Jakopič Gallery hosted the event WATER: Science and Art

The opening speech on the topic of water, which serves as a significant connector between the Netherlands and Slovenia and the world at large, was held by the Ambassador of the Netherlands in Ljubljana Johan Verboom. After the Ambassador-at-large for Water Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Miškova and the Coordinator of International Water Affairs at the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management Niels Vlaanderen talked about the outcomes of the UN 2023 Water Conference that took place in New York from 22 to 24 March, starting on the World Water Day.

A round table discussion on visualising and communicating water science through art and photography followed. Scientific knowledge about water is often misunderstood and misinterpreted. This calls for an appropriate approach on how to better communicate this knowledge to the wider public through different channels in the future and raises the question of whether art can complement the strictly scientific approach of providing information about water by talking about this fundamental element of our existence in an intuitive, creative and more open way.

Mr. Vlaanderen also took part in the round table discussion with Mr. Kadir van Lohuizen, photographer and NOOR Images co-founder from Amsterdam, who has travelled extensively across the world, documenting human struggles related to water conditions and rising sea levels for several decades, Prof. Dr. Mihael Brenčič, a hydrogeologist and a professor at the Geology department of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering in Ljubljana (NTF) and Ms. Eva Petrič, a Slovenian inter-media conceptual artist who actively works in New York, Vienna, and Ljubljana. The discussion was moderated by Maja Ratej, a journalist at RTV Slovenija.

You are invited to watch the video of the event, filmed and produced by Tone Stojko.

Lara Kastelic also made a graphic harvesting of the event: