FIRST exhibition images revealed of Edinburgh based artist Sarah Calmus: Right to Roam which runs until 24 May at Inspace Gallery, Edinburgh.
The exhibition is a culmination of over a year of research and development around ideas of systems of movement, thinking of rivers as a living body, and data collection.
The artist explores the intersections of climate change, data, and the fundamental freedom to move and invites us to consider the Right to Roam as more than a human policy, but as a natural state.
Right to Roam is a new accessible multisensory immersive exhibition from the environmental artist, Sarah Calmus.
Taking Scotland’s outdoor access rights as its starting point, the exhibition asks us to consider the Right to Roam as a natural state, rather than just a human policy.
Right to Roam is an expansive enquiry into ecological freedom of movement through the exploration of water, with a focus on the River Forth.
Featuring new works in film, sculpture, sound and screenprints including working with responsive technology the gallery space will be transformed into an accessible multisensory exploration of the Forth.
Using historical and live data from the River Forth, Right to Roam will feature elements of an abandoned water monitoring station.
Here, creative exploration of environmental data and technology asks us to consider what we can learn through deep listening.
The data from Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and other sources, will provide a direct link to the river.
When the water temperature or salinity changes, so too will the moving image and sound work in a live collaboration.
Utilising Touch Designer software with support from Ray Interactive, gathered water samples from the Forth, are layered, alongside microscopic imagery to reveal the inner worlds of the river within the installation.
Sarah Calmus is also collaborating with artist Theodore Koterwas using hydrophone recordings of the Forth that she has gathered to be conveyed through underfloor speakers and subwoofers, allowing for direct conversation between the audience and the river.
The exhibition includes night time screenings of the artist’s multiscreen film Uisge first shown on the Inspace City Screens in February 2026.
Interested in building spaces to connect and reflect, her practice is intentionally interdisciplinary and participatory, viewed as a series of experiments underpinned with explorations into interaction.
Speaking at the exhibition artist Sarah Calmus said: “This exhibition and the wider Right to Roam project invites us to slow down, be curious and take a moment to reflect on the power and voice of water.
“My artistic work has always explored ideas concerning interconnected ecosystems and Right to Roam is being designed to remind us to listen to what water is teaching us, to be better custodians of our environment, to empower us toward empathy for our natural world, which we are so a part of.
“Right to Roam offers a three fold idea: Considering our Right to Roam in the gallery space, building accessible artworks for all.
“Considering the Right to Roam of water itself, through a more than human gaze.
“Considering our Right to Roam in law and what this responsible freedom of movement means and allows for us and our natural environments.
Sarah Calmus is an interdisciplinary artist, programmer, and creator of large-scale immersive installations and provocations, working across a multitude of mediums such as light, sound and print.
Accessible, multisensory, sustainably produced experiences are central within Calmus’s work, where artworks often draw focus on environmental concerns that build equity for participators and critique and explore ecosystems of varying scales.
“Within the context of this exhibition it’s hard to not mention the politics of the hour, Green Party have washed over Edinburgh.
“A key principle on which they stand echoes into the exhibition: can we think about our environment in a different way?
“Where I am from in Essex, it’s gone totally in another direction.
“I feel we have a lot of connection to make with oneanother as polarising attitudes sit alongside each other.
As part of the wider exhibition, the film gives space to reflect on ideas of water as a living body by exploring the voice of the river Forth, through foraged films and overlaid text, where changes relating to the climate crisis incrementally affect interconnected ecosystems, both environmental and human.
“David Attenborough’s 100th birthday recently is another reminder of the need for enthusiasm, dedication and care to our planet- which includes us, and every living being.
Working in the River Forth has been a wonderful opportunity to use scientific data to help illustrate that connection and learning.
“Being an interdisciplinary artist I want my work to engage with audiences as participants through a range of senses, so we are encouraged to feel the exhibition as much as engage with the wider environmental message of the impact of incremental change.
“Focusing on giving space to the voice of the River Forth has been a hugely rewarding experience and I hope visitors to the exhibition will connect with the power of this water body whilst being mindful of the fragility of our ecosystems.”
