PROJECT BACKGROUND
This River Swimming in Oxford poster and logo was created for a temporary exhibition in the Museum of Oxford.
During the pandemic summers of 2020 and 2021, when travel was limited by lockdown restrictions, there was a dramatic revival of river swimming in Oxford. The riverside became the city’s own holiday resort. In the wake of this trend, a handful of half-forgotten names began to resurface in Oxford’s memory: Tumbling Bay, Long Bridges, Parson’s Pleasure, Dame’s Delight.
The exhibition at the Museum of Oxford includes photographs, artwork, maps, plans and ephemera reflecting on the vibrant history of the city’s river bathing places, from the 1600s onwards.
The poster explores past and present practices of river swimming and the animals that these spaces are shared with.