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AT first glance, they appear simple: glass vessels filled with water, but, arranged together, they take on a different quality, almost like a series of devotional objects, each holding a fragment of the landscape, inviting closer attention.
The Museum of Water, currently installed at The View Hotel in Eastbourne, brings together 24 water samples collected from across the town, Polegate and the Pevensey Levels. Each sample has been gathered, tested and carefully presented, offering a rare glimpse into the hidden condition of our local waterways.
Behind the installation is a collaboration between Compass Arts and Strandliners, combining artistic practice with citizen science. Every sample has been analysed for key indicators such as ammonia, phosphate, turbidity and pH. Measures that reveal the health of the water and its impact on wildlife and the wider environment.
What emerges is a complex and often surprising picture. Some waters are clean and well-balanced, while others show clear signs of pollution, nutrient overload or chemical imbalance.
But the work is not only informational. By bringing these samples together into a single, carefully curated display, the installation slows the viewer down. It asks us to look again at something we pass by every day; the streams, ditches and waterways that shape the land around us.
Alongside the display, visitors are invited to become ‘Water Guardians’, taking part in simple monitoring and contributing to a growing body of local knowledge about water health.
Curated by Compass Arts as part of its wider Promenade programme, the Museum of Water sits at the intersection of art, science and community. It transforms data into something tangible and reflective. Not just to inform, but to deepen our relationship with the environment we inhabit.
The installation is open daily at The View Hotel and forms part of Eastbourne’s year-round seafront art trail.
Contact: Fenya Sharkey 07889 805022 or fenya.compass@hotmail.com, or Andy Dinsdale andydinsdale@strandliners.org
