Collaboration with Haseeb on pharmaceutical pollution

We are very excited to announce that in the framework of the European S+T+ARTS4Water project, artist Haseeb Ahmed has been selected for the “Pharmaceutical Pollution” residency. This highly collaborative residency is hosted by GLUON and LUCA School of Arts with the support of Pollet Water Group

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“There is a poetry in the modern paradox that pharmaceuticals save lives but are too small to filter in conventional treatment plants, potentially harming the environment. This is especially true in Flanders, a leader in pharmaceuticals whose landscape is defined by extensive waterways. Over the course of my residency I will work with regional experts to create an artwork that brings together the scale of the body and landscape making this connection tangible for viewers and the process too will be made public.” Haseeb Ahmed ​

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What is S+T+ARTS4Water? 
S+T+ARTS is an initiative of the European Commission to foster alliances between science, technology, and the arts, in order to cultivate technological innovation centered on human needs and values. Bringing together art, technology and science, the pilot project STARTS4water aims to tackle one of the most pressing challenges of our times: water management.
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What is the goal of this residency?
This highly collaborative S+T+ARTS residency is bringing together diverse stakeholders with expertise in wastewater treatment, digital technology, health care, biodiversity, environmental engineering, environmental chemistry and aquatic ecology, working towards the design of new measures to reduce pollution and to encompass the entire life cycle of biodegradable “greener pharmaceuticals”. 

Who is the artist?
Haseeb Ahmed is a research-based artist originally from the US, and now based in Brussels. He produces objects, site-specific installations, films, and writes. Often working collaboratively, Ahmed integrates methodologies from the hard sciences into his art production. Over the last 10 years Ahmed has structured his research-based artistic practice around fluid dynamics of wind and water.

Who supports this residency?
This residency is supported by Pollet Water Group, Pharma.be, Inopsys, Vlakwa, VITO, Surplace and Capture-UGhent. The results of the residency will be shown in Bozar – Centre for Fine Arts (Brussels), during the STARTS4Water exhibition in Fall 2022