A Body of Water

Water has always been a threshold - a space between worlds where transformation unfolds.

But what if the lakes, rivers, and seas we surrender ourselves to are not merely passive bodies, but keepers of our grief, our burdens, and our memory?

Feature maker Hana Walker-Brown explores what pulls so many of us to the water at moments of rupture or change.

Tracing the unseen currents that bind us to each other and to the natural world, Hana considers water not simply as an element, but as the ultimate solvent; a place where we go to dissolve, to surrender to the wild drift of it all, to allow ourselves to be held without condition.

Part personal meditation, part collective reflection, A Body Of Water blends intimate testimony, poetic narration and cinematic sound design that echoes the rhythm of the ocean.

With contributions from world champion freediver Helena Bourdillon, author and psychologist Dr Sharon Blackie, author and boat builder Wyl Menmuir and author Robert MacFarlane.

Special thanks to Abigail Gonda, Bean Downes, Joey Hulin, Christophe Donot and Will Salt.

This piece was developed during an artist residency at Hektor in Lanzarote.

Presented, produced and sound designed by Hana Walker-Brown Mixed by Peregrine Andrews The executive producer is Peggy Sutton

A Reduced Listening Production for BBC Radio 4