The programme of talks and debates Aquilegum — Conversations with those who find and preserve water has been designed around six proposals: Non-existent boarders; The taste of home; Undercurrents: hidden flows; Particle accelerators; Where water makes us human; Half man, half whale. We have brought together voices from multiple backgrounds who will share their work and thinking, fostering dialogues and plural encounters with water.

PROGRAMME

Matosinhos City Council
10.11.2023
10:00 - 18:30

Non-existent borders
Speakers:
10:00 Harpeet Sareen
11:15 Rita Natálio

Moderated by
Catarina Leitão

In an intertidal zone, the borders are constantly changing. The liquid tide covers and uncovers the land, but in between the coming and going it becomes entrenched, embedded in the damp sand, in the stones and beings of these areas’ ecosystems. On the bank of a river, water spirals creating deposits and eroding the edge of the land in an infinite process of transformation. Water seeps into the earth, first liquid, then as wetness. We cannot be sure when it becomes muddy, then clay and finally soil.

Here we bring together people who urge us to design and think about the intertwining of all things, proposing alternative models of relationship and order that encourage porous materiality, inclusive projects, interspecies dialogues and more equitable democracies.

The taste of home
Speakers:
14:30 Olga Cavaleiro
15:15 Francesca Sarti

Moderated by
Mariana Sanchez Salvador

All waters have a different taste, resulting from the mineralogical composition absorbed deep within the earth. These are geological flavours, brought to the surface by water from the depths of the earth. To what extent does the availability and taste of the water used to grow and cook food influence and nourish the flavours and gastronomy of a given region? To what extent do food and water influence rituals, culture and memories, the construction of identity and a sense of belonging? How does it shape emotional ties between people, and between people and places? These are some of the questions our guests will help you think about. The aim of this speculation on the social life of water flavours is to activate new ideas and knowledge.

Undercurrents: hidden flows
Speaker:
17:00 Jane Withers

Moderated by:
Carla Cardoso

This talk is centred around the narratives and representations of water. We invited Jane Withers, who through images, exhibition devices, communication objects and curatorial projects researches and reveals the ways and the places where water circulates. By revealing the hidden flows of water, its multiple sources and states, its vital importance and scarcity, it is possible to contribute to a broader awareness of water movements and uses, helping us to think about the climate and water crises we are facing.

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Serralves Foundation Library
24.11.2023
10:00 - 18:30

Particle accelerators 
Speakers:
10:00 Alberto Piovesan
11:15 Pavels Hedström

Moderated by:
Renato Bispo

In this subject we bring together speakers who talk about material and immaterial devices such as suits, spaces and many other objects with the power to protect and transform bodies, granting access to another scope of space and time. These devices are instruments that help us deal with reality, with extreme situations, and fear.

Where water makes us human 
Speaker:
14:30 Luci Attala

Moderated by:
Teresa Fradique

Water is everywhere, it shapes everything; it is vital, and without it life would simply not be possible. Water can take on many forms, manifesting them all at once. It is a cast of the human: as it moves through our lives, we flow together and are formed collectively. Under the motto of Luci Attala’s book How water makes us human (University of Wales Press, 2019), the aim of this talk is to reveal how different types of water make us human by shaping bodies and beings, culture and social relations, myths and the sacred.

Half man, half whale 
Speakers:
16:15 Isabel Carvalho
17:00 Astrida Neimanis

Moderated by:
Joana Rafael

This session is dedicated to the water that moves between bodies. We humans and more than humans are connected by a common water flow; we share the same water that enters and exudes from our bodies and through biology becomes another matter. For this conversation — for which we have 'borrowed' the title of a novel by José Gardeazbal (ed. Companhia da Letras, 2018) — we bring together voices that reflect on water circulating on Earth, between flesh, plant and mineral matter, aqueous bodies that have shared the same water since the moment life emerged millions of years ago, from water in fact. The idea of a collective water/body should be enough to make us think about cooperation and coexistence, fairness for everyone, human and more than human, and ways of caring for each other.

+ info
Free entry
Conference exclusively in english