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 the 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. Aquaporin’s close affiliation with culture and art stems from an interdisciplinary approach and a commitment to solving global water challenges by rethinking water filtration with biotechnology.

A focal point of the program is the commission by Danish artist Karl Troels Sandegård, The High Seas of Your Intrinsic Ocean in 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 Ocean unfolds 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 Ocean will 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.