Event details
Thursday, March 20, 2025
Dia Beacon
3 Beekman Street
Beacon, New York

Friday, March 21, 2025
Dia Chelsea
537 West 22nd Street
New York, New York

Free. Spaces are limited; register for Friday, March 21, here.

Swamp Summit: Dirt and Water is a two-day convening organized by Dia Art Foundation, Storefront for Art and Architecture, and the Graham Foundation. The gathering aims to examine the relationship between natural and built environments at the boundary where water meets land. Using the unstable grounds of the swamp as a conceptual underpinning, this summit addresses the politics of water in different geographies—from the Gulf of Mexico to the Mekong River. Through their unique approaches to spatial research and art making, participants will discuss pressing issues related to the legacies of art and ecology, as well as the impact of industry and human-induced environmental disasters on historically excluded communities.

The convening coincides with the conclusion of Swamplands, Storefront’s yearlong research and program series, and converses with recent and upcoming projects at Dia that examine the same themes. It also honors the history of institutional relationships shaped by intertwined curatorial interests.

While the first day of the summit is closed for Swamp Summit participants, the public is invited to join on March 21 for a series of engagements at Dia Chelsea taking place from 5 to 7:45 pm.

Schedule 
Friday, March 21, Dia Chelsea

5 pm | Introduction 
José Esparza Chong Cuy, Sarah Herda, and Humberto Moro

5:10 pm | Poetry reading 
Mayan poet and water-rights activist Pedro Uc Be

5:15 pm | Presentation 
On Indigeneity and Water by Yásnaya Aguilar, followed by a conversation with Pedro Uc Be, moderated by Abraham Cruzvillegas

6:10 pm | Reading
Season of the Swamp by Yuri Herrera, introduced by Guillermo Ruiz de Teresa

6:20 pm | Conversation
Jingru (Cyan) Cheng, Sky Hopinka, and Chen Zhan, moderated by Matilde Guidelli-Guidi

7:15 pm | Performative lecture
On Wetlands by Cooking Sections, introduced by Jessica Kwok