“Between the Railroad and the River” is an interactive art project specifically conceived for the community of Tivoli in New York with the aspiration to boost the connection with the river.
The project is composed of the voices of people who, in different ways, engage with the Husdon river from the Tivoli riverfront. The question asked to everyone is:
IF YOU COULD SPEAK TO THE RIVER AND CHOOSE A WORD FOR IT, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY?
You can listen to their voices and add your own one to this link.
WHY THIS PROJECT?
Once a bustling river community, Tivoli is nowadays virtually cut off from the waterway by the railroad. Historically the waterfront used to be the heartbeat of the communities uphill. For a couple of centuries, boats, trains, hotels and other facilities animated the life around there, until the mid 20th century. Then the landing docks and the train station closed one after the other, with the advent of new means of transportation. The waterfront, private property of the railroad companies, became a small dead strip of land between the high speed railroad and the river. Lost the access to the river from the village, a slow and relentless process of deterioration happened, until few decades ago. In fact, in the 90’s, with the advent of a new ecological awareness, the Village developed a Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP), fiercely claiming back its natural connection with the river. In 2008, after 20 years of negotiations, Tivoli Village finally bought back from the CSX Railroad a piece of waterfront, regaining access to the river. At the date, this piece of land between the railroad and the river is the object of a regeneration plan aimed, on one hand, to protect the bank from the erosion and, on the other hand, to facilitate the community to enjoy the waterfront.
“Between the Railroad and the River” aims to celebrate the re-appropriation of the waterfront and to boost the reconnection with the river.
Tivoli waterfront is no longer a silent strip of land, but it speaks through the voices of the inhabitants; it’s now a place full of past memories and future hopes, whose present we invite you to enliven by walking, listening and witnessing the new relationship between Tivoli and the river.
“Between the Railroad and the River”
project by Isabella Indolfi
supported by Center for Human Rights and the Arts
Bard College, New York, OSUN
betweentherailroadandtheriver 