I CALL IT WATER
multi-part annual project 2022 on the subject of water
In I CALL IT WATER an interdisciplinary team consisting of artists and scientists from various disciplines will focus on water as a resource. In 2022 the project will highlight different aspects of water in multiple parts, e.g. as elixir of life and destroyer of life under the influence of climate change. Being a driving force for war and peace, water will also be explored in myths, narratives, visions of the future and facts, presented in installations, objects, figures, visuals and streams.
Together with the audience the artists embark on a search for personal points of contact, global connections and emotional experiences towards the medium from which we once emerged: water.
background
Distribution, handling and dependence of water on earth. The topic has been explosive for a long time and will dominate the coming years as a socio-political challengefor all of us – not only after the current three years of drought and after a flood catastrophe in Germany.
But what we have experienced in Germany first-hand in recent years, has already happened in other parts of the world. Do we succeed in understanding the connections?
Goethe wrote in »Song of the spirits above the water«:
»Mankind's soul / Is like water: / From heaven it comes, / To heaven it rises, / And down again / To earth it must, / Eternally changing.«
In times of climate change, the new „behaviour“ of water seems to be the fitting metaphor for an organism which is out of balance.
upcoming events
exhibition WELTWASSER
open mon–sat 6–9 pm + sun 12–4 pm
daily monday until saturday 8 pm + sunday 3 pm: personal stories / current information on the water situation in the individual countries
gallery Glocksee area
Glockseestr. 35, backyard
admission pay what you want
Project direction Lena Kußmann.
Team Britta Bremer, Andrea Casabianchi, Ronja Donath, Johannes Fast, Laura Jakschas, Astrid Köhler, Lena Kußmann, Lotte Lindner & Till Steinbrenner, Lisa Lippert, Romina Medrano, Christiane Ostermayer, Kirsten Piepenschneider, Dennis Pörtner, Nina Reimann, Kassandra Speltri, Jonas Vietzke.
Thanks to HWK Delmenhorst and Fonds darstellende Künste #takecare for the research oportunities.
WATER WITCHES – The magic of water
SHOW on 3 August 2022. LOCATION Theater an der Glocksee.
A unique scenic panel discussion in which moderation, truth, fiction and play blur together. Invited guests are the water shaman Aryani Kriegenburg and the down-to-earth freighter captain Antje Herbst, who sails the biggest boats across the seven seas.
Between, before and after the talks, artists Lena Kußmann and Kassandra Speltri serve up their own witchcraft and found objects in very old and completely new robes. It goes without saying that the Ihme river also plays a role - maybe we'll even take a dip together?
HOPE SPOT OCEAN – guest performance
SHOWS in June/July 2022. LOCATION Theater an der Glocksee.
This play dives beneath the surface of the Baltic Sea. In this theater project actress Ronja Donath and her team devote themselves to our local sea and take you on a personal journey with the protagonist Stella, sharing her discoveries and sensations around the Baltic Sea. They roam over munitions at the bottom of the sea, examine the term »marine protected area« and search for hope in the sea, on land and in us.
»Be a hero for the planet« – Dr. Sylvia Earl
I CALL IT WATER #1 SPIRIT
SHOWS in May 2022. LOCATION Industrial Hall Bertramstraße.
In the beginning there was... the spirit floating above the water. Without water no beginning. A great emptiness, an abandoned place that wants to be filled, that used to be something. Is it promise, refuge, remnant? A reflection of the Anthropocene, the left overs with which we as humans need to learn to practice magic. The water evokes stories of hope, life, destruction and beauty.
»What do you know about water? When you talk about water – aren‘t you really talking about yourself?« – Roni Horn
ACTION #1 WELTWASSER
We collect freshwater samples from all over the world. We ask friends, acquaintances or strangers for a sample from a water location that is typical for the water situation in their country or region. The water is filled into a small bottle and transported to Hannover by post or passenger. The samples will be presented in an exhibition later in the year and may also appear in other sub-projects.
PARTICIPATE: If you know someone abroad or are traveling yourself, you can bring a water sample with you or have it sent to us!
ACTION #2 REFILL
VIO is produced by the Coca Cola Group, which pumps groundwater from two wells in Lüneburg, which is far too dry, fills it in bottles and sells it. Among other things, the campaign draws attention to the unnecessary bottling of drinking water in water-rich countries such as Germany, which makes large corporations even richer and destroys the environment.
The performers Lotte Lindner and Till Steinbrenner drive to Lüneburg in a performance documented as a video loop, buy 1 crate of VIO mineral water in the local store, carry it back to the Coca Cola filling station and tip it back into the ground there. They walk back with the empty crate, get a new one and start all over again ... and so on.
EXPERIMENT #1 HEART AND FLASH
This experiment is dedicated to the exciting boundaries between purely scientific knowledge that we humans have gained so far in relation to water and the projections that we carry within us, which are more in the area of mysticism, esotericism and belief and are scientifically not verifiable. Do we believe that water can absorb our energies? Can we taste them? Do we want to drink them?
EXPERIMENT #2 DOWN BY THE RIVER
The closest access to the natural watercourse at the theater is the river Ihme. With the water that we take from flowing water, we conserve time. The river flows past us and is never the same, no matter what. It brings dirt or nutrients, snowmelt or sweat and takes something with it. It's samples accompany our project, we observe optical changes in the water and inner changes in ourselves through a new relationship to the river.
World Water Day
On March 22nd on WORLD WATER DAY from 2pm to 9pm you can experience a lot of artistic things on the subject of water in our theater!
- every hour on the hour we show the video installation IMAGINARY SEASCAPE by Dutch artist Lisa Snoek in collaboration with an Amsterdam DJ Jeroen Woertink
- from approx. 4:15 pm to 5:30 pm there will be a live broadcast of the performance REFILL by the Hanoverian artist couple Lotte Lindner and Till Steinbrenner, which will take place in Lüneburg at the same time
- in between performers will read from of a wide variety of texts on the subject of water
- plus more artistic experiments, talks and installations
Admission is free — the 3G rule applies (for the time being) including wearing your FFP2 mask.
starting conference and hub
From March 4th to 6th we will start the annual project with a team conference lasting several days. On Sunday, March 6th, starting at 2pm we will put together first impressions, excerpts and other things in an online exhibition on → MozillaHubs.
From 5 to 6 pm we will also be there virtually for a live talk about the project.
All you need to visit is a computer with a modern version Firefox or Chrome as browser. (We recommend accessing the site on your computer and not on your mobile phone.) You can look around with mouse/trackpad + click and move with the arrow keys on your keyboard.