Josephine Mandamin, The Water Walker
On 22 March, World Water Day, we are invited to reconsider our relationship with water. This global moment, initiated by the United Nations, draws attention to urgent challenges such as scarcity, pollution, and unequal access. In 2026, particular focus is given to women and girls, who often spending hours each day walking to, collecting, and caring for water.
It is also a moment to remember Josephine Mandamin, “The Water Walker.” Beginning in 2003, she initiated a series of Water Walks around the Great Lakes, walking thousands of kilometers while carrying water in a copper vessel, together with women from the four directions of the Americas. These were not symbolic gestures, but living ceremonies—rooted in Anishinaabe teachings where water is understood as a relative: alive, sentient, and deserving care. Along shorelines and riverbanks, water walkers move with song, and attention, acknowledging water as both guide and companion. Water as guide, companion and teacher will be the subject of the upcoming Walking Assembly in Salt, Girona and along the Catalonian Muga river, with Tim Ingold setting the tone for a water walking expedition of 4 days.
In India, the Narmada Parikrama is a water pilgrimage of 2,600–3,000 km along the river Narmada, sometimes taking more than a year, walking not to arrive but to remain in relation with water as a deep spiritual presence. Pilgrimage, walking art, climate and activism are as well being the topic of an online conversation Sacred Steps, 7 April at walk · listen · create, along with a poetry writing competition on pilgrimage. In the Maghreb and Mediterranean, paths to springs and fountains—often walked together by women and children—turn water gathering into a shared social and communal practice.
Across these practices, water and walking echo each other: both create paths, link places, and carry movement —never in straight lines or linear time—reminding us that we are never alone and always walking within a larger flow.
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2026-04-07 18:00 UTC
· Online
Contemporary pilgrimage, walking art, climate and activism Modern day pilgrimage is growing in popularity – every year numbers grow along some of the oldest and most traditional pilgrimage routes. Pilgrimage has been practised for millennia and is shared by all the world’s major religions, on every continent – there ... Keep reading
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Upcoming events
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2026-03-23 14:30 UTC
· Garagem Avenida EAAD, Avenida Dom Afonso Henriques, Guimaraes, Portugal
Participants trace the letters of the word Peace (in their own language) onto a map of the city. These letters become walking routes. Keep reading
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2026-03-23 10:00 UTC
· Garagem Avenida EAAD, Avenida Dom Afonso Henriques, Guimaraes, Portugal
Footnotes to Freedom is a three-part workshop exploring how freedom is experienced and expressed in the city of Guimarães. Participants share and map places where t... Keep reading
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23 - 27 Mar, 2026 UTC
· Av. Dom Afonso Henriques 258, 4810-520 Guimarães, Portugal
There is a starting point: a blank sheet of paper and a gesture. In this ongoing workshop, each participant is invited to write, draw, or inscribe a promise—persona... Keep reading
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2026-03-23 19:00 UTC
· Online
There is growing interest in how each of us documents walking art, especially as walk · listen · create and its predecessor, the Museum of Walking, has been gatheri... Keep reading
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2026-03-24 08:30 UTC
· Garagem Avenida EAAD, Avenida Dom Afonso Henriques, Guimaraes, Portugal
Free Steps between Walls and Hills is a 22 km walk from Guimarães to Citânia de Briteiros, proposed by AVE and The Walking Body. Through collective walking, partici... Keep reading
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2026-03-25 19:00 UTC
· Online
The second of an initial series of three Map Scrambles in which walking artists share how each of them documents walking art, specifically be adapting, modifying or... Keep reading
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2026-03-26 19:00 UTC
· Online
The third of an initial series of three Map Scrambles in which walking artists share how each of them documents walking art, specifically be adapting, modifying or ... Keep reading
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WALC
Walking Arts & Local Communities (WALC) is an artistic cooperation project, co-funded by the European Union, Creative Europe, starting in January 2024 for four years. With seven partners from five countries, WALC establishes an International Center for Artistic Research and Practice of Walking Arts, in Prespa, Greece, at the border with Albania and North Macedonia, backed up by an online counterpart in the format of a digital platform for walking arts.
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2026-03-23 19:00 UTC
· Online
There is growing interest in how each of us documents walking art, especially as walk · listen · create and its predecessor, the Museum of Walking, has been gatheri... Keep reading
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23 - 27 Mar, 2026 UTC
· Av. Dom Afonso Henriques 258, 4810-520 Guimarães, Portugal
There is a starting point: a blank sheet of paper and a gesture. In this ongoing workshop, each participant is invited to write, draw, or inscribe a promise—persona... Keep reading
|
|
2026-03-23 14:30 UTC
· Garagem Avenida EAAD, Avenida Dom Afonso Henriques, Guimaraes, Portugal
Participants trace the letters of the word Peace (in their own language) onto a map of the city. These letters become walking routes. Keep reading
|
|
2026-03-23 10:00 UTC
· Garagem Avenida EAAD, Avenida Dom Afonso Henriques, Guimaraes, Portugal
Footnotes to Freedom is a three-part workshop exploring how freedom is experienced and expressed in the city of Guimarães. Participants share and map places where t... Keep reading
|
|
2026-03-24 08:30 UTC
· Garagem Avenida EAAD, Avenida Dom Afonso Henriques, Guimaraes, Portugal
Free Steps between Walls and Hills is a 22 km walk from Guimarães to Citânia de Briteiros, proposed by AVE and The Walking Body. Through collective walking, partici... Keep reading
|
|
2026-03-25 19:00 UTC
· Online
The second of an initial series of three Map Scrambles in which walking artists share how each of them documents walking art, specifically be adapting, modifying or... Keep reading
|
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2026-03-26 19:00 UTC
· Online
The third of an initial series of three Map Scrambles in which walking artists share how each of them documents walking art, specifically be adapting, modifying or ... Keep reading
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Stuff we found
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Study highlights the movements in people’s gait that give away most about their emotional state Source: How you walk reveals to others how you are feeling, research... Keep reading
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A project in London is helping hundreds of people, providing a genuine alternative to traditional treatments Source: ‘Massive boost of serotonin!’: How a dose of na... Keep reading
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