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Confluence of European Water Bodies 2024

Venice, Italy

October 3 – October 6, 2024

Confluence of European Water Bodies 2023, Mar Menor. Photo: Helena Roig.

Confluence of European Water Bodies 2023 in Mar Menor. Photo: Helena Roig.

Confluence of European Water Bodies 2023, Mar Menor. Photo: Helena Roig.

Programming

Past

Ocean Space Venice

After a successful first Confluence of European Water Bodies in September 2023 on the shores of the Mar Menor, we are proud to announce a new edition of this watery nomad conference. From October 3–6, 2024, the second Confluence of European Water Bodies will take place in Venice, hosted by TBA21–Academy’s Ocean Space.

The program in Venice emerges from the many water bodies participating in the Confluence. It was co-developed with NICHE (Ca' Foscari University) and Italian Buddhist Union (UBI) and in fundamental dialogue with local activist associations Comitato per le Grave di Ciano (River Piave) and Poveglia per Tutti (Venice Lagoon).

Water is essential for all life on Earth, yet its importance is often overlooked in political decision-making. The Confluence of European Water Bodies was created in response to the increasing water challenges and the need for water democracy around the world. It aims to deepen the understanding of the ‘Rights of Nature’ in Europe from a cultural perspective. This initiative is made up of more than 25 grassroots communities consisting of artists, activists, lawyers, and ecologists representing seas, lakes, rivers, lagoons, and glaciers from across Europe. The community seeks to promote new dialogues and relationships with water, with the ultimate goal of developing new strategies for effectively representing water in Europe’s cultural, legal, and political arenas.

The Confluence of European Water Bodies 2024 is part of the closing events of the exhibition Re-stor(y)ing Oceania (March 23–October 13, 2024) at Ocean Space Venice, curated by Bougainville-born artist Taloi Havini and comprising artworks by Latai Taumoepeau and Elisapeta Hinemoa Heta.

PROGRAM

Thursday, October 3
4:30–6 PM
A welcome ceremony at Ocean Space led by the Water Bodies Orchestra in collaboration with the Venice Climate Change Pavilion (Closed session)

7 PM
A screening of I am the river, the river is me, a river movie starring the Whanganui River in New Zealand, the world’s first ecosystem with legal personhood. (Open to all)

Learn more

Friday, October 4
10:30 AM–4 PM
Academic program with two panels – one on legal, one on artistic strategies – hosted by NICHE (THE NEW INSTITUTE Center for Environmental Humanities) at Ca’ Foscari University. (Closed session)

Saturday, October 5
9:30 AM–1 PM
An excursion to Poveglia, a small island in the central Lagoon of Venice, for a meeting with local activists. (Closed session)

5–7 PM
Afternoon workshop for the Diplomatic Suitcase at Panorama Gallery. (Closed session)

Sunday, October 6
10 AM–1 PM
Assembly in Ocean Space for the Grave di Ciano, a riverbed of the Piaver River threatened by ill-thought climate adaptation strategies, in collaboration with Arts4theCommons. (Open to all)

3:30 PM
Afternoon closing performances and ceremonies by the River Sisters (Vistula) and Jessie Jack Ullevalseter (Akerselva). (Open to all)

Learn more

For program updates, click HERE.

PARTICIPATING WATER BODIES

Akerselva, Baltic Sea, Dogger Bank, Drina, Genova waters, Klarälven, Loire, Mar Menor, Mediterranean Sea, Moraca & Tara, North Sea, Ouse, Pek, Piave, Reuss, Rhône, Senne, Snæfellsjökul, Spree, Tagliamento, Tejo, Venice Lagoon, Vistula, Viskan & Lake Vättern

Learn more about the participants HERE.

ABOUT

The Confluence of European Water Bodies is founded by the Embassy of the North Sea, ILP Mar Menor and TBA21–Academy and supported by the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice: NICHE (THE NEW INSTITUTE Center for Environmental Humanities), GARN (Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature), the Italian Buddhist Union, Creative Industries Fund NL, Venice Climate Change Pavilion and ZIN Doc.

Related program

Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania Exhibition at Ocean Space - Venice