Skip to content

Water ways

Single channel HD film with stereo music and sound only · 6’16 · 2015 · Edition of 10 + 2 AP
3 photographs · Edition of 10 + 2 AP


Still from Water ways, film by Sylvia Schwenk

Still from Water ways · 2015

Watch the trailer

Water ways is a film about human engagement and the waterways that connect a group of people. The film’s protagonists take us on a journey that transports us into the lives of a riverside community in Indonesia. We are given intimate observations and access to everyday people, their homes and things that are usually invisible to us, including their intrinsic connection to an environment that is both essential and harmful.

Water ways II, photograph by Sylvia Schwenk

Water ways II · photograph · 2015

Water ways III, photograph by Sylvia Schwenk

Water ways III · photograph · 2015

We see a slice of everyday life, that starts with a group of children playing in the wash of a boat on a river. As the waterway divides, we follow the path to a tangle of boats that ultimately leads us to the main protagonist of the film, an older woman who shares her point of view with us. This woman absorbs the details of life around her from the edge of a timber mill, as she completes her morning rituals. She takes us into her world, a textured and fascinating place that we are invited to experience and marvel at.


Trailer · Water ways · 2015

For collectors

Water ways is available as a single-channel HD film and 3 photographs. Works are a limited edition of 10 + 2 AP and start from €3,000 unframed.

Enquire about this work

For galleries and curators

Water ways is available for exhibition, screening and loan. Proposals and studio visits are welcome.

Discuss an exhibition
Privacy Overview

For full details see our <a href="https://sylvia-schwenk.com/privacy-policy/">data protection statement</a>.