Watershed: Art, Science, and Elemental Politics, held at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 10–21 September 2018, brought together art and science concerns around knowledge systems, water insecurity and threats to human survival. The program included work from India, the U.S., Peru and South Africa: installations and exhibitions, walks and performances, poetry and book readings across the university campus. These events were integrated into panels and seminars. The bringing together of artists, scientists, policy-makers and activists was the first of the watersheds captured by the title; it was the first occasion for these fields, reflecting wide differences in epistemology and practice, to come together in a South African context. This special section includes many of the Watershed artists writing of their work in relation to the physical setting, where reduced rainfall is also predicted, and temperature rise will certainly exceed the global average [3].
Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest...