Bron | Lize Swartz

// Bron

Bron is a book by Dutch photographer Zindzi Zwietering that examines how residents of Cape Town experienced the city's 2018 water crisis that created a fundamental change in how residents interacted with and valued water. Sitting at the nexus of art and science, the book uses photographs and written observations to make the reader think more deeply about our assumptions of what will happen when a city's water runs almost runs out. I conducted research on the governance of the crisis and wrote the texts that accompanied Zindzi's photos based on the research, my observations, and my linked PhD research on water crises that had occurred in other South African towns a year prior.

The book was made possible through three grants from the Mondriaan Fund, the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, and the Stokroos Foundation. We also launched a crowdfunding campaign and received generous financial support from private donors and Waternet, the water company managing Amsterdam's water.

Bron was published in September 2022 by Dutch independent publisher The Eriskay Connection and can be bought here, here, and here.

"It is not highly unusual for Cape Town to get as hot as it did that year, South Africa being known for its scorching, seemingly endless summers. But as the sun beat down day after day, withering plants and draining the soil of moisture, it became clear that it was no ordinary summer in Cape Town. The slow march to Day Zero started back then, but we didn’t yet know it."

"But as autumn came and turned into winter, the sun kept on shining and it failed to rain.

We started to realize, then, that something had changed. It was clear that the city was in big trouble. Cape Town’s water was going to run out."

"The countdown to Day Zero was supposed to be a countdown to chaos. The crisis made news headlines across the world: Cape Town was set to be the first major city to run out of water in its entirety. What would happen if residents turned on their taps and no water came out?"

"The way in which a crisis of this proportion changes the understanding of the self, in particular the understanding of the self in relation to the degradation and conservation of natural resources, in this case the use of water, remains a key concern that can help drive transitions to sustainable futures."

"But as autumn came and turned into winter, the sun kept on shining and it failed to rain.

We started to realize, then, that something had changed. It was clear that the city was in big trouble. Cape Town’s water was going to run out."

Colophon:

Photography and concept: Zindzi Zwietering
Design and edit: Lyanne Tonk
Research and writing: Lize Swartz
Lithography: Coen Hamers
Print: Drukkerij Tielen, Boxtel
Binding: Patist, Den Dolder

Distribution: Idea Books
Publisher: The Eriskay Connection
Edition: 750
Individual orders: eriskayconnection.com

About the project

On 10 March 2020, just days before the world went into lockdown as the pandemic started its slow march of destruction, photographer Zindzi Zwietering launched her photo exhibition called Bron at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS). Zwietering had travelled to Cape Town expecting an apocalyptic scenario in the weeks before Day Zero – the day on which the entire city’s taps would be turned off following the depletion of its water supplies. Her work documented life on the ground at the height of the crisis, revealing surprising and sometimes beautiful moments.

I also found myself in Cape Town during this time, in February 2018, observing how residents were coping with severe water restrictions imposed by the city's administration. My observations were closely linked to my PhD research on the same topic – how water users navigate changing water availability in urban contexts, especially due to drought. I was therefore invited to give a talk at the opening of the exhibition. This was the start of a fruitful multidisciplinary project.

Then, in June 2020, during the lockdown, Zindzi and I were invited to talk at a world café hosted by a handful of Belgian organisations including 11.11.11, Oxfam-Wereldwinkels, Broederlijk Delen, MO* and Dienst Ontwikkelingssamenwerking Stad Antwerpen. We reflected on how water users make sense of changing water availability in urban contexts through a reflection of Cape Town’s water crisis. At that time, a drought was sweeping through Western Europe, leading to water restrictions and new understandings of the value of water. Our observations, we hope, could help water users in high-income countries who had likely never faced water shortages to better understand changing water availability.