Water Spell

2025 | Narva Art Residency | Narva, EE

Audio-visual installation
In collaboration with Eva Fomitski

This exhibition presents an installation made
from artifacts found in Narva. The structure is built on columns of textile reels, referring to the architecture of Krenholm and its heritage.

The concept is based on the folk belief in
“water spells” — a ritual practice where water is seen as a carrier of human intentions, emotions, and wishes. Water is believed to absorb and transmit information, becoming a tool for achieving desired outcomes.

If water can be spoken for good things, can it also be filled with destructive meaning?

During the residency, we conducted an experiment: can words, language, and tone truly affect matter? We followed the ritual’s instructions — which forbid swearing — and deliberately broke this rule. On one side of the installation, you can see and hear water infused with Estonian spells; on the other, recordings of curses. So The water creates a contrast between
harmonizing influence and destructive noise.

In this way, the installation becomes a metaphor for cultural coexistence, where opposing energies meet and interact. This water was taken from the Narva River — a border that both connects and divides. The jars of water serve as a metaphor for hybrid identities in this border region, where harmony and tension constantly overlap in dialogue

Category

Site-Specific
Installation

ANTUUM