Water Cultures
Water has been one of the most important human preoccupations since the dawn of history and how we care for this contested resource is recognized as one of the factors that will define the future of humanity and the planet. As well as innovative solutions to the water crisis, we need to renew the fractured bonds that connect us to water and develop a more imaginative and equitable water culture.
To mark the IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition in Copenhagen, Danish water technology company Aquaporin has in close collaboration with international art center Copenhagen Contemporary created a cultural program with the help of Jane Withers Studio that aims to engage the water industry and the public in the global debate on water.
A focal point of the program is the commission by Danish artist Karl Troels Sandegård,The High Seas of Your Intrinsic Oceanin collaboration with Copenhagen Contemporary and Aquaporin. Sandegård has a profound interest in the potential of water and charting its unknowns. So far, he has worked with its three most familiar states – solid, liquid, and gas. Now,The High Seas of Your Intrinsic Oceanunfolds his fascination with the more mysterious nature of water: its fourth state, the jelly-like plasma that is created when water is absorbed by a human or plant body. Cast on site in various sizes, the singular materiality of these sculptures is created by mixing a gelling agent into hot water, causing the water to gel as it cools. The result is an organic jelly that is tantalizing in its sensuous mutability like a living, mysterious body. Sandegård’s work touches on the idea of water as a messenger, fuel, or vehicle transmitting information to the organism.
During the IWA Congress, Aquaporin and The Association of Waterworks in Denmark will host a water tasting in the Danish Export Association Pavilion, a collaboration between Milin Patel, Fine Liquids, and Jane Withers Studio. Revealing the stories behind different waters, their formation, and the rituals and beliefs that have grown up around them, audiences will be invited to taste various waters including a ‘cold spring’ that goes back to the ice age and a mineral healing water rich in magnesium from the famous Donat source and reflect on the nature and power of water in a new light.
Event Details
The High Seas of Your Intrinsic Oceanwill be shown at venues across the city: Copenhagen Contemporary (9 September – 23 October 2022), the IWA World Water Congress at the Aquaporin Stand E128 (11-15 September 2022), Aquaporin’s headquarters and Industriens Hus, home of the Confederation of Danish Industries near Rådhuspladsen, Copenhagen.
Water Tasting will be held at the Danish Export Association Pavilion, IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition, Bella Centre, Copenhagen, 12 September 2022, 16:45 – 17:15.
About Aquaporin
Aquaporin is an innovative water technology company dedicated to natural water treatment with operations in Denmark (HQ), Singapore, Turkey, and the United States. Aquaporin works to preserve the Earth’s most valuable resource – water – by combining advanced bioengineering, open innovation, and natural aquaporins, nature's own water purifiers, which they embed into water purification membranes and solutions. Their proprietary technology, Aquaporin Inside®, is based on Nobel Prize-winning research and used to clean and reuse water in industries, in our homes, and even by NASA in space. Aquaporin works with customers and partners around the globe to responsibly treat industrial wastewater, concentrate food and beverage products, and enhance drinking water quality and accessibility.
