On Water

What to expect

Water is life, but it can also destroy. The exhibition “On Water. WaterKnowledge in Berlin” will show current research projects of the Berlin University Alliance (BUA) on the topic of water from October 10, 2025 in the Humboldt Labor. These will be flanked by artistic positions that deal with the element of water and vividly convey its versatility.

Without water, there is no life, they say. But the opposite is also true: too much water can be devastating and destructive. It all depends on the right balance. However, as soon as you move into other dimensions and regions, water becomes a challenge – also for sciences. Water is not a passive object of research, but a powerful counterpart that calls for new and different ways of thinking about scientific and social practices. Embedded in a parcours from the sea to the stars, from vortices to artificial icebergs, the exhibition On Water. WaterKnowledge in Berlin presents research projects from the Berlin University Alliance that deal with the element of water. As different as the research projects are, they all represent attempts to learn from the amazing properties of water and to use it to find ways to meet the challenges of the present and the future.