From 3 to 6 October 2024, the second edition of the Confluence of European Water Bodies will take place, an initiative of the Embassy of the North Sea, TBA21–Academy, and representatives of the ILP Mar Menor. After a successful first conference in 2023 on the shores of the Mar Menor, the first ecosystem in Europe with legal personhood, the Venice Lagoon, represented by TBA21–Academy’s Ocean Space, serves as host of this nomadic aquatic conference.
Programme 3 – 6 October 2024
- Thursday 3 October 2024: all waters gather at Ocean Space for a welcome ceremony led by the Water Bodies Orchestra in collaboration with the Venice Climate Change Pavilion (closed session), followed by the screening of I am the river, the river is me, a river movie starring the Whanganui River in New Zealand, the world’s first ecosystem with legal personhood (open to all);
- Friday 4 October 2024: academic programme with two panels – one on legal, one on artistic strategies – hosted by NICHE (THE NEW INSTITUTE Center for Environmental Humanities) at Ca’ Foscari University (closed session);
- Saturday 5 October 2024: excursion to Poveglia, a small island in the central Lagoon of Venice, for a meeting with local activists and a grief circle by Natural Contract Lab. In the afternoon there will be a Diplomatic Suitcase workshop (closed session at a location to be confirmed);
- Sunday 6 October 2024: Assembly for the Grave di Ciano ‘Can the Piave still murmur?’, in collaboration with Arts4theCommons. The event will feature interventions from members of the Comitato per le Grave di Ciano and artistic interventions by Corpi Idrici (Genova waters). In the afternoon, closing of the confluence with performances and ceremonies by the River Sisters (Vistula), Jessie Jack Ullevalseter (Akerselva) and Erena Rhose (Whanganui / Klarälven) (open to all).
Learning system
Water is vital for all life on Earth, yet her voice is rarely heard in political decision-making. Born out of growing water challenges and demands for water democracy worldwide, the Confluence of European Water Bodies sprang from a collective pursuit of a deeper understanding of ‘Rights of Nature’ in Europe, from a cultural perspective. Formed by over 25 grassroots communities of artists, activists, lawyers and ecologists, representing seas, lakes, rivers, lagoons and glaciers from all over Europe, this growing community of care and concern aims to foster new dialogues and relationships with water. As a learning system for water diplomacy, new strategies for effective representation of water in Europe’s cultural, legal and political realm are being explored, rehearsed and advocated.
Participating water bodies
Akerselva, Baltic Sea, Dogger Bank, Drina, Genova waters, Klarälven, Loire, Mar Menor, Mediterranean, Moraca, North Sea, Ouse, Pek, Piave, Reuss, Rhône, Senne, Snæfellsjökul, Spree, Tara, Tejo, Tagliamento, Vättern, Venice Lagoon, Viskan, Wattenmeer & Zenne
Re-stor(y)ing Oceania
The Confluence of European Water Bodies 2024 is part of the closing events of the exhibition Re-stor(y)ing Oceania (March 23–October 13, 2024) at Ocean Space Venice. This exhibition, curated by Taloi Havini, comprises art works by Indigenous artists from the Pacific, Latai Taumoepeau and Elisapeta Hinemoa Heta. Havini’s curatorial vision is guided by an ancestral call-and-response method as a means to seek solidarity and kinship in times of uncertainty.
Thanks to
The Confluence of European Water Bodies is founded by the Embassy of the North Sea, ILP Mar Menor and TBA21-Academy and supported by NICHE (Ca’ Foscari University), GARN (Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature), the Italian Buddhist Union (UBI), Creative Industries Fund NL. Special thanks to the Comitato per le Grave di Ciano (River Piave) and Poveglia per Tutti (Venice Lagoon) for welcoming the Confluence in their waters between the Dolomites and the Lagoon.
