Waters, this deep, curated by Linnéa Meiners, is the fifth chapter of the Becoming B series at Künstlerhaus Bethanien. Nnenna Onuoha and Om Bori explore the proximity of Künstlerhaus Bethanien to the Landwehr Canal in their work.
Water is an element that transports, reflects, supports, stands still, engulfs, moves, connects, and separates; an element of constant change and a fluid symbol of transformation. The Landwehr Canal is likewise a symbol of shallows and resistance. Although its water is sluggish and gentle, and barely moves, the canal has continually changed, along with the city of Berlin, since the 17th century. With a present-day depth of just two meters, the canal is not a very deep body of water in a literal sense, but the channels and various branches have been witness to much. Projections cast light onto and beneath the water’s surface, conceiving the canal and its surroundings as layered accumulations of temporal and spatial events.
Trickling and overflowing, the works by Nnenna Onuoha and Om Bori engage in a spatial dialog with the water. The artists follow the course of the Landwehr Canal, entering into a dialog with the water, the surroundings and the historical context of the same. In deep connection to the place, works are created that each deal with the diversity of voices in the body of water. Nnenna Onuoha captures sounds and images around the body of water, creating speculative visions and filling acoustic gaps with imaginary worlds, while Om Bori conceives of the canal as an ecological and cultural repository, immersing himself in it to give voice to algae formations and microorganisms. Currents of history, memory and identity blur and form new narratives for Künstlerhaus Bethanien.
The exhibition is sponsored by the Haptstadtkulturfonds.