The colours of water: brown

How is climate change affecting our waters? How will our rivers react when Lusatia dries up? And will we be swimming everywhere in the city in the future? In an interactive workshop with futurologist Sascha Dannenberg from the Free University of Berlin, participants will develop various future scenarios for water in Berlin.

(In German)

14:00–14:30

Indrawan Prabaharyaka: Thirst in the mangrove forest. Using design to reduce inter-species water conflicts

On the mangrove coast of Muara Gembong, a rural area near the megacity of Jakarta in Indonesia, humans and monkeys are increasingly in conflict. Rising temperatures, deforestation, and hyper-salinization are causing freshwater sources in the area to dry up. Unlike the human inhabitants, who can buy bottled water, their non-human neighbors cannot. During prolonged heat waves in the summer, some monkeys were found dead from dehydration. Others searched for water sources near fishing boats and houses, exacerbating the conflict between different species.

From 2022 to 2025, Indrawan Prabaharyaka collaborated with a multidisciplinary collective called Labtek Apung, which consists of experts in environmental technology, chemistry, architecture, art, and anthropology. Its goal was to better understand the conflict and find solutions. One result of the research is a prototype water collector that can desalinate seawater in the summer and collect rainwater during the monsoon season. While human designers view it as a water collector, non-human users seem to regard it as a toy. So how could the design be approached differently in terms of conflicts between different species?

(In English)

14:30-15:00

Salam Ebeid: What comes out of the sea: fish and other things! 

TBA

(in Englisch)

with Daniel Tyradellis

Daniel Tyradellis, Professor of  and Senior Advisor to the Curator, guides visitors through the exhibition “On Water.”

(In German)

16:00–16:30

Alexander Schunka: A precious commodity. Water shortages and water scarcity in pre-modern Central Europe

How did people in early modern Central Europe cope with water shortages? How did they respond to recurring periods of drought, but also to everyday water shortages? In his lecture, historian Alexander Schunka focuses on resource scarcity between 1500 and 1800, as well as contemporary forms of water management and the development of water infrastructure in inland territories. He explains his thesis that water, as a scarce commodity, was often controversial and at the same time required special forms of cooperation to ensure a minimum level of social cohesion.

(In German)

16:30–17:00

Dimitra Almpani-Lekka: Cheimarros – Cheimarros. Architectural approaches to drought and the loss of biodiversity in the city

What role can architecture play in coping with increasing drought in cities, water management problems, and the loss of urban biodiversity? Architect and biodesigner Dimitra Almpani-Lekka explores how water can be incorporated into the built environment to find solutions to extreme weather phenomena, which are becoming more frequent against the backdrop of the climate crisis. She presents how we can learn from rural and traditional architectures and biological organisms, and how the shared use of water in public spaces based on “commons networks” can contribute to a more resilient city. In her lecture, she presents “Cheimarros,” an installation created as part of the “Water-Driven Membranes” research project and made especially for “On Water.” It takes up circular processes between water and different species, as well as plant and microbial properties, as design principles, while inviting the audience to reflect on their own embodied knowledge of water.

Artist talk

Andreas Greiner and Roland Bolz in conversation with Anna-Lisa Dieter