Ecologies of Water

International Symposium, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

On October 6, 2022, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is hosting an international multidisciplinary symposium under the title Ecologies of Water: A Cooperation Framework Between Art, Science, and Technology. Aimed at highlighting the importance of water to the future on Earth, the symposium seeks to promote dialogue and cooperation between artists, scientists, and technologists against the backdrop of climate change and its challenges.

Proof of the Museum’s commitment to the proposal and promotion of sustainable futures, Ecologies of Water, organized in association with the European initiative STARTS4water and the consortium of organizations that are part of the initiative—such as Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto (Italy); V2_, Lab for the Unstable Media (Netherlands); UrbanDig Project (Greece) and LUCA School of Arts (Belgium)—will gather some of the leading speakers on the subject: international scholars and local researchers in the fields of art and ecology. In the context of the event, the Basque Country will be understood as a key setting for reflection, with historical links to water—both river- and sea-based—economies.

Keynote speakers include Amalia Zepou, social innovator co-founder of the NPO Kollektiva and UrbanDig Project's S4W manager (Athens); Mark IJzerman, artist and researcher (V2_ Lab for the Unstable Media, Rotterdam); Paolo Naldini, director of Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto (Biella, Italy); Ralph Dum, Senior Expert, European Commission, DG Connect and Head Officer of the STARTS program; Valery de Smedt, Head of Research at LUCA School of Arts (Brussels); and Cristina Iglesias, artist. Moderator: Manuel Cirauqui, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao curator.