We are training each other in acts of communication we barely understand. We are, constitutively, companion species — Donna Haraway, The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness
Los Angeles’ last wetland, a 577-acre site north of Los Angeles Airport, is called Ballona. The audio-visual project Inside Ballona (Waachnga) explores this last remaining urban marsh – the ancestral land of the Tongva people. The project Inside Ballona Waachnga explores human and non-human visual perception and concepts of time in motion. Artists and researchers from various fields are all welcome to join in.
Before Los Angeles existed, what did the now-L.A. area look like? The Los Angeles Basin had rivers, marshes, and even lakes in some seasons, supporting a vast variety of plants and animals.
The idea that L.A. was a desert comes from today’s concerns about its dry climate and heavy use of imported water, but historically, it was much greener and more ecologically diverse than you would think.
Wetlands are dynamic, productive, and resilient ecosystems, similar to rainforests and coral reefs. They are vital homes and nurseries for a variety of fish, birds, and wildlife.
Thank you to Ballona Wetlands Conservancy, Friends of Ballona Wetlands, and the California Department of Fish & Wildlife
To learn more please visit ballonawaachnga.info
Inside Ballona/Waachnga, ongoing, 2022-2025, Los Angeles, California
