Video by Edward Tucker and Birgit Auf der Lauer

Manchester, 12th of July 2008.


Canoeing on the Labour Leisure divide.


Over four hours we were navigating a canoe on wheels overland, and with paddles on water. We navigated through streets, canals, tunnels, manually opening and closing around 13 old locks.


To the general public our chosen means of transport sometimes seemed to allude to a dystopy: the great flood yet to come or the moment after peak oil.


Centuries ago protagonists of the industrial revolution dug out canals through the city to transport goods up and down the rolling hills of Manchester. Even Marx mentioned them as an infrastrucutre of early capitalism in his book ' Das Kapital'.
Its contemporary protagonists were curious about our somewhat adventurous appearance, yet they themselves seemed entirely unfit for any water sports of the kind we exercised.