In some Afghan tribal areas, the imperialist and capitalist dynamics  of the last fifty years have severely impacted local ecosystems. Some  thousand-year-old water facilities have disappeared due to military  bombing. For more than ten years, Feda Wardak and his father Amin  Wardak, have repaired these ancient water channels and planted  trees to keep the water flowing in this arid land. This relationship  with water was the starting point for Feda Wardak’s series of Water  Machines, in which he builds technical, sensory, and hydraulic  landscape installations that borrow water from an existing network,  channel it to the artwork, then give it back. These Water Machines aim to make the paths of water legible and visible, such that  civil society can better understand them and control how they are  managed. In this way, the notion of the common good becomes more  meaningful. For CAB 5, Feda Wardak will build a new Water Machine on the Englewood Trail. This former railroad track runs through  neighborhoods that were shaped by an industrial history before falling  into steep decline. Today, entire plots of land lie fallow, creating visual  openings through which the downtown skyline is visible. The art piece  stands as a water tower, a reminder that water distribution policies  have an impact on social and racial inequalities. At the same time,  the sculpture is an urban marker located on a major north-south road,  making visible the abandonment of public policies. 

Special thanks to Almalik Dupart and Olufemi Dupart 

In collaboration with Grow Greater Englewood