Many thanks and warmest congratulations to Nadia Huggins, one of the participating artists (and the only one from the Caribbean) in “Song of Water,” for sharing exciting news about this unique exhibition. The exhibition, which brings together twenty-three international artists, will take place on a 47-meter-long catamaran— the world’s first museum ship. The exhibition is curated by Blanche de Lestrange. [We will share dates and ship routes when they are announced. See description below; we have provided links for more detailed information.]
Artists featured in the exhibition “Song of Water”: Jean-Marie Appriou, Hicham Berrada, Katinka Bock, Alex Cecchetti, Ernst Haeckel, Taloi Havini, Michael Heizer, Max Hooper Schneider, Nadia Huggins, Joan Jonas, Oyjon Khayrullaeva, Harumi Klossowska de Rola, Robert Longo, Ad Minoliti, Josèfa Ntjam, Jean Painlevé, Pablo Picasso, Laure Prouvost, Emilija Škarnulytė, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Lara Tabet, Charwei Tsai, Anicka Yi.
Description: “Song of Water” is an exhibition that pays tribute to the ocean, to the memory of the life it harbors, and to the diversity of the creatures that inhabit it. “Song of Water” draws inspiration from the evocative power of this vast soundscape, where every species, every current, and every breath come together to form a single song of life. Structured as a journey, the exhibition invites visitors not so much to contemplate the oceans as to listen to them, immersing them beneath the waves in a world where art and science converge.
This exhibition brings together twenty-three international artists— both historical and contemporary— from seventeen countries and five continents, all of whom have found the ocean to be an inexhaustible source of inspiration.
“Song of Water” is also the result of collaborations with major institutions. The National Museum of Natural History in Paris is lending eight sets of paleontological specimens for the occasion—dating back several million years— some of which are being unveiled to the public for the very first time.
The Natural History Museum of Le Havre, which houses original plates by Ernst Haeckel, is lending five of its prints, in which the scientist’s precision blends with the beauty of the artwork.
Finally, the TBA21 – Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Foundation is partnering with the exhibition by lending works and collaborating on productions designed specifically for the ship.
Blanche de Lestrange has been the Artistic Director of the Art Explora Foundation since 2020. She sets the broad artistic direction for the foundation’s various projects and oversees, in particular, the programming for the Art Explora Festival in the Mediterranean, artist residencies in France at the Cité internationale des arts and their international expansion, as well as the inaugural exhibition at Hangar Y. She previously served as deputy director of FIAC, where she was responsible for artistic programming for ten years. Blanche is also the co-founder of the association Thanks for Nothing, which builds bridges between the art world and the nonprofit sector.
For more information, visit https://www.artexplora.org/en/festival/the-song-of-water and https://www.artexplora.org/en/festival/the-museum-boat
For more information on the N. Huggins, see https://readfoyer.com/article/nadia-huggins-documenting-moments-under-sea, http://www.panthalassa.org/transformations-by-nadia-huggins/, https://hemisphericinstitute.org/en/hidvl-collections/item/3891-la-mer-through-their-lens-nadia-huggins.html, and https://museemagazine.com/culture/2024/10/30/nadia-huggins-transformations
[Photo above: Nadia Huggins, Transformations No. 1, 2014. Digital photograph printed on Chromaluxe, 76.2 x 118.1 cm (both panels + 3.8 cm separation). Courtesy of Nadia Huggins, 2021. © Nadia Huggins. Source: FOYER.]