Our Connection to Water: meet the artists

Seven artists. One fluid relationship. Discover more about Our Connection to Water at the National Maritime Museum.

Our Connection to Water brings together an international group of artists from different backgrounds. Linking them is one simple question: what does water mean to us?

It is often seen as a resource, a survival necessity and a daily need – but water is so much more than water.

Find out more about each artist featured in the exhibition below. To see their work for yourself, visit Our Connection to Water for free at the National Maritime Museum.

Open daily from 31 March

Seba Calfuqueo

Seba Calfuqueo is a visual artist and a curator living and working in Santiago, Chile. They are part of the Mapuche collective Rangiñtulewfü. The Mapuche are Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile. Seba uses installation, ceramics, performance and video to critique the social, cultural and political status of the Mapuche people within contemporary Chilean society.

Video: Extract from TRAY TRAY KO by Seba Calfuqueo, 2022 (Credits: Sebastián Melo)

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An artwork made up of three black and white photographic negative. The overall composition is abstract, but taken together they remind you of the shape of a fish pointing downwards. A fin is clearly visible in the top photograph, while the lower images feature what appear to be ripples of water

Artemis Evlogimenou

Artemis Evlogimenou’s work focuses on presenting the invisible, such as emotions, concepts and beliefs. She draws inspiration from three lifelong fascinations – anthropology, sound and nature, exploring these topics through digital and analogue processes. By engaging people in her art, Artemis hopes to communicate the fragility of our planet and its raw beauty.

Image: West of the Sun, East of the Moon by Artemis Evlogimenou, 2022

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JIUN Collective

JIUN Collective are based in south-east London. They are three sisters, Kharis, Verity and Stephanie Wong, making work across a variety of media including ceramics, printmaking, installation and photography. Through collaborative making, they explore how you can evoke shared experiences.

Video: Extract from Conversations with our Grandmothers by JIUN Collective, 2022

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A group of three Black men in swim shorts sit on the muddy bank of a river or lake. Another man in the background in a yellow shirt and white hat looks out across the water

Giya Makondo-Wills

Giya Makondo-Wills is a British-South African documentary photographer and visual artist. She focuses on urgent matters of our time and how they relate to the history of marginalised communities. Giya aims to challenge visual culture and the western gaze, recognising the role of the camera in writing new histories. Giya works with themes such as identity, race, colonisation, and systems of power, using collaboration to preserve the stories of those that are often overlooked.

Image: They Came from the Water While the World Watched by Giya Makondo-Wills, 2016–2019

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A digital concept for a light installation in a gallery. Tubes of blue plastic are installed in a bare space, with light animation playing across the surface

Paul Malone

Paul Malone currently has a studio practice in Deptford, south London. He studied Fine Art and Sculpture at Reading University and the Royal College of Art. He has exhibited mainly in the UK and Europe and has curated a number of exhibitions and projects.

Image: The Photonic Ocean by Paul Malone, 2023

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An illustration of a river delta against a black background. On the right is the title 'Building Block', with a passage from the Quran written in Arabic script and a translation in English, saying '...And We created from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?'

Aya Mohamed

Aya Mohamed is an 18-year-old illustrator based in north-west London. She uses digital and traditional illustration techniques to create thought-provoking works on themes such as politics and identity. She links her study of social sciences with her desire to create art that has an impact; to inspire, educate or simply bring people together. Aya is planning to study law at university next year.

Image: The River of Life by Aya Mohamed, 2022

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A man in orange swim shorts washes himself in the street. His body is soapy and he is balancing a bucket of water on his head with a tap in the bottom

Dafe Oboro

Dafe Oboro is an artist working predominantly in photography and film. Dafe uses sound and imagery to question ideas of masculinity, movement across time and space, and the socio-political state of contemporary Nigeria. Dafe aims to destabilize reductive understandings of African countries in mainstream popular media and inspire more nuanced engagement with the realities of the artist’s cultural context.

Image: Pour me Water, Pure Water by Dafe Oboro, 2020

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