The new group exhibition “Soil & Water: Mediterranean Crossing” has opened to visitors at Art Rooms, a contemporary art gallery located in Kyrenia. Curated by Başak Şenova, the exhibition brings together international artists who approach soil and water not merely as natural resources, but as material, ecological, cultural, and political agents. Through sculpture, performance, and research-based works, soil and water emerge as forces that shape landscapes, environments, and histories—carrying memory and experience.
Organized in collaboration with Arkın University of Creative Arts and Design (ARUCAD), Soil & Water: Mediterranean Crossing can be visited at Art Rooms every day except Sunday, between 13:30 and 20:30, until 17 February.
Positioned within the Mediterranean context—shaped over centuries by passages, transformations, extraction, and conflict—the group exhibition Soil & Water: Mediterranean Crossing is hosted by Art Rooms and is connected to the ongoing international research project Soil & Water.
The Soil & Water project was developed in collaboration with the NIROX Foundation by Prof. Johan Thom(University of Pretoria) and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Başak Şenova (University of Applied Arts Vienna). Initiated in South Africa in response to concerns about river and groundwater pollution in the Cradle of Humankind, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the project argues that art should not only reveal ecological realities but also generate meaning, urgency, and critical thinking.
Soil & Water considers soil and water as active agents that carry, preserve, reveal, protect, and transform time, memory, ideology, and history. Addressing soil and water as shared yet unequally governed resources, the project draws attention to the ecological, social, and political pressures shaping them.
Within this framework, the artistic productions featured in Soil & Water: Mediterranean Crossing focus on accumulated pasts, material processes, and fragile futures, inviting viewers to rethink their relationship with the environments they inhabit. As the research is translated into the Mediterranean context, the project reveals how the dynamic relationship between soil and water sustains ecosystems, while also making visible the political, social, and environmental pressures exerted upon these resources.
The exhibition also includes archival material from “Sediment,” another exhibition curated by Başak Şenova and Dicle Beştaş, held in 2024–2025 at the contemporary art center <rotor> in Graz, Austria. The publication of Sediment, which focuses on socio-political, ecological, and economic forces shaping the environment, is released within the scope of Soil & Water: Mediterranean Crossing by ARUCAD Press, with the financial support of ARUCAD–Art Rooms.
Featuring nearly 30 artists, Soil & Water: Mediterranean Crossing is primarily located at Art Rooms, while selected works extend into the ARUCAD campus, establishing a dialogue between the gallery space and academic environments. A large-scale sculpture produced by South African artist Ledelle Moe during her artist residency in Cyprus in December has been installed on the university campus, while the preparatory drawings and a video documenting the production process are presented at Art Rooms. Additional works create conceptual bridges between the exhibition at NIROX Sculpture Park and Soil & Water: Mediterranean Crossing.
Soil & Water: Mediterranean Crossing is open to visitors at Art Rooms from 14 January to 17 February 2026.
Participating Artists
Soil & Water: Mediterranean Crossing
Alet Pretorius (ZA) | Atul Bhalla (IN) | Barbara Putz Plecko (AT) | Christophe Fellay (CH) | Diana Vives & Douglas Gimberg (CH/ZA) | Diego Masera (AR) | Ebru Kurbak (TR/AT) | Egle Oddo (IT/FI) | Eugénie Touzé (FR) | Francesco Bellina (IT) | Hera Büyüktaşcıyan (TR) | Herrana Addisu (ET) | Inma Herrera (ES/FI) | Isa Rosenberger (AT) | Jessica Ostrowicz (UK) | Johan Thom (ZA) | Ledelle Moe (ZA) | Lundahl & Seitl (SE) | Mithu Sen (IN) | Robin Rhode (ZA/DE) | Rojda Tuğrul (TR/AT) | Senzo Masondo (ZA) | Seretse Moletsane (ZA) | The Centre for the Less Good Idea (ZA) | The ZoNE (AT/CH/TR/ZA) | Tshepiso Mahooe (ZA)
Sediment
Aylin Kızıl (TR) | Barbara Schmid (AT) | Hristina Ivanoska (MK) | Leyla Keskin (TR) | Rozelin Akgün (TR) | Rojda Tuğrul (TR/AT)
About the SOIL & WATER Project
Soil & Water is a project developed in collaboration with the University of Pretoria and the NIROX Foundation and Sculpture Park. The project is supported by NIROX Foundation, University of Pretoria, Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Art Rooms (Kyrenia), ARUCAD – Arkın University of Creative Arts and Design, Austrian Cultural Forum Pretoria, BIENALSUR – Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo del Sur, Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport, Danish Arts Foundation, Embassy of Austria in South Africa, Embassy of Spain in South Africa, Finnish Cultural Foundation, IASPIS – The Swedish International Programme for Visual and Applied Arts, Italian Cultural Institute Pretoria, SKF – Supporting Art and Research, KKP – Art and Communication Practices, University of Applied Arts Vienna, Kunsthaus Dahlem Berlin, L’Accolade Foundation Paris, Claire and Edoardo Villa Bequest Fund South Africa, Ukrainian Institute, and Techizart Istanbul.
www.soilandwater.net
