The Hydrocene

This book champions the Hydrocene and presents it as disruptive, conceptual epoch and curatorial theory, emphasising water's pivotal role in the climate crisis and contemporary art. Essential reading for researchers, curators, artists, students of contemporary art, curatorial theory, climate concerns and environmental humanities.

Bronwyn Bailey-Charteris (PhD) is an Australian and Swedish curator, writer and academic with expertise in the politics and poetics of eco-aesthetics. Based in the Blue Mountains, Australia, she lives within the Ngurra (Country) of the Dharug and Gundungurra peoples. Bronwyn is a sessional academic of curatorial theory and practice at Stockholm University, the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales where she was also awarded her doctoral degree with distinction. Bronwyn maintains an independent curatorial practice, having curated multiple exhibitions in Stockholm, Sydney, Melbourne and Madrid, alongside regular international publications and presentations on water and eco-aesthetics in the Nordic and Oceanic regions. She is currently the Curator of the Climate Aware Creative Practices Network and her academic work is committed to meeting the challenges posed to creative practice and pedagogy by the climate crisis.

Introduction 1. The Hydrocene as disruptive, embodied, conceptual epoch 2. The Hydrocene in eco-aesthetics 3. River 4. Swamp 5. Ocean 6. Fog 7. Ice 8. Conclusion