Opening
Sunday 26 June
15:00 - 18:00 hrs

Exhibition
Water is vital to life on planet Earth. It covers much of the Earth’s surface through our oceans, rivers, lakes and seas, and appears as groundwater, glaciers and clouds. It is captured in political and cultural phenomena, such as drinking and wastewater systems, aquariums and swimming pools. Crucially, water also flows through us to hydrate us and fuel our cells, organs and tissue, and we shed it as tears. By flowing, freezing, evaporating and seeping, water moves across natural, cultural and human bodies. This makes water stand out as the element that inextricably interconnects everything.

Despite the great importance of water for ecology and humanity, exploitation of water and extraction of raw materials and organisms takes place on a large scale. This economic appropriation leads to destruction of natural ecosystems and social inequality. Still Waters Run Deep critically exposes the prevalent anthropocentric worldview that humans are above nature and entitled to sacrifice it for capitalist needs. The exhibition explores how the fundamental connection between humanity and nature, water in particular, can take on a more central role in our conceptions and actions.

Public programme
To accompany the exhibition, an interdisciplinary public programme at the intersection of art, science and technology has been compiled in collaboration with presentation partners. The events will elaborate on and deepen the issues addressed in the artworks. In this way, Still Waters Run Deep evolves into a six-week ‘water summit’ seeking inspiration as well as concrete starting points for a sustainable interaction with water.

Sink or Swim. Searching for a sustainable relationship with water
Symposium in collaboration with the Environmental Humanities Center
Thursday 30th June, 13:00 - 17:00 hrs, at the VU (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
Free to visit, registration via link

Aquatic Tales
Film night in collaboration with MACA
Thursday 21st July, 19:30 - 23:00 hrs, at MACA
Ticket sales via link

Making waves: learning and applying water knowledges
Forum weekend in collaboration with RADIUS CCA
Saturday 30th July, 19:30 - 22:00 hrs, panel discussions at RADIUS CCA
Ticket sales via link
Sunday 31st July, 11:00 - 18:00 hrs, workshop at Nieuw Dakota
Ticket sales via link

Artists
Phoebe Boswell
Deep Time Agency (Miriam Sentler & Wouter Osterholt)
Patrick Hough
Esther Kokmeijer
Kasia Molga
Hannah Rowan

Curator
Still Waters Run Deep is an initiative of and curated by Marlies Augustijn.

Funding & sponsorship
This project is supported by the Mondriaan Fund, the Prins Bernhard Culture Fund (Lente Fund), the AFK (Amsterdam Fund for the Arts), and BeamSystems.

The work by Kasia Molga was realised within the framework of a European Media Art Platform residency program at RIXC Centre for New Media Culture (Riga, Latvia), co-funded by the European Union. This presentation was co-funded by RIXC Centre for New Media Culture.