Merton students take water scarcity film to Venice exhibition

Merton graduate students Cayenna Ponchione, Jessica Thorn and Benedict Morrison have taken a film on water scarcity solutions to a major exhibition on how and why water deeply influences our lives, being held—very appropriately!—in Venice.

Art, Science & the Thirsty World grew out of an interdisciplinary conference of the same name held in 2014: the conference cast together academics in the arts and the sciences to pursue a critical exploration of interdisciplinary practice through collaborative presentations and performances; it facilitated dialogue between researchers and practitioners in the arts, sciences and engineering, and sought to foster creative, innovative and trans-disciplinary discussions about water scarcity solutions.

The film now forms part of AQUAE Venezia 2015, as a video installation for the exhibition ‘Visualising Water Worlds’ sponsored by EXPO Venice and EXPO Milano. Cayenna, a Music DPhil student, co-directed the film; Benedict, who is studying for a DPhil in English, is the film's narrator; and Jessica, a DPhil Zoology student, provided many of the field recordings and still images used.

The film also features commentary by Merton's Professor of Music Daniel Grimley, as well as Nobel Prize-winning chemist Roald Hoffmann; and performances by Greek folk singer Mariza Koch and her school’s children’s choir, the mezzo-soprano Charlotte Tetley, Oxford Sinfonia, and Sinfonia Gaia, which was founded and is conducted by Cayenna.

Merton College is a co-sponsor of the project, along with TORCH Oxford, the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, The Cornell Institute for European Studies, and the Brettschneider Fund.

• Watch Art, Science & the Thirsty World