Exhibition explores the salt marsh landscapes of Wales and Ireland

A new exhibition is bringing together art and science to explore how two coastal landscapes, one in Wales and one in Ireland, could help tackle climate change.

‘Time and tide’, which highlights the importance of the saltmarshes of Cwm Ivy on the Gower peninsula, and Derrymore in Co Kerry, has opened at UWTSD’s Swansea College of Art.

The exhibition features the work of Grace Cott, Alex Duncan, Eliza Fairchild and Ragna Hoogenboom and is the result of a collaborative research project between UWTSD and wetland ecologists at University College Dublin (UCD).

The work explores the climate change research underway in Derrymore Island saltmarsh on the southwest coast of Ireland and the changing landscape at the Cwm Ivy Marsh.

It explores themes of climate, sea defences, and letting nature take its course and offers a chance to visualise our landscape vertically – deep soil cores, broken sea walls.

In addition, it features a collection of essays based on the two saltmarshes which have been translated into Welsh and Irish.

Alex Duncan, lecturer and researcher at UWTSD’s Swansea College of Art said: “Saltmarsh ecosystems lie on the interface between the marine and terrestrial environments and share characteristics of both.

These ecosystems provide critical functions such as coastal protection, habitat for wildlife and can sequester and store carbon from the atmosphere.

“Long seen as areas to be reclaimed, these ecosystems have become increasingly important for mitigating climate change and adapting our coastlines to rising seas.”

The research team also delivered an open lecture at Swansea College Art alongside the exhibition, which will run until 12 December 2026.

The group plan to take the exhibition to Dublin in 2027 to further this collaboration between science and visual art.