Asia Culture Center | Aqua Paradiso, Maryanto, 6 June - 12 September

Aqua Paradiso is a story of “water.” Long ago when humans understood nature to be the trust in Divine Providence, water was awed and appreciated. People thought of natural events, including floods, heavy rain, typhoons, and tidal waves, as the products that stemmed from the emotions of God, while understanding timely rain and spring water to be the water of life. Held in front of nature, humans were small and vulnerable and the greatness of nature stood for “sublime.”

However, such a “sublime” aspect of nature disappeared in the advent of Anthropocene. After the Industrial Revolution, nature has no longer become something miraculous to be awed: CO2 emissions skyrocketed, the ecosystem was disturbed; the boundary between the wild fell apart; various infectious diseases broke out on a periodic basis; and the desertification of farmland and forest accelerated. Through such a phenomena, nature has turned to be something protected, the weak and the grand other, and crisis beyond control.

The exhibition, Aqua Paradiso, intends to remind humans of the potential and “sublime” aspects of nature by examining “water,” the source of life, from various perspectives, through contemporary visual art. In doing so, we aim to rediscover and bear in mind how precious water is for the survival of humans, nature and the universe and the balance among them.

The 11 local and foreign contemporary artists participate in this exhibition to introduce a variety of narrations centered around “water” that first appeared when humans lived through the era of mythology and legends, accompanied humans along the history of colonial exploitation, creates stories while existing in the human unconsciousness, serves as the absolute regulator to strike the perfect balance in the natural eco system, drives the universe as a physical organism, and plays the greatest role as a healer.