Sunset. #latergram #Salzburg #ontheroad #saalach #lake (hier: Salzburg, Austria)