A culmination of a two-week residency, the open studio presents a new music composition alongside documentation of her river visits using digital and analogue photography on expired 35mm film, moving image and graphic scores, opening a sonic realm where rivers from Wales and the South of Vietnam dialogue together.
“The River Breathes” explores river systems in Wales, Saigon and the Mekong Delta, blending fragments of oral histories from Welsh and Vietnamese communities with mixed electronics, piano, saxophone, sounds from traditional Southern Vietnamese instruments and Gwen’s handmade instruments of Welsh slate, alongside field recordings, hydrorecordings and environmental data on river health. As we speak to the rivers, the rivers also speak back – a water song remembers those who have left, carrying an elegy for them with every current. As the river is alive, it moves through the idea of ownership, tracing every folklore, myth and names to the remnants of industrialization. As the river speaks, it also mourns—carrying the slow loss of the environment, and memories, within its flowing breath.
As part of the collaboration between Rare Sea, British Council & PRS Foundation, “The River Breathes” – an Open Studio by Gwen Siôn took place from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Sunday, April 26, 2026. The project is supported by the British Council and PRS Foundation, with data provided by ArtEO.
