WORKSHOP SERIES BY YI-TING WANG
WHEN
WHERE
Ende Käthe Kollwitz-Straße (an der Schanzenbergsbrücke)
LANGUAGE
GERMAN
PROGRAMME
River Walk is a series of on-site explorations along the Saar in June and July 2026, each led by a regional expert. Historian Birgit Metzger walks visitors through living polluted archives at the Rossel–Saar confluence near Völklinger Hütte. Environmental organisation Cleanup Saarland uses citizen-science methods to interpret debris carried downstream as material records of consumption. Historian Susanne Nimmesgern brings to light the forgotten histories of boatwomen, female brewers, and female ironworks directors along the riverbank. Geographer Jochen Kubiniok reads the river’s hundred-million-year geological transformation through canals, meanders, and oxbow lakes. Hydrologist Isabelle Charpentier explores alternative scenarios of flooding, military legacy, renaturation, and aquatic well-being. Together, River Walk offers a situated way of navigating the postindustrial riverscape, and opens a space to reimagine the Saar’s future.
SATURDAY, 27 JUNE, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM:
Was die Saar mit sich trägt | The Saar’s Carried Objects
Workshop with Cleanup Saarland e.V.
Together, we will collect litter along the banks of the Saar and sort it into different categories. On this approximately 2 km walk from the Schanzenbergbrücke to the Bürgerpark, we will discuss the environmental impact of our finds, especially on the Saar itself, and interpret them through brand logos, packaging design, and other features.
- Meeting point: Käthe-Kollwitz-Straße car park (near Schanzenbergbrücke, 49.235240, 6.959823) – Introduction, equipment, and safety briefing
- Schanzenbergbrücke, north riverside – First Brand Audit: sorting and interpretation by brand logos, packaging design, and location found
- Endpoint: Bürgerpark Hafeninsel – Second Brand Audit and summary: overall evaluation; discussion of environmental impact, particularly on the Saar
IN COOPERATION WITH
FURTHER WORKSHOPS IN THE RIVER WALK SERIES:
SATURDAY, 13 JUNE 2026, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Industrie-Natur | The Nature of De-Industrialisation
Dr. Birgit Metzger
SUNDAY, 28 JUNE 2026, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Frauen und die Saar | Women and the Saar
Dr. Susanne Nimmesgern
SATURDAY, 4 JULY 2026, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Simulation und Spiel an der Saar | Simulation and Gaming for the Saar
Dr. Isabelle Charpentier
Participation in the workshops is free. You can register for the workshops here.
Conceived and organised by Yi-Ting Wang, River Walk is part of her fellowship at CURE. Her current research project REPAIR (Reparative Environmental Practices: Art and rreparable Riverscapes) investigates how artistic and situated practices engage with post-industrial riverscapes, fostering environmental knowledge from the river, rather than merely about it.
This event is part of the Rivers Beyond Borders project.
Participation in the workshops is free. You can register for the workshops here.