Hydromedia: Seeing with Water collects the results of a collaborative artistic program, organized in 2023 and 2024 by the Royal Academy of Arts, Antwerp (KASK), the Utrecht University of Arts (HKU), and the University of Arts and Design, Karlsruhe (HfG). By using water as a source of inspiration as well as a tool to work with, the twelve artists who were selected through open calls developed new art works. These works invite us to relate to water in a multisensory way, and by extension to the wider ecologies connected to this crucial medium for life. Rather than remaining at a distance, as exemplified by more conventional documentary approaches, Hydromedia aims at closer forms of contact, inspired by multidisciplinary collaborations. Throughout the project ecologists, scientists, water engineers and nature conservationists have entered the conversation. Through lectures, field trips, workshops, three local exhibitions, and this final publication, Hydromedia shares not only the artistic outcomes but also ‘manuals’ written by the artists, inviting the reader to engage with artistic processes.

ISBN 978-9-06-403990-4